Protest of Cortlandt Rotary Club Circus Having Reverse Effect
The president of the Rotary Club of Cortlandt Manor said opposition to a circus fundraiser in Verplanck this week has actually increased ticket sales.
An online petition of more than 1,000 signatures and a roadside protest in Montrose Saturday to the Kelly Miller Circus, scheduled to appear on the Mt Carmel Society grounds on Sixth Street Tuesday and Wednesday, has brought more attention to the event, according to Sharon Irving.
“We’re all resident of Cortlandt. Why would we bring in a bad circus?” Irving said. “It’s just not for everyone. I don’t like baseball but I don’t tell people not to go to Yankees games. If you don’t want to go, nobody if forcing you to go, but I don’t think it’s right to tell people what to do.”
In 2010 and 2011, the Rotary Club had the circus at Cortlandt Town Hall and on the grounds of a fire department in Croton Avenue. Irving, who noted she has invited protestors to tour the circus prior to the performances, said the circus generates a lot of revenue for the club and the community.
“We’re going to have the circus,” she said. “I’m not overly concerned.”
Opponents of the circus maintain animals are beaten and abused and claimed in the United States there are bans on circus animals in town and cities in 22 states, including several places in New York.
“Why, when there are so many other options for entertainment that don’t endanger our morals or our safety, would anyone, never mind a Rotary Club, want to bring a circus to town?” Putnam Valley resident Hillary Millman stated in a letter. “Other than greed, there is truly no reason to participate in a practice that’s widely considered barbaric, and every reason in the world to find other ways to entertain our citizens and raise money.”
“This is not something we want in our hometown,” said Katie Joblon, a Croton resident who graduated from Hendrick Hudson High School. “They’re (Rotary Club) not owing up. They’re not being held accountable. We’re not going to be silenced.”
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