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Letter to the editor

Peace is always in style

Circus McGurkis reminds even the hard-hearted that peace is always in style.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 17, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG- Annie Ellis remembers selling patchwork pillows from a blanket the first year she went to Circus McGurkis, the popular hippie-inspired "people's fair" now in its 36th year.

The next year, she set up a table and tucked her 18-month-old son under it, where he startled passers-by by playing with their feet.

This weekend, Circus McGurkis, the low-tech, Earth Mother peace gathering that began toward the end of the Vietnam War, is returning in full force. Last year's circus, coming shortly before the death of co-founder Christine O'Brienfrom colon cancer, was a subdued affair and took the form of a peace picnic.

On Saturday, though, a full array of the festival's traditional blend of tie-dyed quirkiness and social activism will be in evidence at Lake Vista Park, a new location this year.

Those who go can expect to see belly dancers, listen to a storyteller, attend a play about the Iraq war, shop for items from painted rocks to tie-dyed T-shirts, and learn about various social causes.

Organizers say they want to get back to the original mission.

"There was some criticism that it was becoming too commercial," said Greg Stemm, committee head of this year's Circus McGurkis, an endeavor of the St. Petersburg Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Quakers.

"We felt that the best way we could honor Christine and the forebears of this event is to return to its original intention, which is a peace celebration, a gathering of like-minded people who are dedicated to peace and peace education," Stemm said.

"We're going back to the roots. We were saying that war is not the answer then and war is not the answer now."

Love, mercy, brotherhood

In keeping with that purpose, vendors are being asked to indicate how their wares or services contribute to peace or peace education. Circus McGurkis banners will also carry peace signs.

"Circus," as devotees refer to it, was a precursor to arts and crafts fairs, said Lynn Carol Henderson, a Quaker who dons long skirts, veils and heaps of jewelry for her role as storyteller at the annual event.

"We're looking at a whole different world now, but the need is still there for people to come together in peace, to remember the values that make a peaceful world ... Those values have to do with love and mercy and brotherhood and sisterhood," she said.

That philosophy has also extended to where the event is held. Except for one year, when the traditional home of the fair - Dell Holmes Park - was being renovated, the circus has always been held on the southern end of St. Petersburg.

"Our home is here in south St. Petersburg, because we want people from different races and religions and cultures to mix," said Henderson, an adjunct professor at Eckerd College. "We were here the year of the riots and we had Circus McGurkis the next day. In some ways, it's an opportunity to show that everyone can come together and the best in all of us will come forward."

But the peace and love hippies of yesteryear had a hard time finding a place to hold the first gathering.

"We weren't considered desirable folks," the late Christine O'Brien told the St. Petersburg Times a few years ago.

"The city parks department didn't want us to use a more visible park. Park after park, they turned us down."

They got Lakeview Park, the now renamed Dell Holmes. The renovated area, though, no longer suits the event's needs, organizers say. The new location, Lake Vista Park, in the Pinellas Point neighborhood, has plenty of parking and is convenient to get to, Stemm said.

'Hippies never die'

More than 100 vendors are expected Saturday. One is Emily Hagan, who has been attending the circus for about 30 years.

"I feel it's a place to find your tribe, people of like mind," she said.

For the past eight years, Hagan has been helping her daughter, Tamara Leavy, sell clothes from Bali that feature multicultural symbols.

Hagan is selling something new this year, a prepackaged piece of cloth that is supposed to release toxins and shrink inches from the body.

"It's just like a fun thing," she said, laughing. "I've been waiting for this my whole life."

Ellis, the woman who started out selling patchwork pillows, has moved on to other items.

"Right now, I'm selling painted rocks. They call me the Rock Lady. I started doing that because kids were given a quarter to spend. I put 'I love you, Mom' or 'I love you, Dad' on them. Now I have about 1,000 sayings I put on them. I was the cat lady. I sold stuffed cats. I named them and people bought them," she said.

This year, Ellis is also selling handmade cards and angels.

There is a reason she keeps returning to Circus McGurkis.

"It's a place that I only see people once a year. The spirit is so laid back and so loving," she said.

"I am a hippie. Hippies never die. We're perennial. I put that on a rock."

Waveney Ann Moore can be reached at wmoore@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2283.

If you go

Circus McGurkis

The circus runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Lake Vista Park, 16th Street and 62nd Avenue S, St. Petersburg. Vendors can register after 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Call Julie Martin at 768-3890 or go to www.circusmcgurkis.org.

[Last modified October 16, 2007, 22:51:19]