The Bridgton Community Center is, well, exactly what the name says: set on a side road off of the downtown stretch of Bridgton, Maine, it hosts a variety of events and meetings.  The local snowmobile club, community luncheons, girl scouts meetings, and it's a really good place for a juggler to practice in the cold, datk winter months in Maine.  The center has allowed me to come in for 60 to 90 minutes three afternoons a week.  I've been doing it for years now.

Apparently, this winter, the community center has been publishing its schedule in the Bridgton News.  This schedule incudes my three practice sessions, but all it says is "Richard juggling in big room."  So last Friday, when I was alone working on routines, a family of four came in: grandparents, father and four year old Peter.  I knew there was a party coming in after me, so at first I assumed they were arriving early for that.  They, however, were coming to see "Richard juggling in big room." .  This led to  fairly lenghty and very confusing conversation where we were literally talking about two different things.  Finally it clicked.  They came for a show as promoted in the local newspaper.  

I asked for a few minutes to organize my props, set up four folding chairs for my newly arrived audience, and apologized for my clothes.  When I perform I dress in slacks, colorful shirt and vest, for practice I was wearing a tee shirt and sweatpants.  

Since I was working on specific routines, I had my show music with me, but not speaker.  With an audience of four, that was no problem; my i-pod put out enough volume for such a small crowd.  Once I was ready we had a great time.  Little Peter was adorable.  It's actually pretty rare that a child that young has the attention span to watch juggling for very long, but Peter loved it.  Having adults with him reacting to the routines I'm sure helped him stay focused.  

After an overview of juggling styles: balls, rings, diabolo, balance board, clubs and machetes, I had the chance to speak with this sweet family.  They were visiting from Massachusetts, and their hostess was busy for a while.  The grandfather saw the ad in the paper, and decided a juggling show was a good way to spend some unscheduled time.  I was so glad to be part of their Friday afternoon.