Named America’s Best Clown by Time magazine, Bello Nock, returns to the one-ring intimacy of the Big Apple Circus after an absence of nine seasons, on Saturday, July 10 at noon in Mill River Park in Stamford – a performance sponsored by Fairway Market, New York City’s iconic supermarket, opening late fall at 699 Canal Street in the new Harbor Point Project.
Besides being the presenting sponsor of opening day, Fairway is donating eight seats in the preeminent box at the premiere performance to the Boys and Girls Club of Stamford, and also providing two $250 store gift cards or ‘Golden Tickets’ to be won by lucky circus-goers. Numerous store coupons for everyone will be distributed at the Big Top exits following the June 10th performance.
“We like to support worthy organizations and programs in the communities where our stores are located,” said Charles Santoro, Chairman of Fairway Market and managing partner of Sterling Investment Partners in Westport, a private equity fund which holds a major stake in Fairway. “Helping the Mill River Collaborative and Stamford Downtown bring the Big Apple Circus to town is a win-win situation for everyone.
“Our store should open in late fall of this year,” added Santoro “We look forward to further supporting the community by creating more than 500 new jobs and providing great food at affordable prices to the area.”
The first Fairway in Connecticut will be an 80,000 square feet store and will offer an unparalleled combination of traditional and specialty food stuffs from around the world at very competitive prices. This will be the seventh store for the company which opened its first store on the Upper West Side more than 77 years ago.
The Mill River Collaborative is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and sustaining a world-class park along the banks of the Mill River in the heart of Stamford Downtown, where the arts, housing commerce, and education meet to create a vital neighborhood for all to enjoy. The Big Apple Circus, which has been around for 32 years, is a not-for-profit performing arts and outreach institution committed to invigorating the communities it serves. A donation made by Fairway Market, will enable a diverse audience to experience the joy and wonder of classical circus and benefit the Mill River Park (www.millriverpark.com) and Stamford Downtown’s Arts in Public Places. (www.stamford-downtown.com).
“The Big Apple Circus coming to Mill River Park is a wonderful testimony to the fact that downtown is the core of Stamford and the place where exciting things happen,” said Arthur Selkowitz, Chairman of the Mill River Collaborative. “So we are very appreciative of Fairway’s donation and believe it represents a highly visible entry into the Stamford market and hopefully the start of a strong partnership between Fairway, the Collaborative and Stamford Downtown.”
Besides Bello, performers include Grandma, the other star clown of the Big Apple Circus, spectacular acrobats from Italy, Russian wizards of the trampoline and the flying trapeze, cavorting canines, Chinese contortionists and the new ringmaster Kevin Venardos. For tickets to the premiere performance sponsored by Fairway, go to www.stamfordcircus.com. There will be 25 other performances through July 25th. Go to www.bigapplecircus.org for more information.
For more information on Fairway Market go to www.fairwaymarket.com.
