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Circus Fun Erupts When Seuss Is Honored With Reading, Stamp
Maryland Newsline Friday, March 12, 2004; audio added March 16, 2004 BALTIMORE—Though the painted clowns distracted a few of the children and the Cat in the Hat attempted to wow them, most of the students kept their rapt focus on the words – a cadence of silly rhymes describing a circus more fantastic than any ever seen. The words were written by Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, and the celebration at the University of Maryland Baltimore was in honor of his 100th birthday March 2. The morning kicked off with Baltimore Postmaster Kelvin Mack’s unveiling of a new 37-cent Seuss stamp commemorating the author and his colorful characters. But it took on a whole new dimension when Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Ringleader Johnathan Lee Iverson, decked out in a red suit and top hat, gave a booming rendition of Dr. Seuss’ book “If I Ran the Circus” to a crowd of Baltimore elementary school students.
Clowns, mascots and volunteers in red-and-white striped hats like those of “Cat in the Hat” fame completed the lively picture. Many of the children were wearing clown masks themselves, and when the reading was over, they kazooed “Happy Birthday” to Dr. Seuss and then were led in a celebratory dance. “I thought it was fun,” said Sean Stanfield, a James McHenry Elementary School third grader. “I liked it when we was dancing with the cow and Poe (the Baltimore Ravens’ mascot) and the Cat in the Hat, and I liked when the man was reading the book.” Sean said his favorite book is Seuss’ “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.” Many of the other children said a Dr. Seuss book was their favorite. At the end of the event, each child was given a Dr. Seuss book, said Carolyn Pritchett, a debt management counselor at the University of Maryland, who began organizing the event a year ago to show Baltimore city schoolchildren how fun reading could be. “Some of them have never had their own book before, and they love to read,” Pritchett said. She has led an effort that has brought thousands of books into two Baltimore elementary schools that did not have functioning libraries.
The Seussentenial will get more books into Baltimore schools, Pritchett said. To one side of Friday’s celebration was a table where people could purchase Dr. Seuss books, either to keep or to donate to a school. Ten had been donated before the end of the event, Pritchett said, and people were lined up, waiting to buy. The post office unveiled the stamp Friday to bring attention to its release, said Bob Novak, Baltimore District Postal Service spokesman. But the new stamps had attracted attention even earlier. “We received a lot of requests for them before they went on sale,” Novak said. In the six days between the stamp’s release and the ceremony, buyers in Baltimore City picked up 12,000 Seuss stamps -- an unusually high number, Novak said. The Baltimore Postal Service will reorder once the 40,000 stamps it has in stock run out. The Postal Service printed 172 million of them. “We expect the demand to be pretty high, because I think that’s a stamp that will appeal to a wide variety of customers,” Novak said. Postmaster Mack told the students he had read Dr. Seuss books for years. “I know I enjoyed Dr. Seuss with my own children, and I read it to them regularly, and now I read it with my grandson,” he said. “Most importantly, read, read, read.” In the spirit of the circus atmosphere, a clown suddenly interrupted Mack by sticking something to his face. His speech ended with the sound of children’s laughter. Copyright © 2004 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism
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