Clowning Around at Tropic Star
by Eryn Reddell Wingert
Photos courtesy of Tropic Star Clown Troupe
In 1996, Velma Seutter came up with an idea to cheer up residents of Tropic Star RV Resort in Pharr. Gathering up a group of friends, she created a clown troupe.
The troupe started with about six performers, gradually growing to more than 25. They expanded from visiting anyone who was sick within the park to performing out in the local community, taking part in parades; visiting schools, retirement homes, hospitals, and veterans homes; and even crossing the border into Reynosa to entertain orphans.
Georgette McGuire shared this history she garnered from two books filled with photos of troupe performances from over the years. The last notated entry was “November 13, 2010-11.”
That was until about seven years ago when McGuire says another resident, Wayne Blindaur, revived the troupe, motivated by a personal connection to clowning.
According to McGuire, Blindaur’s mother was a clown with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. His idea was presented at a park meeting in 2017. It was approved, and soon he had a list of participants originating from the Midwest and Canada.
Soon after its revival, McGuire says fellow winter visitor Darlene Kraven knocked on her door and asked if she wanted to be a clown. Kraven already had a costume ready for her. McGuire’s clown name: Miss Dot.
A few years ago, Blindauer passed the leadership torch to McGuire.
The troupe performs two skits a year–around the holidays and in the spring–for park residents. McGuire, a former educator, relies on her good imagination to draft each script with troupe member input. “It’s just a bunch of weird ideas I come up with,” she says. “I’m just lucky it always works.”
McGuire started with a take on the show Dragnet for a spring performance, which included clowns accused of “crimes” within the park.
The skits are put on during park meetings. During this particular skit, two deputies escorted a row of clowns–tethered by a long rope–in front of the residents to the Dragnet theme song.
Each clown was accused of a crime against the park–stealing a bathing suit, cheating at cards, and one clown, “Dolly,” was charged with impersonating Dolly Parton. Chuckling, McGuire said, “The chest of her costume was stuffed to her chin with t-shirts!”
The following spring, the troupe continued to spoof classic investigative television shows, incorporating elements from Mission Impossible, Magnum, P.I., Colombo, and Get Smart. Picture a group of clowns, all answering their “shoe phones.”
The December 2024 performance, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, included the song “The 12 Days of Christmas.”
Since the pandemic, the troupe has refrained from performing beyond Tropic Star. That changed in late 2024, with a visit to The Gardens at Brook Ridge, a senior-living community in Pharr.
The current Tropic Star clown troupe is made up of eight performing clowns, some in their 80s, and an official troupe photographer. McGuire shared that they also help distribute the Tropic Star monthly calendar and participate in the Christmas, Valentine, and Mardi Gras golf cart parades, keeping to its original intention of spreading cheer.
