Lynchburg Business

Send in the Clowns

Issue: May 2010 by Chris McCune in Inside The Magazine, Non-Profit

If you have never thought of using the words “clowns” and “Freemasons” in the same sentence, consider this an education of sorts.

Hundreds of years ago, craftsmen and stonemasons would gather in shelter houses or lodges to create what would come to be known as the largest fraternity, Freemasonry. After a man joins and becomes a Mason, he then can work his way up to Master Mason. So what does all of this have to do with clowns, you may ask? Well, in order to become a Shrine Clown, you have to be a Shriner, and in order to become a Shriner, you have to be a Master Mason. It all makes sense now, doesn’t it?

Now that the connection has been established, it’s time to meet the local clown unit, Central Virginia Shriner Clowns. Currently there are a little over 20 members in the local clown unit, one that will be 94 years old this year, with Rusty Giles as the director for the past three years. Giles began his journey in 1973 when he became a Mason, and in seven years, had worked his way through to fill all the possible chairs, in order to become a Master Mason. In 2004, Giles was asked to join the Shriners, and from there, things progressed quickly. On a Monday in October of that year, he joined the Kazim Temple in Roanoke through the Lynchburg Shrine Club. By Wednesday night of that same week, he had joined the clown unit.

So how does one go about becoming a clown in two days?  For Giles, it was a lifelong dream; one that he was conditioned for from an early age. Giles’ father was a conductor for the railroad company here in Lynchburg and they lived near the train bed.  Hobos would ride the train from town to town and his father would occasionally bring them home to feed them sandwiches. Giles became fascinated by these men, by his dad being a Mason and by some of his dad’s friends being clowns. For him, it was a normal part of his childhood.

“I always knew that I wanted to be a Shrine Clown, but with working and having kids of my own, I just didn’t have the time,” Giles explained.

All of his childhood experiences finally came full circle though, and when he finally joined the Shriners on that fateful day in 2004, he knew exactly what kind of clown he wanted to be: a Hobo.  There are different types of clowns and one that is closely associated with a Hobo clown is a Tramp. Giles points out that the difference between the two is in the styling and the attitude.

“A Hobo clown will have clothes that look old but the clothes are neat, unlike a Tramp clown,” he said.

It’s not just the clothes though; it is also the way the clown acts. The Hobo is not unhappy about his situation as he knows that everything will turn out alright. A well-known example is Red Skelton’s clown character, “Freddy the Freeloader.”  Rusty took a liking to this character, as well as Emmett Kelly, a famous Hobo clown with Ringling Brothers.

As for Giles’ alter ego, he says that being a part of the Central Virginia Shriner Clowns means he gets to serve the mission of the Shriners in a very fun way. Currently, there are 22 Shriners hospitals across North America. These hospitals specialize in burns and orthopedics and only treat children up to age 18 (with the age extended to 21 if they are injured in military duty). With the doctors at these hospitals specializing in only one of these two medical areas, they are the best experts in their fields.

What most people do not realize is that being treated at a Shriners hospital is completely free. There is no social or financial status associated with treatment, either. All children in the age range are treated the same and at no cost. Up to two years ago, the hospitals didn’t even accept insurance but due to the economy, they started accepting insurance. Whatever the insurance doesn’t cover, however, is still free to the patients.

According to Giles, there are 30 children from our area that are currently being treated by the Shriners Hospitals. The two closest locations are Greenville, South Carolina, where the orthopedic hospital is located, and Cincinnati, Ohio, where the burn hospital is. Out of Giles’ group here, there is another group called the RoadRunners—many of whom are retired or have flexible schedules—and they take on the responsibility of driving these children and their immediate families to either of these hospitals in the group’s vans. Typically, two men go on this trip at a time, with money for the actual trip coming from the Kazim Temple in Roanoke.

Recently, there was one incident locally where a child was burned so severely that they had to airlift the child via helicopter, and due to the connections that the group has, they had a person signed up immediately to drive the child’s family to the hospital. Just like the treatments at Shriners hospitals are done at no charge, the shuttle service is also free to patients and their families.

Being a non-profit full of volunteer clowns, Giles says the local group does all sorts of events to raise money to cover their costs of operation and to support the hospitals. They perform at parades, festivals, for automobile dealers, at events such as Relay for Life (where Giles recently tied 150 balloon animals) and at retail events. Other than doing balloon animals, they also have two miniature Model T’s, some small motorcycles and a 1964 British Riley that was gifted to them, that they use to entertain the crowds.

“Our whole purpose is to raise awareness of what we do and to raise money for the hospitals so that the children can be treated at no cost,” Giles said.

The Shriner Clowns don’t just visit Shriners hospitals; they also go to Centra Health once a month and “clown” for the patients. It’s in these moments that Giles says he finds the most rewarding, which he says come in two parts.

“It is the satisfaction of not only being able to help children with their end goal, but it is also when you are performing and get to see the change you can make in people who may be having a bad day. You can lift them up and change their mood,” Giles said with a smile.

For the man who found inspiration for his alter ego through the character created by Red Skelton, a quote by Skelton himself seems to sum up Giles mission, as well as that of the Central Virginia Shriner Clowns:

“If by chance someday you’re not feeling well and you should remember some silly thing I’ve said or done and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled.” -Red Skelton