Public invited to marker's unveiling ceremony Friday

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Clifotn robert Sparks, Jr----circus baby

Historian Betty Dan Spencer holds a 1915 Route Book of the Sparks Circus, which includes a photograph of Charles Sparks, the beloved manager. The Route Book is part of Paul Bernhardt's collection. Photo by Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post

A poster from the early Sparks show features acrobats. Photo by Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post

The city of Salisbury and the Public Art Committee will unveil the Sparks Circus History and Art Trail marker Friday as a kickoff to the OctoberTour weekend.

"Showtime" is 4 p.m. Friday for the unveiling. The marker will be located at the Yadkin House (former Yadkin Hotel) at the corner of Depot and East Council streets.

This will not be a typical unveiling. The public is invited to share in popcorn, peanuts and Cheerwine.

John Lowery of Salisbury will play a street organ. A calliope from Dan Nicholas Park also will play circus music.

Tickets for free rides at Dan Nicholas Park and "Downtown Dollars" will be given away as part of the unveiling.

The trail marker, to be placed on the Yadkin House building, utilizes a Sparks Circus season pass once given to the A.H. Graf family of Salisbury.

Germaine Bundy Beard Whitaker provided the ticket for reproduction purposes, and she will present it to the Rowan Museum when the trail marker is dedicated Friday.

The former Yadkin Hotel was chosen for the marker's placement because Sparks manager Charles Sparks and other executives with his circus lived there during their winter stays in Salisbury after the hotel was built in 1912.

Before the hotel's construction, Sparks and his wife, Addie, lived during the winters with Mr. and Mrs. D.L. Saylor on West Innes Street. Many of the performers stayed at the Ford Hotel, no longer in existence.

The Sparks Circus wintered in Salisbury from 1910-1919.

Paul Bernhardt, owner of Bernhardt Hardware, has always been Salisbury's authority on the Sparks Circus, though he's too young to have seen its performances.

In recent days, in anticipation of the marker's dedication, his hardware store set up a window display devoted to the Sparks Circus.

Some of the artifacts displayed include original Sparks posters, a mallet used to drive in the stakes of big tops, a long herald trumpet that announced different acts and a circus horse harness.

In 1984, Bernhardt put together a small book and photographs on the Sparks Circus and its winter stays in Salisbury.

He is a member of the Circus Historical Society and Circus Fans of America and has been a big supporter of the Circus World Museum.