The Birth of Joy and Laughter	Speaking on Humor
All Kinds of Clown Fun	2001: A Clown Odyssey
Teaching at National Conferences	Toot the Person
Christian Clown Programs	Toot's Links
Hospital Clowning	Presentations 1999-2000

The Birth of Joy and Laughter

Have you ever hoped and prayed for something that seemed impossible?

Long ago, a woman named Sarah did. She wanted a child but was too old to have one.

One day she received a promise that she would have a child. It was so impossible that she laughed at the promise.

And God joined her in the joke. God said name your child "laughter." And when the child was born, she did.

Sarah said "God has brought me joy and laughter. Whoever hears of this will laugh with me." (Genesis 21:6).

Her child was named "Isaac" which means "He laughs." Isaac is one of the great heroes of the Bible. A reminder that God delivered something that seemed impossible.

You may be called to be a clown or to move more deeply into clowning. Perhaps you long to be more lighthearted or find new joy in living. Does that seem impossible to you?

Toot the Clown has learned and is continually re-learning that nothing is impossible with God. God can birth new joy and laughter in you.

Toot was born in the early 1980s in Anita Thies. Toot came to celebrate joy and wellness after Anita received healing from a major depression.

Through the years Toot has experienced all kinds of clown fun-doing birthday parties, school programs, business events, parades, arts festivals and community programs. She became a clown for hospice and was privileged to have special friendships with several children and their families. She began visiting hospitals and nursing homes and doing a variety of clown programs in churches.

As others wanted to join in the fun, Toot and Anita began to teach clowning. A group she taught for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in the 1980s began community service as "Clowns on Call." As the circle of fun widened, Toot joined the World Clown Association and Clowns of America International. She currently serves as President of the Happy Valley Alley of the World Clown Association in State College, PA.

In the year 2000, Toot and her friend Anita taught clown skills at three national conferences. She was thrilled to pack her clown shoes to:

• teach Christian clowning at the Caring Clown week of Clown Camp at University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse in May 2000
• teach and clown at the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women in Louisville, Kentucky July 2000
• teach "Getting Started in Hospital and Nursing Home Clowning" at the Impact Intensive Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin in November 2000.

In the year 2000, the Lord increased Toot's call to lead clown worship services and Christian clown programs in a variety of denominations. For a picture of a children's Christmas program that Toot did with friends on December 24, 2000, click here. For a list of Toot's gospel ministry presentations and Christian clown workshops in 1999-2000, click here.

Toot's hospital visitation experiences led Anita to co-author the booklet The Joyful Journey of Hospital Clowning. She helped develop the Clowns on Rounds hospital visitation program at Centre Community Hospital in State College, PA and developed a second clown character "Dr. Duck" for hospital visits. For a picture of Dr. Duck, click here.

Because Toot has seen how humor can transform situations, Anita began speaking on a variety of humor topics at state conferences including:

• "Letting Laughter Lighten the Load" (Annual Joint Chaplains Conference)
• "Humor Transforms" (State YWCA Pennsylvania Federation of Retired Persons)
• "Energizing Humor: The Amazing Power of Laughter" (Pennsylvania Association of Senior Centers)
• "The Role of Humor in Hospice" (Centre County Vo-Tech Classes)

Toot's clown journey continues in 2001 with plans that include:

• Leading clown worship for Huntingdon Presbytery's Stated Meeting of ministers and elders, in Belleville, PA March 27, 2001.
• Attending the national World Clown Association convention in Orlando, Florida April 24-29.
• Teaching nursing home clowning at the Presbytery School of Huntingdon Presbytery May 5 in Tyrone, PA.
• Doing Christian programs on Jesus is the Joy in My Heart for mother-daughter banquets May 12 in Allensville; May 14 in Mt. Union and May 16 in Reebersburg, PA.
• Teaching nursing home clowning to Presbyterian Women at Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA (Synod of the Trinity Gathering of Presbyterian Women) June 15-17.
• Teaching clowning to Girl Scouts coming to a Wider Opportunity conference at Penn State University June 20.
• Teaching Christian clowning to campers at Camp Kanesatake, near Spruce Creek, PA, during the weeks of July 16 and August 13.
• Teaching classes in hospital clowning, nursing home clowning, gospel clowning and leading clown worship at the Midwest Clown Association Roundup Oct. 3-7, Davenport, Iowa.

For more details on Toot's schedule, feel free to contact:

Anita Thies
761 Cornwall Rd.
State College, PA 16803
(814) 237-9466

e-mail:
athies@hotmail.com