Buddy The Clown

By G. E. Shuman

I have a friend who’s a real clown. He just is. No, wait, I’m serious. He’s a real clown… a REAL clown. In fact, he comes from a whole family of clowns. I’m not clowning around here, and I’m not kidding, either. Buddy really does come from an entire family of REAL clowns. In fact, if you can believe it, this clown family’s last name is Jolley. Seriously, it is. I guess, with a last name like that one, what else could a family be, but a bunch of clowns? I mean, if my last name was Baker, I’d probably start making cakes. Anyway, you get what I mean.

Although I just told you that I’m not clowning around here, my friend Buddy does a LOT of clowning around. Buddy is simply everywhere, spreading laughter, smiles, and balloon animals all across Vermont and New Hampshire. There really is only one, authentic, Buddy the Clown, even though he seems to be at every parade, park, and party around.

Believe it or not, my buddy, Buddy, can even be found on railroad trains. In fact, my family and I most recently saw Hobo Buddy, (Buddy’s most recent adaptation,) riding the rails of Hobo Junction Railroad in Lincoln NH. He wasn’t actually “workin’ on the railroad,” because Hobo’s don’t work. Right? Or was he? I’m not sure. He looked to me to be having way to much fun to be working. The Hobo Junction train chugs for about forty minutes, far out into the woods, and then stops and goes into reverse. That’s when my ‘Pied-Piper’ friend Buddy goes into full speed ahead and into action, entertaining kids and parents, all the way back to Hobo Junction. I guess that means that Buddy really isn’t going anywhere, unless you believe, as do I, that making a good living bringing smiles to parents and laughter to their children is going quite far.

Yes, we rode the rails with Hobo Buddy that day. We then returned to the station, for more jokes and juggling at Buddy’s hilarious balloon and magic show. What a great time that was!

It’s usually easy to find Buddy. Just find a crowd of people who seem to be having tons of fun. He’s probably right in the middle of it. If you don’t see him around, check out: buddytheclown.com. My buddy, Buddy the clown, is family fun and pure entertainment as it used to be, and as it should be. No foolin’!