For 40 years, the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus has been providing family-friendly entertainment all over the country.

On Sept. 1, it will be making a stop at Wellsville – again.

For the first time since 2019 and the fourth time overall, the Hugo, Okla.-based circus will be held at the Montgomery County town. It is scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the campus of Wellsville-Middletown High School with a big tent, animals, aerialists, fire easters, foot jugglers and daredevils.

The Wellsville Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the circus. Chamber president Tabitha Shramek plans to promote the event during W-M’s Open House on Aug. 13.

“People look forward to things like that,” Shramek said. “It’s good fun. You can bring anybody of all ages. Having something in town that people can look forward to can be great.”

Advanced tickets are $13 for adults and $8 for children between the ages 2-12 and seniors 65 and over. They can be purchased at the Montgomery Standard, Celestial Beauty, American Bank of Freedom in both Montgomery City and Wellsville and the Kissing Cow in Wellsville. Box office tickets are $16 for adults and $9 for children and seniors and will go on sale starting one hour before each show.

“We have 500 tickets to sell,” Shramek said. “We can do online ticket sales, but they have a set limit of what they sell for that. I’m hoping that with it being Labor Day, hopefully people will still come out for it because I know a lot of people have weekend plans.”

The Culpepper & Merriweather Circus began in 1985 with a small show that started with Robert Johnson, Jim Hebert and Curtis Cainan. In the early 2000s, new ownership moved its operations from Queen Creek, Ariz., to Hugo, Okla., which is nicknamed Circus City, U.S.A. The Culpepper and Merriweather Circus is known as one of the last traditional big top circuses.

“I really hope that more towns get it on their schedule and it can continue,” Shramek said. “Eventually, it will be sad when those big tops go away, especially in small towns.”

The circus runs 32 weeks out of the year and brings 90-minute performances to 200 towns in 17 states.

“That’s a lot of work,” Shramek said.

Shramek said she was contacted by a representative from the circus to set up plans to bring the event to Wellsville.

“They’re really good to work with,” she said. “They send you everything that you need.”

Shramek said she is thrilled that W-M is hosting the circus again. The circus was also held at Kiwanis Ballpark.

“The school has been great at working with us in securing a location because they do require quite a bit of space to do something like this,” Shramek said.
At 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 1, the circus will hold a tour and give patrons an opportunity to see the tent being raised.

“They will talk to you about their animals and how they care for them,” Shramek said. “They’ll talk to you about anything on the road that they do and how they do veterinary care and what their animals eat. It’s actually like a free show before the circus that you can go to.”

The concession stand, box office, pony rides, face painting, a giant slide and the moon bounce will open at 1 p.m., an hour before the first show begins.

Shramek said Skeeter the Clown, who is the traveling clown of the Culpepper and Merriweather Circus, will make a visit in Wellsville on Aug. 26, less than a week before the circus.

“She was also here in 2019,” Shramek said. “That’s what I was told. She will do like a 20-minute thing with the kids.”