MONROE - The world traveler, O'tutti the Leprechaun, will make her appearance at the St. Patrick's Day parade Sunday, March 17 in downtown Monroe.
Jane Swiggum, otherwise known as the Dottie the Clown, developed the character of O'tutti at the request of the Monroe Park and Recreation Department for a program event. Swiggum then decided to take the leprechaun on the road to the World Clown Association Convention last month in Borneo.
She accompanied three other people to the convention, representing their local clown association, Cousin Otto's Clown Alley in Janesville.
"We scored well, but didn't place" in the parade competition, Swiggum said. Then O'tutti went over time and was disqualified during her face-paint performance.
Not that it much mattered to Swiggum.
"Oh, I didn't care; I was having so much fun," Swiggum laughed.
Swiggum was looking forward to seeing orangutans in the county, but discovered the convention's Humanitarian Day touched more deeply than she ever expected. She spent her day at a hospital and then at a healing home for people with deformities.
"They were so welcoming, so warm, so polite," Swiggum said. "The (hospital) staff went bonkers over us."
Picture-taking was one of the main reasons Humanitarian Day was a long one for her group, Swiggum said.
"Asian counties are just getting started" in clowns, she said, "and when you're in costume, you don't walk away, especially for pictures. We have classes on picture-taking."
O'tutti is just one of the 12 characters Swiggum has developed since 1991 for her clown performances. Inducted into the Midwest Clown Association Hall of Fame in 2006, she is also trained in puppets, ventriloquism, balloon art, and face painting. She was just appointed chairman of the World Clown Association's Bo Dino Scholarship Committee.
Swiggum has performed at schools, retirement homes and many community events, and she said she does it for one basic reason: "To put smiles on somebody's face who doesn't have a lot to smile about."
Jane Swiggum, otherwise known as the Dottie the Clown, developed the character of O'tutti at the request of the Monroe Park and Recreation Department for a program event. Swiggum then decided to take the leprechaun on the road to the World Clown Association Convention last month in Borneo.
She accompanied three other people to the convention, representing their local clown association, Cousin Otto's Clown Alley in Janesville.
"We scored well, but didn't place" in the parade competition, Swiggum said. Then O'tutti went over time and was disqualified during her face-paint performance.
Not that it much mattered to Swiggum.
"Oh, I didn't care; I was having so much fun," Swiggum laughed.
Swiggum was looking forward to seeing orangutans in the county, but discovered the convention's Humanitarian Day touched more deeply than she ever expected. She spent her day at a hospital and then at a healing home for people with deformities.
"They were so welcoming, so warm, so polite," Swiggum said. "The (hospital) staff went bonkers over us."
Picture-taking was one of the main reasons Humanitarian Day was a long one for her group, Swiggum said.
"Asian counties are just getting started" in clowns, she said, "and when you're in costume, you don't walk away, especially for pictures. We have classes on picture-taking."
O'tutti is just one of the 12 characters Swiggum has developed since 1991 for her clown performances. Inducted into the Midwest Clown Association Hall of Fame in 2006, she is also trained in puppets, ventriloquism, balloon art, and face painting. She was just appointed chairman of the World Clown Association's Bo Dino Scholarship Committee.
Swiggum has performed at schools, retirement homes and many community events, and she said she does it for one basic reason: "To put smiles on somebody's face who doesn't have a lot to smile about."