Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 22, 1993                   TAG: 9304220157
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: LEIGH ALLEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PACHYDERMS, CAMELS AND LLAMAS, OH MY; IT'S A CIRCUS OUT THERE

"It's tough bringing kids out here to wait this long," said Jordan's mother, Alice. "But, I'm glad he at least got to see the elephants."

The Leipzigs stood along Shenandoah Avenue in Roanoke with about 200 other parents and kids to watch a parade of exotic animals, including llamas, camels and elephants, from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Roustabouts unloaded the animals from rail cars and marched them to the Roanoke Civic Center, where the circus begins a four-day run tonight.

A late train caused a two-hour delay in the animals' arrival. Karen Hogan Pillis of Roanoke said she dealt with the wait by treating her twin daughters to cookies from a nearby bakery.

But when the main attractions finally lumbered down the street, the 2-ton animals had the girls' undivided attention.

"This was a big event for 2-year-olds," Pillis said of her daughters. "It was definitely worth the wait."