By: Ed Stozek
For The Herald
Featuring trained animals and various other thrilling performances, the offer of free tickets to attend the circus was part of the excitement that my wife Janice and her fellow Grades 1 to 8 students experienced during the early 1960s. A large crowd aided local organizations in their fund-raising projects.
An open letter in the Dauphin Herald and Press by the Dauphin Junior Chamber of Commerce advertised the impending arrival of the King Brothers Circus with performances scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday, June 20, 1960. Special convoys used for the transportation of 50 wild animals, circus artists and equipment soon followed.
Under supervision by the Dauphin Jaycees the proceeds from ticket sales were to be used for the Jaycee Little League Baseball Park.
Two years later the Shrine Circus was scheduled to arrive for its first ever appearance in Dauphin. Sponsored by the Dauphin and District Shrine Club the Gil Gray Shrine Circus commenced on Wednesday, May 23, with matinee and evening performances at the DMCC arena. The 2-1/2 hour shows featured 46 acts suitable for all round family entertainment.
Business firms and merchants had been contacted earlier with requests to help in sponsoring children’s tickets in accordance with a plan used in other centres where the Shrine Circus was an annual event. All proceeds from this new community project were earmarked for the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg.
In mid-April a representative from the Shrine Circus organization, as well as two local members from Dauphin visited Ste. Rose to make preliminary arrangements for the distribution of children’s tickets by the town businesses. Since it was a first for the Shrine Circus to come to the area a large number of attendees were anticipated. In previous years one had to travel to Brandon or Winnipeg to attend the Shrine Circus. Dauphin’s ticket prices included $1.50 for adults and $1 for Grades 9 to 12 students. Tickets were available at the arena box office with no reserve seating. It was “first there, first served.”
One year later, on May 29, 1963, the Shrine Circus made its second appearance at Dauphin with local sponsors guaranteeing more than 3,000 free tickets to school age children for the action filled shows. For the second year the Shrine Club had been helped by sponsors who bought the tickets and distributed them to the elementary schools in the area.
“In addition to the 1,300 pupils in Grades 1 to 8 in Dauphin, tickets were also distributed as far east as McCreary, north to Winnipegosis and Pine River, west to Grandview and south to the park.” (May 29, 1963, The Dauphin Herald and Press)
The first performance at 1 p.m. at the DMCC arena was filled to capacity. The ensuing shows at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. also anticipated a “full house” as families were encouraged to attend.
At a Shriner’s social event held at the King’s Hotel on June 22, 1964, John Gardner outlined the concept of a Shriner’s hospital for handicapped children and indicated that the first hospital was opened in Louisiana in 1922 to treat children irrespective of race, creed or colour. In 1925 the Khartum Temple developed a mobile unit in Winnipeg based out of the Children’s Hospital. By 1949 the project of a new self-contained Shriner’s for Handicapped Children’s Hospital was completed.
Located at 633 Wellington Crescent it replaced facilities at the Children’s Hospital and was turned over to the board of trustees in 1950 making the only occasion in all of Shriner history where a project was fully paid and completely free of debt. Gardner noted that 4,700 young children had already been treated.
The facility operated until 1977 when it was turned over to the provincial government and renamed the Rehabilitation Centre for Children. It closed in May 2016, and the buildings stood vacant, except for occasional use as movie sets, until being demolished in October 2022.
During the 1980s and 90s, Janice and I took our children to enjoy the Shrine Circus at the DMCC. Several years ago, we accompanied our grandson to a performance culminating three generations of our family members enjoying the sights, sounds and action associated with the circus.
