PEA RIDGE — The Circus is coming to town for two shows Sept. 15.

The Culpepper & Meriweather Circus will perform two shows on the Pea Ridge High School campus, sponsored joingly by the Pea Ridge Optimist Club and Pea Ridge Lions Club.

Advance ticket sales will begin Aug. 23 at several locations in Pea Ridge including: Arvest Bank, Community First Bank, Webb’s Feed and Seed, The Times office,BlackHawk Grill, AOK Insurance Office, Collier’s Drug Store and The Wright Stop in Garfield.

Advance tickets are $9 for adults and $6 for children. Tickets on teh day of the show are $12 and $7.

Shows will be at 5 p.m.

and 7:30 p.m. and will feature skilled performers, clowns and circus animals such as lions, tigers and ponies.

On Tuesday, Sept. 6, Skeeter the Circus Clown will visit to the schools in Pea Ridge, and possibly Garfield, to promote the circus.

The sponsoring Lionsand Optimists club members are sponsoring the circus as a service to the community, especially the children and youth, and as a fundraiser to help both clubs continue their work of community service and community betterment.

Lions Clubs traditionally support the conservation of eyesight, frequently assisting children in need of eye exams and eyeglasses, and offering adaptive training and employment training services for the blind, along with other local civic projects for community betterment.

Responding to Helen Keller’s 1925 challenge, Lions Clubs seek to be Knights of the Blind, the sight-impaired and hearing-impaired.

Optimist Clubs give high priority to the development of youth leadership, as well as engaging in other local civic projects. Optimist Clubs are dedicated to “Bringing Out the Best in Kids” and seek to be responsive to needs experienced in the community, involving volunteers in serving youth, living up to their name and maintaining upbeat attitudes, which they try to pass along tothe children they serve.

For more information online about the circus and about Lions Clubs and Optimist Clubs, go to www.lionsclubs.org, www.optimist.org, www.pearidgelions.com, www.optimist.org/visitorsmenu.cfm and www.cmcircus.com/program.

To contact the Pea Ridge Optimist Club or the Pea Ridge Lions Club, contact Sandy Lasater, Optimist president, at 903-6795 or e-mail sandy. [email protected], or Ken Hayes, Lions president, at 619-7108 or e-mail prlions@prark.org.

News, Pages 1 on 08/24/2011