01.08.2011
Organized by C4C in cooperation with Kladno City Hall, the three day long Dr. Clown Amusement Fair, with fun and breathtaking rides and lots of attractions for young and old, served as the launching platform for C4C’s new Dr. Clown city bus.
With its catchy, larger than life graphics, the bus is a real head-turner indeed. It will be plowing Kladno’s streets to raise awareness for C4C’s Dr. Clown initiative and its popular “Smile Therapy”, helping children with serious illnesses overcome the trauma of prolonged hospitalization.
Alena (Aja) Zdvihalova, C4C’s PR & marketing manager, organized the event by partnering with Josef Tříska, owner of Svět zábavy (World of fun.
The fair, and the various festivities around the launch of the Dr. Clown city bus, proved to be a popular weekend past-time for young and old “Kladnonians” alike.
“The weather played along beautifully and at some point it looked like the whole city of Kladno showed up”, smiles Aja, scanning the crowd, “it’s just incredible and very gratifying!” Aja had spent months organizing and planning the occasion.
As part of C4C’s Coins 4 Children initiative, all commercial participants agreed to support the expansion of the Dr. Clownprogram with a percentage of their sales.
The memorable event took place under the auspices of Miss Czech Republic 2010, Iveta Lutovska, and Kladno’s popular ice hockey team, home to hockey giant Jagomir Jagr. Together they took the lead in christening the bus, drenching it with Champagne amid loud cheers and well-wishing from all sides.
“This second Dr. Clown city bus is a dream come true for me and the result of great team-working and cooperation with our partners and patrons”, elaborates Rafal Wojas, C4C co-founder and Dr. Clown program manager. “A couple of special ‘Thank Yous’ go to CSAD for giving us this bus again free of charge, as they have the previous one, to Halo Reklama, Kladno, for the printing work and to photographer Martina Jansova for the pictures on the bus”, Rafal continues.
Rafal is credited with starting the first and original hospital clown program in the Czech Republic as early as 1999. Adopting an all-inclusive approach, the program endeavors an around-the-clock Dr. Clown presence in participating hospitals.
“Clown visitations only last a few hours and usually do not happen every day”, explains Rafal, “that’s why we have created our Dr. Clown Clown Corners for hospitalized children.”
Created by well-known children’s artist Romana Angelova, the colorful Dr. Clown Corner concept includes floor games, coloring books and balloon art utensils to help distract the children from the sometimes strange and frightening hospital environment. Next on the Dr. Clown drawing board are especially configured desktop computer stations with additional wholesome entertainment possibilities for children fighting boredom and illness.
Several performances by local celebrities augmented the festivities, as Pavel Mašálek, singer and frontman of band ONE and the duo MAYDAY took center stage, riveting the audience with their catchy tunes.
Adding the proverbial cherry on the cake to an already full day, as darkness set upon the fairgrounds on Saturday, the renowned Czech Fire-Show Team” Pa-li Tchi” wowed the crowd with an incredible display of their rare craft, literally lighting up the sky!
And as the bus revved up its engine to resume its daily duty of transporting thousands of passengers, it also takes with it a message of hope and joy for children fighting sickness and disease.
