Noah Dykes, 13, takes one of five American Eskimo dogs for a bathroom break before their performance Sunday at the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus in De Soto. Dykes and his four siblings are the third-generation of circus performers. “That’s the thing with a circus,” Leo Acton said, the circus clown and tour guide. “We are on the road, but we travel as a small community. Most of the folks here are here with their whole families, extended families. Most of the school-age kids are home-schooled on the road.” — April 10, 2016, De Soto, Ill.