Snuffy's Retirement
Snuffy R. Clown, beloved icon of fire safety edutainment in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area, retired from clowning May 2009 following the spring clown season. Snuffy devoted fifteen years to entertaining and educating elementary school children on the dangers of uncontrolled fire.
After graduating from clown college in 1995, Snuffy set off on a personal goal: to reduce - through educational puppetry and clowning - the loss of life, property and injuries caused by fire and other dangers.
After seven years at the Southlake Fire Department, he came to Euless where he was instrumental in forming the Euless Fire Department's Safety And Fire Educators Training Youth (SAFETY) Troop in 2003. The Troop teaches such safety behaviors as what to do when your clothes catch on fire; not to play with matches and lighters; how to test and service your smoke alarms and how to escape a burning home. Their audiences are the students in the first thorough sixth grade in Euless elementary schools.
In 2009, the SAFETY Troop presented twenty-eight shows to a total audience of nearly ten thousand elementary school-aged children in Euless. It was their greatest year in numbers of programs and numbers of audience members.
Division Chief Dale Skinner, Snuffy's closest friend, says, "Snuffy will be greatly missed. We love you, man."
Snuffy will stay on in a consulting capacity as Clown Emeritus advising and supporting the Troop.
