We're a group of amateur and semi-professional jugglers who gather twice a week to practice and polish our individual skills, learn new stuff from each other and... you know, like, show off. Hang. Chill. Whatever.

Newcomers - with or without juggling experience - are always welcome.

In the early spring of 1998, Randy Lyons was facing a tough question. Several of the graduating students from his Adult Night School juggling class were asking: "Okay, so now we have a handful of basic 3-ball tricks. Where do we go from here?" The question was particularly vexing, since Randy was also looking for a nearby program to advance his own juggling skill set.

Walking past the Chester County Courthouse one splendid Saturday morning, two responses to this question occurred to him:

• #1: No good answer existed.
• #2: He could create one.

Randy recognized the plaza in front of the Courthouse as a superb site for a juggling group, based loosely on the very successful Philadelphia Jugglers Club program that met (at that time) on the grounds of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

He convinced the Borough of West Chester's Recreation Department to promote a series of ten Saturday morning sessions on the Courthouse plaza, and, incidentally, talk to the folks in the Courthouse to make sure it was okay. (Actually, this was pretty easy to do, as the Recreation Department people are super easy to deal with, and always ready to listen to a good idea.)

Randy was ready spend ten consecutive Saturday mornings alone at the Courthouse. If no one else showed up, it would have been time well invested (as in, Randy gets two hours of uninterrupted practice every Saturday morning). If people did show up, then the interests and plans of the attenders would determine the future of the group.

Randy called his ex-students, circulated flyers, and talked to several members of the Philadelphia club to spread the word.

Within five weeks, more than a dozen people were showing up regularly.

Group consensus determined that the program should continue beyond the ten-week session. Like indefinitely.

After several months, participants requested a weekday evening session, and Thursday was jointly selected at the best option. As the weather began to get cool, Randy gained permission from West Chester Friends School to use their gymnasium for the twice-weekly sessions. (It's tough to juggle outside in February.)

Attendance varies widely as people enter and leave the program. Sometimes, Saturday mornings are the busiest sessions, sometimes Thursday evenings. Sometimes there are two participants, and sometimes twenty. Sometimes there are bunches of kids, or bunches of adult beginners, or bunches of serious jugglers, or club passers, or unicyclists, or clowns, or... well, you get the idea.

You might compare the program to a wildflower garden, where each season brings its own unique charms and challenges, and each cycle yields unexpected rewards -- but please don't do this when Randy is around.

The program is deeply indebted to West Chester's Recreation Department and the West Chester Friends School. It continues to exist thanks to their interest, enthusiasm, and trust.

• to support local jugglers in maintaining and advancing their skill set.
• to provide a socializing environment for what is far too often a very lonely practice regimen.
• to introduce newcomers of all ages to this ancient and honorable art.
• to help participants combine their juggling and presentation skills into performances of professional quality.

• "I had no idea there were other jugglers in West Chester!"
• "You mean, you guys meet here EVERY WEEK?"
• "Look at what I just got from the Brian Dube juggling catalogue!"
• "Hey! I got it (i.e., that new trick I've been working on)!"
• "Do you suppose I could learn how to...?"

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