City saddles up, wise-men style

In 10-year Christmas tradition, camel rides given in Fayetteville

Carl Walter, left, helps 2-year-old Anna Kate Davis onto a camel named Charlie as Anna's mother, Ashley Davis of Fayetteville, watches before going for a ride Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, on the square in Fayetteville.

Carl Walter, left, helps 2-year-old Anna Kate Davis onto a camel named Charlie as Anna's mother, Ashley Davis of Fayetteville, watches before going for a ride Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, on the square in Fayetteville.

Monday, December 24, 2012

— Every Christmas season for the past 10 years, a retired camel from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus has been on the downtown Fayetteville square providing rides.

Charlie, a one-humped male camel originally from Australia, is about 33 years old, said his owner, Steve Boger, of Kansas, Okla.

About 22 years ago, the circus donated Charlie to Boger, a former Ringling Bros. animal trainer and performer who rode buffalos throughrings of fire.

“We take exceptional care of Charlie,” Boger said. “He’s pretty special. The only work he does is on the Fayetteville square for a month. The rest of the year, he’s on vacation. The rest of the time, he just stands around and eats and just does what a camel does.”

Boger, a former Fayetteville and Springdale resident, owns Ham Bone Express, a company that provides a variety of animal-related entertainment, including pig and ostrich races at fairs. For the past decade, Ham Bone hasprovided the camels for the annual Lights of the Ozarks Christmas display, Boger said.

Boger said he usually has two camels on the square for Christmas, mainly so they’ll have company. This year, Charlie’s companion is Faye, a 5-year-old female camel.

Ham Bone Express has about 10 camels. They’re all dromedary, or one-humped camels, whose ancestors came from the Middle East or the Horn of Africa, Boger said.

Boger said he also hasthree camels in Memphis this Christmas season providing rides at an event called Starry Nights at Shelby Farms Park.

The camels have been on the Fayetteville square since Nov. 18 and will stay until Sunday, said Richard Hollander, a foreman for the Fayetteville square camel rides. They’ll even be providing rides on Christmas eve and Christmas, if the weather is good.

“We’re there every night unless it’s raining or super, super cold,” Boger said.

The rides take place around the parking area on the west side of the square, which is roped off, starting about 5 p.m. and usually continuing until about 9:30p.m.

Camel rides on the square cost $5 per person. On a busy night, there may be 400 customers, Boger said.

“On some nights when the weather’s bad, we might do four,” he said.

Other companies provide carriage and pony rides onthe square during the Christmas season.

The camel rides provide a unique attraction, said Marilyn Heifner, executive director of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission. People come to the square to see the Christmas light display, then they decide they want to take a camel ride.

And there’s a connection with Christmas.

“Those three wise men, they came on those camels,” Heifner said.

Heifner said the camels are fun to watch.

“They chew funny, and they walk funny,” she said. “They’re just aloof. They’re kind of oblivious to the whole thing.”

On Tuesday night, children were lining up for camel rides.

Each rider was required to wear a bicycle helmet disguised by a red stocking hat. The city of Fayetteville requires the helmets, Hollander said.

“It’s the only place we use helmets with our camels,” he said.

Heifner said the helmets are a safety precaution.

“It’s a long way down there,” she said, referring to the distance from a camel’s back to the street, which is about 6 feet.

A large bucket saddle helps provide stability for riders. Ham Bone Express workers lead the camels by rope, though Boger said the camels are cooperative and not inclined to bolt.

Rich Richardson of Springdale took his 2-yearold daughter, Lucy Jane Richardson, to ride the camels Tuesday.

“This is the third time,” he said. “We come every other day.”

Vada Burk, 9, of Fayetteville said she rode the camel so her cousin, Franklin Farrell, 3, of Springdale, would also ride. The camel ride wasn’t quite what she thought it would be, mainly because she was sitting so high in the saddle.

“It’s not a horse,” Burk said.

Younger children aren’t always so sure, Hollander said.

“Sometimes, little kids call the camels ponies,” he said.

Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/24/2012