The world famous travelers known as the Harlem Crowns are coming to town to play in the Chadron Middle School Gym on Monday April 22. The night’s events will begin at 6:00 with a pre-game of Chadron’s 5th grade girls vs. Chadron’s 6th grade girls. The Harlem Crowns game of comedic basketball will begin at 7:00 with the Crowns vs. the staff of Chadron Public Schools and some community members.
Advanced tickets are on sale for $9. Tickets at the door will cost $10. Children 6 and under are free. Tickets are being sold at Chadron High by calling 432-0707 and by numerous students who are part of the Wanderlust Cardinals, a group of Chadron High School students traveling to Europe in May.
Twenty Chadron High students and adults are heading to Ireland, England, and France on May 25. They will tour for eleven days before returning on June 4. Traveling through the organization Education First (EF), the students will fly from Rapid City to Minneapolis, to New York City, finally arriving in Shannon, Ireland. Once the group arrives in Shannon, they will meet their tour guide who will be with them the duration of the trip, and then travel to Killarney. The four days the group spends in Ireland will have the group visiting spots such as The Ring of Kerry, Cahsel Rock, Blarney Castle, sights in Dublin like St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Trinity College. The group will then travel by ferry to Holyhead, Wales. As the groups makes their way to London, they will stop at Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon, the home of William Shakespeare. In London, the tour will be highlighted by stops at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, and Windsor Castle. On the last leg of the tour the group will travel by Eurostar to Paris, France. Here, they will get to visit the Eiffel Tower, ride a boat down the River Seine, visit the Louvre, and Notre Dame Cathedral. From Paris they will make the trip back home.
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The Harlem Crowns began their existence in the mid-50s when a former Harlem Globetrotter by the name of Chico Burnell formulated a team composed of highly talented basketball players.
Chico Burrell was born in Harlem, New York. He attended New York University and upon graduation he joined the Harlem Globetrotters. Chico played with the “Trotters” for twelve years during which time he was an outstanding performer. Chico blended his talents with such Harlem Globetrotter greats as Goose Tatum, Sweetwater Clifton, and Maquis Haynes.
After years of success with the Harlem Crowns, Chico Burrell retired and sold the team to a group of Northern California Businessmen. One of the incumbent members on the Harlem Crowns, Herbert Scaife, is presently managing the team. Herbert Scaife hails from Arkansas and resides in Oakland, California during the off season.
Members of the Harlem Crowns are chosen for showmanship as well as their ability to play above average basketball. At the beginning of each season, approximately two weeks in October, a very organized training camp is held in a designated Northern California city. Candidates and possible new additions are brought in from all over the United States.
The requirements for being considered a member of the Harlem Crowns are:
1. To have former college basketball experience.
2. To have good character and the ability to get along with others.
3. To have basketball ability, the potential to be a showman and a knack for comic improvisations.
The Harlem Crowns play a regulation four quarter game against any opposing team furnishe by the sponsors. There is never a dull moment during the game because of the zany acts and laugh-a-minute routines that are very numerous.
From California, eastward, the Harlem Crowns have staggered the comical imagination of spectators in places such as Canada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.
The Harlem Crowns have also taken their show several times abroad to places like Tokyo, Japan, the city of Manila in the Philippine Islands and Singapore. They also venture south of the border in Old Mexico.
