MILTON — A national trend of people dressing as clowns in public began in August and "has grown with scary-looking clowns lurking in woods, appearing on dark roads or driving in cars — some brandishing knives," Reuters’ Patricia Reaney writes.
She says sightings have been reported across the country "and have generated the hashtag #IfISeeAClown and @ClownSightings on Twitter," which has 338,000 followers as of Wednesday.
Santa Rosa County has all but avoided this phenomenon. Sgt. Rich Aloy, public information officer for the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, said there has been one reported sighting, 2:15 p.m. on Oct. 7, "where an individual wanted to report a clown sighting in the woods near Old Guernsey Road in Pace." Aloy said deputies responded but found no clowns.
Aloy said additional calls about clowns use SRSO resources, which could be better spent. A person dressed as a clown, Aloy said, "doesn't make (that individual) suspicious. The behavior is what we're worried about."
Multiple media sources report the fast food chain McDonald's will be limiting, though not eliminating, appearances by its mascot, Ronald McDonald, but a professional performer, who will return to the Santa Rosa County Fair & Youth Livestock Show for his eighth year, said the whole phenomenon is "not on my radar" and "is not affecting my business."
Lee Andrews, whose stage name is Lew-E, has been performing 22 plus years; he said he is in 600 shows a year and has seen business improve.
"You'd think people would be standoffish but they're not,” he said.
Andrews said people are friendly and speak with him and, at his current fair in Spartanburg, South Carolina, he had just one incident where a child asked his mother if he was one of the "creepy clowns," but the mother said no. "I have a loyal client base, like the Santa Rosa County Fair."
"The stressful part is these are just teenage kids close to Halloween. In this crazy world, somebody will get hurt. That's what bothers me," Andrews said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: So far, creepy clown phenomenon avoids Santa Rosa