He Whittles Away Time by Cutting Circus Down to Size

Like many caught in the Great Depression, Robert (Doc) Hayden was desperate for work, so when the circus came to town he asked for a job. “What they were looking for was a man who had a strong back and a weak mind,” he said. “They hired me.”

He worked as a roustabout with the circus during its one-day train stops.

“We’d get up at 5 a.m., put up the circus for two performances, take everything down and move again,” he said. “That was hard work.”

And there wasn’t much money. “Five dollars a day,” he said, remembering how he amused himself by watching an older man carve and whittle things associated with the circus. “We became friends, and I took to carving right away,” he said.

That was when he was about 20.

Today, Hayden, 68, of Orange, who is retired from the Air Force, is recognized as a premier circus carver by others who carve and whittle miniature circus animals, wagons and railroad cars.

Hayden said circus folks gave him the nickname “Doc” “ ‘cause they didn’t know what to call me. Everyone got a nickname. That was mine.”

The nickname and carving never left him.

“Carving is just a hobby with me,” he insisted, although he’s usually whittling for someone else at a bargain price.

“He’s got to learn he’s about the best there is and he ought to charge more,” a friend volunteered while visiting Hayden in his workshop next to his mobile home, where he plays circus grand march music over and over.

“When the circus comes to town,” Hayden said, “all the old-timers stop by to say hello, and I like to play that music while they’re here.”

Hayden, who worked in the Anaheim Unified School District after leaving the Air Force, spends nearly every day carving something dealing with the circus, some of it from his recollections of his work in a circus in Holland after his service retirement.

“I was kind of lucky,” he said, “because circuses there were family-owned and operated and everyone connected with it were members of the family. But because I had experience they hired me.” He stayed for two years.

And that gave him a chance to do some carving, since the circus stayed for three and four days, compared to the one-day stops by circuses in this country.

Hayden said he once had an entire circus in miniature--a tent, wagons, animals and little carved people--but now just builds railroad cars, wagons and some animals.

“The circus always seems to stay in my blood,” he said, “and I like the feeling.”

In case you didn’t know, baby pigs are the most popular farm animal.

“Little pigs have a lot of character, and they’re smart too,” said Jill Lloyd of Irvine, who is promoting the Orange County Fair, where piglets will be scampering about again this year.

“They were a big hit in 1983 and that was the last time we had them, but we took a survey and it showed they are terrifically popular,” she said, “so we decided to have them again this year.”

The fair will also feature strawberries. “They’re terrifically popular too,” she said.

Some people get addicted to working out, and Rich Mehorney of Santa Ana may be the most addicted of them all. He has just completed his 1,100th consecutive day of working out--that’s more than three years--at the Anaheim Holiday Spa. When the spa was closed for a holiday, he ran three miles.

“He does an overall toning and conditioning workout so his body can tolerate it,” said spa spokesman Jim Dunk.

“It’s a real California thing,” explained Alicia Raish, a park ranger at the Dana Point Youth and Group Facility, where several families showed up Saturday to learn how to build sand castles and other figures.

“It’s not only how to build things out of sand,” she said, “but to use the beaches as a family activity. We want as many families as we can to take advantage of the ocean life.”

Some of the past sand-building figures included dinosaurs and cars, and for those who missed the last gathering on the sand, “we have others planned for March 5, April 9 and May 7,” Raish said.