With the great postings on steam calliopes, and several notices about
circus parades upcoming, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the circus
parade in Peru, Indiana that takes place annually in late July or
thereabouts.  Those of us who attended the MBSI Organ Rally in nearby
Wabash last year were privileged to see this parade, as well as the
circus performance.

The parade included THREE genuine vintage steam calliopes.  Each wagon
was open at the top, so great geysers of steam from the whistles could
spout up into the trees.  I believe all were hand played.  The first
two did not sound very good, for reasons posted by others, and their
arrangements were not outstanding.  The third machine was the charm --
beautiful tone, in tune, and a great arrangement.  I caught all three
on video.

There were the pulsating steam gauges, glowing fireboxes, and instead
of gleaming polished brass, all three had the appearance of having
been well-used under live steam and burning oil.  Almost hellish in
aspect -- but the music of the last one was heavenly.

Anyone interested in seeing the real McCoy could check with the
Peru, IN Chamber of Commerce to find out when the parade will be.

--Mike Knudsen

 [ July 20, 2002 according to:  http://www.perucircus.com/festival.htm
 [
 [ As a word of caution, there are many old web pages on the web
 [ discussing this festival.  I'm not 100% certain about this date
 [ but its from the official website.  Those wishing to call
 [ "Circus City Festival Inc" directly should check out the
 [ web page:  http://www.perucircus.com/contact.htm for the
 [ phone number.  Unfortunately, some 'features' of the perucircus
 [ web page only [ work correctly with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
 [  --Jody