Clown school graduates plan to make a career of being silly

The Lathrem Senior Center on Glengarry Drive in Kettering graduated its first clown class Friday, Dec. 11.

After a graduation performance, Daffy Dill, Plucky, Miss Chievious and Betty Bright might join Kettering Medical Center’s hospital clowning program or perform at local events.

Andrea Schott, aka Sparklelee, class instructor, is part of Giggles and Grins Clown Alley, a professional clown club in Fairborn. She started the class in September.

“Well, I thought it’d be fun,” said Schott, adding that many senior centers have clown groups. “It’s an activity, but it’s also very giving. I think it’s because we allow people to connect with their inner child,” said Schott, also a Lathrem Center education coordinator.

For their final exams, Miss Chievious and the other clowns modeled their costumes for judge Folly. Folly, or Anita Gerstle, is a clown in Kettering Medical Center’s Anything But Serious clown troupe and helped teach the class.

The graduates also made a dog sculpture and displayed their magic skills.

Learning the art of silly is more fun than work. Daffy Dill, Plucky, Miss Chievious and Betty Bright, also known as Darla Waln, Judy Kelly, Arlene Ramsey and Betty Kelley, threw their red noses in the air to mark the official end of the ceremony.

Kelly, of Kettering, chose the name Plucky because it means spirited. “I passed clown kindergarten finally. It was neat to share it with everybody,” said Kelly.

Kelly wants to join the Kettering Medical Center clowns, who make hospital visits at least once a month, said Linda Farley, chaplain and manager of spiritual development and research at Kettering Health Network. “What the clowns do is they lighten the seriousness. They take the heavy weight of illness for a few moments and carry it to a different realm,” said Farley.