IJA eNewsletter – February 2024

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www.juggle.org		    IJA eNewsletter
   February 2024Editors: Don Lewis & Martin Frost
(ijanews@juggle.org)

CONTENTS

  • 2024 IJA Festival
  • IJA Board nominations open
  • IJA Juggling Championships entry open
  • IJA Numbers Championships
  • 2024 IJA Festival scholarship applications open
  • Visit Lambeau Field in Green Bay
  • A few stray memories of Art Jennings
  • IJA Board meetings
  • Latest articles in eJuggle

 

 

2024 IJA Festival  by Afton Benson

IJA 2024 Festival Green BayIJA 2024 Festival Green Bay

Only five short months until the 2024 IJA Festival in Green Bay Wisconsin!  The festival team has been hard at work securing outstanding performers and creative workshops for the week.  The hotel room block is nearly 50% sold!  Now’s the time to get your friends together, register for the festival, and secure your festival hotel today. Planning to enter the IJA Juggling Championships?  Be sure to register and submit your video by May 10, 2024! Love Joggling?  We’ve got you covered — you can register to compete when you sign up for the festival.  If you can’t make it to the festival, we’ve got an online competition as well.  Click here for more information about Joggling. If you’re getting to the festival early in the day on Monday, you will not want to miss out on the Green Bay Bus Tour, Pub Crawl, and visit to Lambeau Field.  Tickets are limited, and you must be 21 to participate.  Information and tickets here! Head to the IJA Festival website to see details and register today.  We can’t wait to see you in Green Bay!

 

All the best,
Afton, Noel, Shivella, Ross

 

 

IJA Board nominations open   by Martin Frost

Nomination are open for members of the IJA Board of Directors.  Board members will be elected during the annual IJA Festival in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with all IJA members age 13 and over eligible to vote at the festival or online leading up to the festival.

The IJA Board of Directors manages this nonprofit corporation for the benefit of its members.  The board is composed of seven people, with elected directors serving two-year terms.  Approximately half of the seats are up for election each summer.

The directors are asked to meet in person at the summer festival.  Each board member is expected to communicate regularly by email, must have web access, and will attend online meetings once or twice a month.  Directors should expect to spend some hours each week on behalf of the IJA.

In addition, all candidates should understand that the members of the Board of Directors are legally responsible as fiduciaries in setting the goals and policies of the IJA, managing its finances, overseeing its employees (if any), and administering its programs.  At all times, the members of the Board of Directors must act in good faith and in the best interest of the corporation.  The IJA maintains Directors and Officers insurance as a protection.

This is a great opportunity for you “to render assistance to fellow jugglers.”  Nominate someone, including maybe yourself.  That’s right, it is perfectly acceptable to nominate yourself.

Information about the nomination process is available at juggle.org/business/nominations.

The nomination deadline is 11:59pm PDT on May 15, 2024.  Participate!

 

 

IJA Juggling Championships entry open  by Martin Frost

IJA members can now sign up to compete in this year’s IJA Juggling Championships in Individuals, Teams, and Juniors divisions.  The championships will take place on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at the festival in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Check out the rules and enter today.  The IJA draws jugglers from around the globe to compete in the Championships.  Don’t miss your opportunity to shine!  Deadline to submit your application, video, and fee is 11:59pm ET on May 10, 2024.

 

 

IJA Numbers Championships  by Martin Frost

The IJA Numbers Championships will take place on Friday, July 12, 2024.  The entry fee is $25.00, a slight increase to stay in line with joggling and championship fees.  You can sign up and pay the entry fee for Numbers at the festival.

This year’s Numbers directors are Heather Marriott and Nick Thomas (taking over from Merry Spahr and Scott Cain, whom we thank for their years of service to Numbers!).  Questions can be directed to numbers@juggle.org.

 

 

2024 IJA Festival scholarship applications open  by Afton Benson, IJA Treasurer

The IJA J. Todd Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund is still accepting applications for 2024 IJA Festival Scholarships.  If you have wanted to attend an IJA Festival but have not had a chance and some support would help, apply!  Priority will be given to individuals who have not attended an IJA Festival before.  You can find the application here.  Please share info about this scholarship far and wide — it is open for jugglers around the world.  Applications close at 11:59pm PDT on March 15, 2024.  Scholarships will start being awarded (and recipients notified) well before the application deadline.  The last awardees will be informed by May at the latest.

This fund is named in honor of Todd Smith, one of the world’s top manufacturers of juggling equipment.  Todd was known for giving away props to aspiring jugglers and had the nickname of “the juggler’s friend”.  This scholarship fund will support new jugglers who have not had the chance to attend an IJA Festival.

Big thanks go to the fund’s donors for their generosity: Arthur Lewbel, Mike and Marilyn Sullivan, Unna Med, and a number of other jugglers.  Since 2022, the Scholarship Fund has provided support to 43 jugglers from around the world to attend the IJA’s Annual Festival.

Interested in supporting the J. Todd Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund?  Fantastic!  You can donate here today.  Any questions can be directed to treasurer@juggle.org.

 

 

Visit Lambeau Field in Green Bay  by Mike Sullivan

Lambeau FieldSign up for the 2024 Green Bay Bus Tour & Pub Crawl now!

Every fan of American football knows the storied history of Lambeau Field, the legendary home of the Green Bay Packers, who to this day still hold more professional football titles than any other NFL team, ever.

During our festival week, you’ll have a special opportunity to tour Lambeau Field, the Packers Hall of Fame, the Packers Pro Shop, and even go down to field level and see where so much NFL history has been made, up-close.

It’s an incredible experience, whether you’re a Packers fan or not.  Even non-football fans will be impressed by it all, and it’s something you will always remember about your week in Green Bay.

The Lambeau Field tour is just one stop among several on the special IJA pre-fest bus tour of Green Bay, set for Monday afternoon, July 8.

We’ll depart from the Hyatt Hotel at 1pm and visit all our festival venues, including The Meyer Theater, the KI Center, many area restaurants and bars, the riverfront Hagemeister Park dining area, Lambeau Field and the amazing National Railroad Museum.

Lambeau FieldWe’ll slake our thirst along the way with a pint or two of some great local Wisconsin brews, including plenty of time at Lambeau Field and the 1919 Kitchen and Tap.  By dinner time, we’ll be back near the Hyatt for a final draft and optional group dinner at one of the great casual restaurants near the hotel.

Tickets for all this, including our custom charter bus, admission and tour at Lambeau Field, our tour of the National Railroad Museum, and two local drafts at our pub stops, are just $85 each.  Best of all, you’ll be with dozens of your new (or old) juggling friends!

Be sure to make your travel plans so you arrive into Green Bay in time for our 1pm CT departure on Monday afternoon!

Get your tickets now in the IJA Store.  Sign in to your IJA account and then look for 2024 Green Bay Bus Tour & Pub Crawl and Lambeau Field.

Any questions?  Please email vendors@juggle.org.

See you on the bus!

Mike Sullivan
Tour Organizer

 

 

A few stray thoughts about Art Jennings  by Don Lewis

I was recently discussing the upcoming IJA Festival, and afterwards Art Jennings started wandering through my memory.  He was a fixture at IJA Festivals, and I was fortunate to have met him.

My first festival was the IJA’s 50th in Pittsburgh, PA.  Convinced to attend by friends in Montreal, I had no idea what to expect.  Walking into a gym full of good jugglers is just a bit intimidating at first!  I met up with my friends and started to understand just how the festival works.

On the second day, I was standing around talking with some friends and an older gentleman walked over and joined the conversation.  I was amazed that I was actually meeting a revered founder of the IJA — Art Jennings in the flesh.  When he discovered that it was my first festival, he proceeded to give me an oral history of the IJA, until someone else came and dragged him away.  A conversation with Art often turned into a rambling monolog of fascinating stories about his life and times.  The man could talk passionately about anything that interested him, and he rarely had to repeat himself because he had done a lot of unusual things in his life.

One of the things that he loved to see was a good juggling routine on stage.  He often would say, to anyone who was listening, that a good act had to tell a story, with a beginning, middle, and end.  He was less interested in acts that only featured technical juggling.

At subsequent festivals, I always made a point of stopping to chat with Art when I could catch him between conversations.  Not always so easy because he made a point of talking to pretty much everybody.

One minor memory that popped to the surface was of the Montreal festival in 2000.  I asked if his hotel room was comfortable enough.  He replied that it was except for one serious shortcoming.  All the coat hangers in the closet were wire ones, and he wanted to hang his tux on a wooden hanger.  Curiously, it was surprisingly difficult to find a store with wooden hangers downtown, and he was not interested in plastic of any kind.  I did get one finally — from home.

Art seemed to know everyone who had been in vaudeville and had a story to tell about them.  His memory for people and events was prodigious.

Another favorite topic of his was his cars.  He liked Cadillacs that had been specially modified to transport all his stage props and costumes.  He liked to project a successful image.

Art was a fascinating man, and not to be forgotten.

Editor’s note:  Do you have some memories of Art that you would like to share?  Write them up and email them to ijanews@juggle.org.

 

 

IJA Board meetings  by Ross Berenson, IJA Board ChairIJA Board meetings

IJA Board meetings are open to all IJA members and are hosted on Zoom.  To find out the times of this month’s vision and business meetings, or to attend, please email ija.chair@juggle.org and say which meeting you’re interested in.

 

 

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