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The Song Challenge:   A Party for the Passing of Popular Popsicled Pachyderm Poop Picker -- A memorial was held last weekend in Springfield, Missouri, for a popular circus elephant groomer whose body was frozen when he died three months ago so his friends could attend the funeral.   The funeral was held under the big top and included circus music, food and even an elephant-drawn wagon carrying the casket. In the center ring, the main attraction was Albert "Shorty" Sharp, who stood 4 feet, 7 inches tall, when he wasn't on his tiptoes grooming pachyderms. Sharp, who spent 50 years in the circus, died May 12 of heart failure while traveling through Wisconsin with George Carden Circus International. After the funeral festivities, Sharp's body was taken to a cemetery on the wagon, drawn by the elephants he cared for.   "My circus was out on the road when Shorty passed away and only a few of his friends would have made the funeral," said ringmaster and owner George Carden. So he decided to freeze Sharp's body at a Springfield funeral home until all of his friends could come. "This is not so much a funeral as it is a celebration to say 'thank you' to Shorty for his dedication," Carden said Thursday. "Shorty was a little man with a great big heart." Like most circus employees, Carden said, Sharp was completely dedicated to his work. Sharp groomed elephants for circuses in Florida and Texas, and even tended to Bimbo, a water-skiing elephant who appeared in a 1950s TV series called "'Circus Boy.' "In the circus, there is no such thing as calling in sick or getting tired, the show must always go on," Carden said. "Shorty was always there. He had no family, so he lived and breathed the elephants."

On With The Show by Naemanson
(Tune:  "Rosin The Bow" )

An elephant washer was Shorty,
A big man though he wasn't tall,
And all of the circus adored him,
The clowns and the strong man and all.

The clowns and the strong man and all.
The clowns and the strong man and all.
And all of the circus adored him,
The clowns and the strong man and all.

He traveled the country all over,
With circuses from town to town,
He loved his pachyderm partners
Cleaned behind them and then washed them down,

Cleaned behind them and then washed them down,
Cleaned behind them and then washed them down,
He loved his pachyderm partners
Cleaned behind them and then washed them down,

It was in the State of Wisconsin,
That his heart gave out on the road,
After 50 years with the circus,
He finally put down the load.

He finally put down the load.
He finally put down the load.
After 50 years with the circus,
He finally put down the load.

But his friends were scattered all over,
With circuses all over the place,
But they wanted to be at the funeral,
To say their goodbyes to his face

To say their goodbyes to his face
To say their goodbyes to his face
But they wanted to be at the funeral,
To say their goodbyes to his face

So they froze poor Shorty solid
The freezer did not have to be big,
And three months later they gathered,
For heartfelt farewell shindig.

And three months later they gathered,
And three months later they gathered,
For heartfelt farewell shindig.
And three months later they gathered,

His friends they spoke of his kindness,
His love of the job and the show,
They wept and hugged one another,
They all grieved to bid him adieu.

They all grieved to bid him adieu.
They all grieved to bid him adieu.
They wept and hugged one another,
They all grieved to bid him adieu.

But they loaded him into the wagon,
With pachyderms pulling it slow,
And took him out to the graveyard,
And then it was "On with the show."

And then it was "On with the show."
And then it was "On with the show."
And took him out to the graveyard,
And then it was "On with the show."

But we know wherever he's gone to,
He's up there watching his beasts,
So they'd better be well taken care of,
Just as well as he did at least.

So they'd better be well taken care of,
So they'd better be well taken care of,
Just as well as he did at least.
So they'd better be well taken care of.

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