Volume 9, No 6JUNE, 2010www.lowcountrysun.sc
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72, the new 65??
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Money Minefelds
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Hip & Knee News
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Just Cruisin’
INSIDE
Lowcountry Sun
S E E O u r A D O N PA g E 7
By Don GordonAt regular times, Bob Mason, an en-trepreneur with an extensive corporatebackground, decides to clown around.But don’t get the wrong idea. He is noless in earnest in that mode than he is inhis business dealings. In the latter, it isMason’s job to nd executive-level em-ployees for his corporate clients. Whenhe puts on his clown face, his “clients”are the sick and injured lying in hospitalbeds.Mason and his wife Sherrie came tothe Charleston area -- specically, Sea-brook Island -- in 2006, from Maryland’seastern shore, the result of their searchfor a new location somewhere on the At-lantic Ocean.Four years earlier, Mrs. Mason hap-pened to read a magazine article abouta clown school in Min-nesota and told her hus-band, in less than atter-ing terms, that it mightbe just what he needed tolighten up his life. “I hadbeen traveling maybethree days a week for 40 weeks a year,”Mason explained.So he took his wife’s suggestion andmade the trip to a place called Moose-burger Camp where he and more than100 others would learn the basics of be-ing a clown.“Some executives would go there tounwind for a week and have some fun,”Mason said, though there would be oth-ers at the school who sought to maketheir living as clowns.“We took clowning 101,” Masonadded. “We learned about makeup andhow to do balloons.” When the schoolasked the students to name some special-ty, he chose hospitals and nursing homes,and it is a calling he has followed to thisday.He said he had gone to the schoolwith an open mind as to where the coursewould lead him. It turned out to be morethan just a week of unwinding and hav-ing some fun.Back in Maryland, Mason said hecalled on a local nursing home to put intopractice what he had learned. “I wentfrom room to room. It was very, verygratifying,” he recalled.Today in Charleston, Mason is partof a national organization called Bum-per “T” Caring Clowns, whose membersprovide therapeutic clowning to hospitalpatients through the use of gentle humor.The name of the 30-year-old organiza-tion stems from the clown identity of itsfounder, “Bumper T,“ now 84 years old.A resident of Barrington, N.J., “BumperT” was in Charleston at the outset of theCaring Clown program and was a guestin Mason’s home.Mason turns up weekly at several lo-cal hospitals, dressed as “Dr. Geezer“,wearing scrubs and some facial clownmakeup.As for the clown getup, he pointedout that the Caring Clowns are more re-strained in their appearance.
MASON
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A new initiative lets Americans sa-lute
the contributions of some of theU.S. military’s forgotten heroes.There are currently over 17 millionAmerican veterans, with African Ameri-cans accounting for about 20 percent of those in active military service. Thatpercentage is in stark contrast to a fewdecades ago, when barriers preventedopportunities to enlist. But even dur-ing the height of segregation, AfricanAmericans valiantly served the countryin a variety of capacities.Now a new program will collecttheir stories, as well as the stories of other African-American veterans. Theinitiative is part of the Veterans HistoryProject (VHP) located at the Libraryof Congress American Folklife Center.VHP was established by the U.S. Con-gress to collect, preserve and share thepersonal accounts of American war vet-erans.The project features the story of Walter Morris, who was one of the rstAfrican Americans assigned to the 555thParachute Company—the rst all-blackparachute infantry test platoon, compa-ny and battalion during WWII.Other stories include that of Ruth-erford Brice, an African American whoenlisted in the Navy and went on to be-come the rst Reserve Ofcers’ Train-ing Corps (ROTC) graduate from Mor-gan State University. Brice also servedin World War II, the Korean War andthe Vietnam War—a military career thatspanned over 30 years.Oneida Miller Stuart, also featuredby the project, enlisted in the ArmyNurse Corps during WWII. She re-mained dedicated to all her patients—even those who would have preferreddeath rather than be treated by an Af-rican-American woman. She was fre-quently called the “n-word,” yet contin-ued to serve with honor and respect.Ofcials at VHP say there is a timelyneed for interviews of veterans of WorldWar II, the Korean War and the VietnamWar. In addition, the project seeks inter-views from African-American veteransfrom all conicts, women veterans andveterans representing all minority com-munities, along with Merchant Marine,Coast Guard, National Guard and Re-serve veterans.To learn how you can record a vet-eran’s story, visit www.loc.gov/ vets,e-mail vohp@loc.gov or call (888) 371-5848
Telling A Soldier’s Tale
Bob enjoyin bein out of costume and shin the wates off the coastof Chaleston.
Caring
through
Clowning
Bob Mason as D. geeze with D. Jolly Bonz.
Businessman’shobby is nolaughingmatter
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MASON
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“If a circus clown is a 10,and a birthday clown an eight,we would be considered a two,”Mason remarked.Caring Clowns work underspecic guidelines. They visita given patient just once, andwith permission, observe strictrules of condentiality, and aretrained to “be in the moment,”according to the needs of theindividual patient. “Sometimeswe just sit and listen,” Masonpointed out.The whole purpose is tohave a positive inuence on thepatients, their families and thecare-givers and to enhance thehealing process.“Studies have shown thepositive effect that humor andlaughter have”, Mason com-mented, and he shared one en-counter that helps prove thepoint and signies what hisclown activity means to himself and the patients.“There was a lady who wasquite ill,” Mason said. “Shelooked me right in the eye andsaid ‘Dr. Geezer, thank you verymuch for making me laugh.’He didn’t let the patient see hismoistening eyes. “Somethinglike that is worth more than amillion dollars. They can‘t payyou for that,” he added.Mason, perhaps puttinghis executive search skills towork, has succeeded in recruit-ing recruiting three other Car-ing Clowns at Roper St. FrancisHospital, a Dr. Jollybones, Dr.Dizzy Daisy and Dr. O’ Smiley.So-called head-hunting hasbeen Bob Mason’s other life formany years. A native of Euclid,Ohio, he graduated from OhioState University and also com-pleted graduate work in psy-chology at Temple University.He established his owncompany, Mason and Associ-ates, in 1987 in Menlo Park, Ca-lif., where he and his wife livedfor 25 years before moving toMaryland. His clients include anumber of major corporations.“The economy being whatit is, recruitment is slow at pres-ent. There are lots of excellentcandidates, but very few jobs,“Mason stated simply.Before going into executiverecruitment, Mason did cor-porate personnel work, whichhelped him develop the skillneeded for his present profes-sion. ”I used to be on the otherside of the fence, “ he said. Lat-er he was employed in an execu-tive search capacity with othercompanies and was a partnerin one before starting his ownbusiness.Mason gives no indicationof discontinuing either his busi-ness or his clowning activities.He and his wife Sherrie, whowent to high school togetherin Euclid, take time to enjoylife as avid golfers and as sh-ing enthusiasts. He pointed outthat Sherrie caught a 250-pointmarlin, by herself, off the low-er coast of Baja in Mexico notlong ago. Mrs. Mason, a retiredschool teacher, also does volun-teer work at the Medical FreeClinic in Charleston.In the meantime, Mason’seducation as a Caring Clown isnot yet complete. He plans toreturn to Mooseburger Camp inBuffalo, Minn. this summer foranother week, accompanied byDr. Dizzy Daisy. It will be histhird time there. “I tell everyoneI’m going back for my Ph.D.,”Mason quipped.It is obvious that Bob Masonis into his “Dr. Geezer” role ina big way. And whatever Sher-rie Mason thought her husbandneeded back in 2002, clownschool seemingly provided it,and then some.
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Sheie lands a 250-point malin off the coast of Baja.The Mason’s bike the lovely Fench countyside.
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