Clown supremacy
Local Shriners are ‘extraordinaire’

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The road to the top clown in the land seems to run through Logan County. For the past decade, local members of the Antioch Shrine Funsters have been serious contenders in the International Shrine Clown Association’s annual top clown competition.

Bret Stahler has won about a half-dozen titles with his most recent coming in last year’s Clown Extraordinaire competition. This year, Ed Peters returned with the title.

Mr. Stahler, 49, has been clowning for 35 years. Mr. Peters, also 49, is relatively new — he developed his persona Squeezer just seven years ago.

“We have a strong group of clowns with guys like Ed, Brian Kennedy and Fritz Krouskop,” Mr. Stahler said. “We’re really unstoppable. I’d put us up against any clowns in the U.S.”

The Clown Extraordinaire is just five years old. Before that, the ISCA would bestow the Hambone award on the top clown.

Initially, the Hambone was little more than “a beauty pageant” in which judges would award the honor solely on makeup and attire, Mr. Stahler said. Over the years, the association began putting more emphasis on the clown’s act and curbside appeal.

When the Hambone designation was dropped in favor of the Clown Extraordinaire, ISCA decided to throw a new wrench (and it might actually be a wrench) into the mix: props.

“You have to stand in front of this table,” Mr. Peters said, “and they dump common items onto it. You have to take the items and do something funny with it.

“Last year it was a bunch of plungers of different size. This year it was two pieces of PVC pipe and an airline barf bag.”

Mr. Peters said he put the large diameter PVC around his hands and forearms and held the bag out at the end of a pipe with his right hand. He started humming a Scottish lilt and banging the pipes together while marching around.

“And I turned to the judges and said incredulously, ‘What? I’m just playing my bag pipes,’” Mr. Peters said.

He said the judges and audience roared with laughter.

For Mr. Peters, clowning is a big departure from his job as a Bellefontaine Police Officer.

Once the makeup goes on, he can be his loud boisterous self instead of the stoic, firm Sgt. Peters.

“It’s a lot of fun being a Mason and a Shriner,” he said, and he learned that at a young age.

He remembers his parents, James and Miriam Peters getting dressed up and heading off for Masonic events dances.

He also remembers growing up watching Mr. Stahler perform as a child clown.

Those influences compelled Mr. Peters to seek Masonic membership with a goal of joining the Funsters.

He hopes his hobby brings joy to injured and ill children and raises awareness for the Shriners Burn Hospital in Cincinnati.

At the February competition, Mr. Peters also placed second in the one-man (white face clown) skit and took third in the oneman (character) skit.

Mr. Krouskop teamed with Mr Kennedy to take first in the two-man skit.

The local men joined with two other Imperial Shrine officers to win first in the three- to five-man skit and the group skit competition.

Mr. Kennedy was appointed the public relations chairman of ISCA for 2008.

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