GREENFIELD — “I got my clown noses, I got my dimple stickers, we’re all set,” said Bogey the clown, aka Ed Batchelder, a Springfield-based Melha Shriner, before Franklin County Fair’s opening day parade Thursday.
Near the fairgrounds, Batchelder along with other Shriners, including Bert Krasner, a 50-year veteran clown who held out a “cheer up” pin when asked about his clown name, and Chris Howe, head honcho of the band of clowns under his pseudonym, Chief Clown Chow, pulled on wigs and donned red noses in preparation for the day’s festivities.
But, it’s not all clowning around — behind the makeup, there’s more serious work being done.
“We’re basically the face of the Shriners Hospital. It’s all about the kids,” Batchelder said as he cut the fingers off cotton yellow gloves, adding that he’s an apprentice clown and has yet to attend “clown college,” where he’ll learn important clown skills such as blowing balloon animals and juggling.
During a break in preparations, Krasner said when they’re not clowns, Shriners work every job from law enforcement to teaching to accounting. Another clown is a retired Airman with the Air Force and a stay-at-home dad.
Despite holding varying jobs while out of costume, the clowns are united in a deep-seated desire to make a difference in their prospective communities — an ambition shared with about 1,200 other western Massachusetts members and almost 200 Shrine centers nationwide.
Donations from the clowns — raised a few different ways, such as sponsorship by local businesses and by working at events — go directly to about 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children, located throughout the United States and Canada.
In the state, there are at least two hospitals, including one in Springfield and another in Boston.
“We will not turn any child away,” said Potentate Brian Connor, leader of the Springfield Melha Shriners. “Doing events like this helps keep our hospitals going.”
On the organization’s website, members are described as “men of good character,” who serve through philanthropy to support its children’s hospitals. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., the society was founded in 1870 and has more than 300,000 members.
Across western Mass., the Shriners are a common sight at parades and other community events, often driving go-carts wearing their iconic tall red hats, or suited in blue and gold clown costumes similar to Batchelder’s.
After the parade stepped off at 5 p.m., the clowns fell into character by falling out of step. While one careened around on a motorized scooter, another asked kids for high-fives that were too high for them to reach.
Batchelder spent the roughly two-mile march along the crowd-pressed streets from the middle school, down Main Street, to the fairgrounds, putting on “dimple stickers,” passing out fake noses and posing for selfies.
“Number one, it raises money for the hospitals and for our children,” said Shriner John Fiske, who brought his miniature 18-wheeler truck to the parade. “Number two, where else can you have so much fun doing something good? You’ll never meet a better bunch of guys.”
The next big event in Franklin County hosted by the Shriners will come later this year on Oct. 14, when the clowns again take over the fairgrounds for the Melha Shriners Thrills and Chills Fall Feztival. Connor said that show will feature events such as monster trucks and demolition derbies.
For more information on the Shriners, visit www.melhashriners.com
You can reach Andy Castillo
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On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo