Here's Your Glass of Kool-aid For The Day, Extra Sweet.

On the topic of circus elephants, "it's hard to match me for enthusiasm," said Janice Aria, Director of Animal Stewardship for Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Having worked with pachyderms since the early 70's, when Aria "ran away and joined the circus," the 61-year-old is passionate about the floppy-eared beasts. Elephants have captured the public's imagination from the Victorian era, when P.T. Barnum bought Jumbo from the London Zoo, to just this Spring, when an elephant named Tai embodied Rosie, one of the main characters in the movie "Water for Elephants" starring Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon.

"Elephants do remember you and form bonds with you," she said. "They pick who they like and who they don't like, and if they don't like you they'll throw food at you. All elephants look for good leaders -- they are herd animals like horses and dogs -- they will pick a leader who gives them food, finds them water and gives them safety."

When the "Barnum 200" version of the circus rolls through town from Thursday through Sunday at Van Andel Arena, there will be nine elephants included in the "blue unit" tour. Two-and-a-half-year-old Barack will be among those who will tip-toe through our city. (Elephants are surprisingly light-footed and able to move in silence, because they are basically walking on tip-toe, shored up by a large pad under the heel that cushions the foot.)

Barack, a young elephant who will pad among the parade at the circus opening, was born the night before President Obama's inauguration.

"He is getting used to the crowds and the noise and the fireworks before he becomes part of the elephant act," Aria said.

A college student in the seventies, Aria and her late husband left their lives in New York State and hitched their future to the circus stars. "I joined the elephant act as a clown, and my husband joined the bear act," she said. "I thought because I had ridden horses I would know how to ride an elephant; I was wrong. I learned to ride like Robert Pattinson, by trial and error."

Aria gained a glimpse into the filming process for "Water for Elephants" because she is longtime friends with Tai's trainers and owners.

"Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon (lead characters in the film) had been so lovely to work with, and so impressed with the elephant," she said.

"You don't know how big they are unless you are sitting behind their ears -- there's no neck there," she said. "It's nothing like riding a horse. You're not the master, their master is on the ground, giving directions."

Over the years, Aria's role in the circus has evolved to the point where she now trains elephant handlers at a Feld Entertainment-owned center for elephant conservation in central Florida. At the 200-acre farm, elephants are studied, they reproduce (23 were born this year), and they begin their training.

"Only about one third of the elephants go on to perform," Aria said. "Just like people, not all of them are meant to perform, or like it. Whether or not they perform, our elephants all get the same care. They aren't just well cared for; they are really indulged."

Many circus elephants also retire at the farm in Florida, just like humans, she said.

Animal rights groups have disputed the care of circus elephants for years, and the debate reached a boiling point recently when Sarah, a 56-year-old circus elephant, stumbled and fell in August as she was climbing a ramp to a train at a show stop in California.

"I've never heard of (an elephant stumbling on a ramp) in forty years," Aria said. "I don't know why she fell, but maybe she was startled.There were bullhorns blaring and fifty (animal rights protestors) screaming. We try and keep it quiet and calm for the animals."

Sarah was checked out immediately by circus veterinarians, and she was pronounced fit soon afterwards.

"We have a lack of understanding in our society of what wildlife is," she said. "People have a sterilized version of what it takes to live with animals."

Despite the controversy, Aria says circus folks love the elephants in their care.

"To build up that relationship of trust between a handler and an elephant is absolutely sacred," she said. "Circus people are animal people."

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"I've never heard of (an elephant stumbling on a ramp) in forty years," Aria said. "I don't know why she fell, but maybe she was startled.There were bullhorns blaring and fifty (animal rights protestors) screaming. We try and keep it quiet and calm for the animals."

I have been involved with the circus for many years. It is kind of hard to imagine how you can "keep it quiet and calm for the animals" even with your best efforts!!!!! What makes things real tough is the public thinks this kind of statement is an "industry" statement endorsed by the industry, instead of what it is. A statement issued by one company, not the industry.