1 I 1 _ INSIDE THIS SECTION:
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L1I iviVjl LllVi OL41 1 "?"? l^eSports, Pages 10-12
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH'
Holder 1 Homeowner Biographer Of Circus Boss Ringling
BY DOUG RUTTER
What kind of man could have masterminded an
entertainment spectacle so colossal that it's
hilled as the "Greatest Show On Earth?"
There's probably nobody with a better answer than
?'? David Weeks, a Holdert Beach homeowner who has au
thored a biography of the late John Ringling and his role
; in creating the Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey
Kp Circus.
"He was a big spender," explained Weeks, further de
* scribing Ringling as a large, colorful man who lived lav
| ishly, loved smoking big cigars and driving Rolls
Royces.
Weeks, who spends four months each year at llolden
?. Beach, culminated 10 years of research and writing in
J October with the release of Ringling: The Florida Years,
i*; 1911-19.16.
The 350-page book is the most extensive look ever at
Ringling (1866-1936), but it focuses primarily on the
f last 25 years of his life, after he moved to Sarasota, Fla.
Weeks, a retiree w ho lives in the Gulf Coast city most
? of the year, wrote the biography for the John and Mable
Ringling Museum of Art. where he occasionally works
,\ as a lecturer and tour guide.
Weeks said the only other books ever written about
Ringling were filled with undocumented stories and
anecdotes. "As I say in my forward, everybody in
v Sarasota had a story about John Ringling and few if any
were true."
Weeks said he weeded the fact from fiction by talking
with Ringling 's relatives, studying estate papers, state
archives, personal papers and reading a lot of newspa
pers ? 28 years worth to be exact.
"I found that the research was fascinating," Weeks
said. "The writing was the hard part. You find, in doing
something like this, everything has to be verifiable.
Nobody wants your opinions."
Weeks, a bright 74-year-old who once worked for the
CIA, retired to Sarasota 12 years ago after working most
of his adult life in the Washington, D.C., area.
A llolden Beach homeowner since 1991 and island
visitor since the 1970s, Weeks said he had previously
written technical books, but never anything remotely
akin to a biography.
When he started his research, the only thing he knew
about Ringling was that his family ran a circus. Turns
out Ringling also was a major Florida land developer
who owned five short-line railroads and several
Oklahoma oil wells.
The Ringling brothers started their "Greatest Show
On Earth" from humble beginnings in 1884 in their
home state of Iowa They began with a small tent, 11
wagons and 22 horses.
John, one ol eight Ringling children, never performed
in the circus. For a short while though, he did have his
own "Dutch clown" act which was part of the "hall
shows" the Ringlings put on each winter when the circus
shut down.
Fortunately for John, who never relished the clown
act, the Ringling Circus quickly grew and really took oft
when the family purchased the Bamum & Bailey Circus
in 1906.
While his brothers tended to the circus. Weeks said
John preferred the business end and rarely associated
with circus people. "He was the one who was always out
in front getting all the publicity while his brothers were
back minding the store."
Although he was a great showman. Weeks said
Ringling was "reticent and almost shy" and despised
speaking in public.
"He had no close friends at all. He had thousands of
people that he called by name but none were close
friends," Weeks added.
Ringling and his wife Mable moved to Sarasota in
191 1 and made millions during the Florida land boom of
the 1920s. He moved circus headquarters to Sarasota in
1927, where it remains today.
But the circus isn't Southwest Florida's only reminder
of Ringling. He left most of his estate to the state of
Florida, including the 30-room Venetian palace known
as Ca d'Zan (House of John) and the art museum.
The home overlooking Sarasota Bay cost S2 million.
Today, Weeks said it would cost between $25 and $50
million to build, if the imported materials could be ob
tained trom Italy and Spain.
"It certainly is a good picture of how the rich lived in
the 1920s," Weeks said of the mansion and art museum,
which annually attracts 300,000 visitors.
STAFF PHOTO BY OOUG RUTTER
HOLDEN BEACH HOMEOWNER DAVID WEEKS has authored a biography about the late John
Ringling, creator of "The Greatest Show On Earth."
Another indication of Ringling's "Roaring 20s"
lifestyle is that he owed the Internal Revenue Service
S13 million in taxes when he died in 1936. The govern
ment ultimately settled for $850.(MN).
Weeks had a hard time comparing Ringling to any
modern-day millionaires, but likened him to network
mogul Ted Turner. "We can't put into the class of
Donald Trump because he didn't fly on that scale," he
said.
So how has the biography been accepted'.' "It's selling
very well at the museum bookstore if that's any indica
tion," Weeks said.
Published by University Press of Florida, the book
sells for $49.95 in hardback and $25 in paperback. It is
not available in local bookstores, but may be ordered at
L Bookworm in Holden Beach.
Some Names That Made
Local News During '93...
Here's a list of names that made the news in
Brunswick County in 1993 through honors, tragedy,
election, accident or other circumstance. They are in no
particular order:
? The Vitale family of Sunset Beach, winning
SI 0.000 on "America's Funniest Home Videos" for a
tape of their son with his head caught in an inhabited
"Kitty Kondo."
? Sheriff's Deputy Ronald Hewett. named state and
national Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
Officer of the Year for his efforts to keep local young
people off drugs and alcohol.
? Brunswick Community College President Michael
Reaves and Supply Elementary School Principal Car
olyn Williams, both earning doctoral degrees in 1993.
? Odell Williamson of Ocean Isle Beach, appointed
by Gov. Jim Hunt to the N.C. Board of Transportation
and leading the effort to route proposed Interstate 73
through Brunswick County.
? Larniece Laneer McKoy, 21, of Winnabow, cho
sen Miss Brunswick County, and Maleta Ann Murray of
Bolivia, Little Miss Brunswick County.
? Roney Cheers, elected president of the Brunswick
County Democratic Party.
? Shirley Babson, elected president of the
Brunswick County Republican Party.
? Glen Humbert of United Carolina Bank, chosen
the South Brunswick Islands Chamber of Commerce
Citizen of the Year.
? A1 Laughinghouse, also of UCB, becoming the
chamber's 1993 president.
? Other chamber honorees included
Annette Odom. winner of the president's
award for service; Sally Nord, volunteer of
the year; and Katherine Gossett. member of
the year.
? Amanda Scoggins. a 13-year-old Supply
resident, who walked again after a school bus
accident in March on U.S. 17 in which her
legs and pelvis were crushed. Willie Clarence Pridgen.
44, of Ivanhoe, was driver of the log truck which rear
ended the bus; he was charged with failure to reduce
speed to avoid collision.
represent Brunswick County in the Scripps Howard
National Spelling Bee.
? Richard and Barbara Kelly, recording local histo
ry with their well-received book Boat Builders
and Bug Hunters: The Carolina Watermen.
? Franda Dobson Pedlow. long-time
Holden Beach homeowner and visitor, published
Sand and Sea Fever, a history of Holden Beach
since Hurricane Hazel as related by area natives.
? Patricia Morton Gergel, author of Into
The Hurricane , a novel whose setting is Holden
Beach.
? Mina Mintz. who celebrated her 104th birthday
with friends, family and media Oc*. 28 at Shallotte's
Autumn Care nursing home.
? Jimmy Ludlum. 49, mourned by the Waccamaw
community when he died of a heart attack during a
men's church softball league game. Ludlum was a well
respected firefighter and coach of the Zion Church team.
? Crystal "Chris" Caudill of Varnamtown, losing
her four-year fight with cancer April 30. Caudill's un
successful bone marrow transplant received funding as
sistance from thousands of Brunswick Countians who
opposed her insurance company's refusal to cover the
experimental treatment.
? Caroline Sheffield. Shallotte Middle School
eighth-grader who traveled to Washington in June to
? Polly Russ, a Shallotte businesswoman and
Brunswick County Board of Education member, named
president of the Cape Fear Area United Way. She is the
first person from Brunswick County to hold that title.
? Eugene Tomlinson, a former mayor of Southport
and longtime member of the N.C. Coastal Resources
Commission, appointed its chairman in 1993 by Gov.
Jim Hunt.
? Mark Darby of Supply, a sixth-grade student at
Shallotte Middle School, chosen as an ambassador from
Brunswick County to the Bicentennial Celebration of
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He
brought back a Davie Poplar sapling which was later
planted in a ceremony at Shallotte Middle School as a
symbol of the university's outreach across the state.
Septic, Sewer Systems Remain
Topics For Board Discussions
BY DOUG RUTTER
It was no surprise that septic sys
tems and sewer systems continued
to be the two major issues at Holden
Beach in 1993.
The real debate started in Feb
ruary, when the community's waste
water management committee re
leased a study showing that two
thirds of the homes in rental
brochures advertise more sleeping
capacity than their septic systems
are designed to accommodate.
Commissioners agreed to send
letters to the most "flagrant viola
tors." There were 71 homeowners
who advertised that their homes
could sleep at least six more people
? than allowed by state law, which
limits occupancy to two people per
bedroom.
Town commissioners stopped
it short of adopting several wastewater
* committee recommendations aimed
I
at curbing the abuse of septic sys
tems. Among the
proposals was
one to prohibit
the "false adver
tising."
Talk turned to
sewer systems
later in the year,
when commis
sioners approved impact fees that
will require new homeowners and
business owners to help pay for sew
er and stormwater systems if they
are needed in the future.
Minimum fees are $1,000 for new
homes and 52,000 for new business
es. The town also is charging for ad
ditions and new driveways.
The fees are expected to raise
about $50,000 per year if current
building trends continue. Fees will
lie refunded if the town has not com
HOLDEN
BEACH
mitted to a sewer or stormwater sys
tem within 10 years.
In November, all five incumbents
who sought re-election were re
turned to office for another two-year
term, including Mayor Wally
Ausley. Dwight Carroll was elected
to his first term as commissioner,
joining incumbents Gay Atkins,
David Sandifer, Jim Fournier and
Sid Swarts.
Carroll had retired as building in
spector earlier in the year. Jim
McSwain served as inspector for six
months before resigning and being
replaced by Bill Goodman.
Carroll retirement wasn't the only
personnel move in 1993. In July,
Gary Parker resigned as town man
ager under pressure from commis
sioners, opening the door for Gus
Ulrich's return for a second stint as
manager.
Ring in 1994 in style at
^eanC<i laltuul r?W^e
New Year's Eve Party ? Friday, December 31
Featuring music by The Candy Man and Guest
This year is going to be the best one ever. We have planned and
worked very hard to give you the ball of your life!
DINNER FOR TW()-$52.50
?3-Course Dinner
Includes Appetizer of Angel Hair Pasta,
Shrimp Alfredo and Salad Bar
Your Choice Of:
?Deluxe Broiled or Fried Seafood
?Steak with Stuffed Shrimp
?Broiled or Grilled Grouper with
Sauteed Vegetables
?Begin your dinner and the
New Year with a complimentary
champagne toast
?Party favors
?All the dancing you can stand!
Don't be left out! Call now for reservations!
"Peanl'4, laiattd
Ocean Isle Beach Causeway ? 579-3787