BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FALMOUTH - Wearing a black and white wig, red nose and oversize shoes, Paul Miller worked hard Thursday to make the people of Falmouth laugh.

Children dressed in hand-me-down clothes and donated paper Dalmatian ears laughed and squealed as Mr. Miller and a handful of other performers brought the circus to town.

''The circus was canceled this year, but we came to see you all,'' said John Misita, one of the dog trainers for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The circus was flooded out in Cincinnati this week, so performers visited flood disaster sites while they were in town. They put on a show for flood victims in New Richmond on Wednesday.

The abbreviated show featured Mr. Miller, who is from Villa Hills; Samson, the power lifter; two dog trainers and their three performing dogs.

The performers brought animal crackers and made hats out of long balloons, and the kids couldn't get enough.

Parents smiled watching their little ones and for a few minutes Cisco the Frisbee-catching border collie was bigger news than the flood.

While the others performed, Mr. Miller worked the crowd as only a guy in makeup and clown nose can - making teen-age boys hug him, tickling little girls and causing even grown men to giggle at the sight of him.

For Mr. Miller, though, this is not a typical day of goofing off. ''At the circus, I know they are looking for a good time,'' he said. ''Here it's nothing but hard times.''

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