![[juggling in Rockies photo]](Pics/news-rockies.jpg)
Juggling in the Rockies come July 12!
Juggling in the Rockies come July 12!
The 41st Annual IJA Convention will be held July 12-17 on the campus of the University of Denver in Colorado. The hosts, Tricia Allen and the Rocky Mountain Jugglers, promise a week of surprises!
The itinerary contains traditional activities and new additions. A street performers competition will be held in downtown Denver's mile-long 16th Street Mall. A Field Day features the Big Toss Up, joggling races, juggling lessons and workshops in unicycling, footbag, flying disc and skip rope. The awards banquet will be a casual outdoor barbecue with brief presentation. And Club Renegade will be bigger and better than ever!
There are a number of options for extended vacations. A small pre-convention retreat will be held July 9-12 in Estes Park, Colo., on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. Flying disk enthusiasts may opt to attend the Frisbee Golf Tournament July 10-11 in Fort Collins, Colo. (Call The Wright Life 303484-6932.)
During the convention, a one-day mountain tour will be offered. Following the convention, a week-long Rocky Mountain camping trip is scheduled from July 18-24. Space is limited on the mountain excursions, so make your plans early. Then, its the World Footbag Championships July 26-31 in Golden, Colo. (Call 303-278-9797. )
Make the IJA convention your opportunity to go cascading all over the Rockies! For more information on convention activities, call Tricia Allen at 303-322-2557.
![[juggling surfer photo]](Pics/news-surfer.jpg)
Eric Berg, juggling surfer
Eric Berg prefaced a description of his juggling feat with the explanation, "I am fascinated at the imagination of jugglers. So I finally came up with an idea of my own."
He grabbed his surf board and three clubs and headed for the California beach. The photo tells the rest - "Man Juggles While Surfing." Is there no end to jugglers' desire to combine their manual dexterity with other activities?
Berg said it was relatively easy. He's been a surfer for six years and a juggler for two. "The first time I got out there, I could do it," he said. The hardest part was holding onto the clubs while he paddled out to sea. He solved that by shoving them under the waistband of his wet suit.
He did admit, however, "Extra balance is necessary to juggle and surf, and I only start once I'm in full control of the situation. It's simply no fun losing clubs in the surf!"
It requires some refined surfing skills, he said. The 22-year-old California State - Long Beach student has plenty of that. He can hang ten, do 360-degree spins and even do a headstand on the board.
Other surfers have been supportive of his weekly show by letting him choose his waves and occasionally returning dropped clubs. "Where did you ever come up with that idea?" they ask him. His reply is a natural: "Jugglers have imagination!"
The IJA would like to thank the following people who have signed on as IJA Life Members since publication of the last issue of this magazine:
The IJA also recognizes eight "Honorary Life Members." elected by the membership over the years for their outstanding service to the organization: George Barvin, William Brown, Bill Dietrich, Roger Dollarhide, Art Jennings, Bernard Joyce, Roger Montandon and Stu Raynolds.
Paul Salerno intends to put juggler's scarfs and bean bags into the hands of recovering alcoholics and addicts as soon as they emerge from treatment.
With more than a dozen years of counseling experience in chemical dependency, Salerno has discovered many of the steps in learning to juggle are similar to those in the recovery process. He has developed a workshop for recovering alcoholics and addicts to help them reduce stress in their lives and boost supportive chemical-free relationships. He calls it "Juggling Toward Self Esteem."
He is featured speaker in January at a Milwaukee, Wisc., meeting of Single Alcoholics/Addicts Seeking Social Independence, a club organized to promote the well-being of recovering singles through recreation and education programs.
"I make the point in my presentation that it is important for people making a recovery to maintain a sense of humor and accept their limitations. There are certain challenges they'll meet and others they won't," said Salerno, a health counselor at the University School of Milwaukee.
He noted several obvious parallels between juggling and the recovery process. First, juggling requires the individual to focus on the task at hand. "For the recovering individual, it's often a matter of refocusing away from the user's attitude of addiction," he said.
The meditative qualities of juggling can help people learn to relax without the aid of chemicals, according to Salerno. Recovering individuals initially tend to be so intense they have forgotten how to be playful.
Most importantly for recovering individuals, juggling almost always attracts a crowd. Rediscovering and rebuilding chemical-free social relationships is often a key factor to ward off a relapse of dependent behavior.
"In the recovery world, there is much talk about the value of balance in one's life between the physical, emotional, social and spiritual self," said Salerno. "Juggling provides a visual experience of an attempt to maintain that balance."
Homer Stack, a vaudeville performer who taught and inspired many jugglers long after his own stage career ended, died Sept. 10, 1987, at age 96.
His home just south of San Francisco was visited regularly by aspiring performers who sought his suggestions for their acts and were eager to browse through his enormous collection of photos and memorabilia.
His own juggling career began in 1904 as a teenager. Inspired by a comedy juggler, Stack put together his own 13-minute silent routine. As a tramp character, he juggled three and five balls, clubs, a derby, and manipulated a broom and devil sticks.