MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- The lobby at Janet Weis Children's Hospital was transformed Thursday into a sea of colorful costumes, face paint, and smiling faces.
The circus was in town.
Before its six-night stop in the Wilkes-Barre area, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus put on a smaller version of the show for the young patients at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville.
"Give the kids, whatever they're going through, whatever struggles they may be facing, a chance to just be kids, a chance to laugh, have a good time and just have fun," said ringmaster David Shipman.
Even though it was a smaller version of the circus, Ringling Brothers pulled out all the stops.
Ava Patrisso of Honesdale got pulled up on stage to help with a trick.
"It was really cool. It felt like I was a star!" Ava said.
The show was extra special for Kiah Winston of Plymouth. She had tickets to go to the circus but ended up in the hospital.
"We were supposed to be released in Wilkes-Barre, and then she got an infection, so we got sent to Danville, so we ended up giving the tickets away so another family could go," said Brie Costigan, Kiah's mother.
Ringling Brothers performs similar shows all across the country for the kids who aren't able to make it out of the hospital to enjoy the circus. With each show, Ringling Brothers donates $10,000 to the hospitals.
"And we donated 100 tickets so the families could come out and see the 'greatest show on earth,'" said Shipman.
The contribution gave the kids at Janet Weis even more of a reason to smile.
