....Cole Bros. Circus comes to Myrtle Beach....

....The big top circus rings await assembly....



....Circus layout manager Bob Green and owner John Pugh envision the layout as the Cole Bros. Circus begins to setup....




Cole Bros. Circus owner John Pugh and circus layout manager Bob Green worked Tuesday afternoon to envision the Myrtle Beach layout at the former Myrtle Square Mall site near the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. "It's like a nine-month camping trip," said Bob Green, about his job with the circus.

After a Monday afternoon show in Baltimore, Md., The Cole Bros. Circus packed up in the rain, drove through the night to Myrtle Beach and began the process of setting up. Circus vehicles arrived in waves throughout the day and evening.

Those arriving early got the animals out of transport vehicles and set up their own comforts of home outside their trailers - like satellite television dishes. Pugh said work to raise the circus tent will begin around 6 a.m. and last to about mid-morning today. The circus will be ready for two shows at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today and Thursday.
After Thursday? "Then we do it all over again and we're off to Augusta," Pugh said. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Cole Bros. Circus.

To watch the circus come together, go to the site, which is between Kings Highway and Oak Street, and 21st and 27th avenues North.