In 1974, Elizabeth Bussey Frentress of Ashland was set to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a theater degree and no firm plans. One of her close friends had just secured his dream job: joining a new circus as a clown. She told him he should get her a job with the circus, too.

In a classic “be careful what you wish for” moment, Bussey Frentress was shocked when she received a call from her friend enthusiastically telling her she too now had a job with the brand-new Franzen Brothers Circus. Founded by Wayne Franzen, a Steven’s Point, high school industrial arts teacher who used $8,000 of his savings to buy an elephant and another $12,000 to buy a used canvas big top tent as the start to his outsized circus dream.