SEMINOLE, Ala. — Donald and Glenda Skowronski of Seminole love to clown around.

“I’ve always been a clown,” chuckled Donald. “It’s got me into some trouble.” He mentioned one incident when, as a long-distance trucker, he handed a bored toll taker a rubber chicken instead of the expected ticket.

“I never saw a woman jump so high,” said Donald.

The toll-taker did not think it was funny.

“She was so mad,” he said. “She told me to park over there, and called the police.”

Laughs aside, getting a citation would have cost him his license to drive tandem trailers. So the joke was serious business when law enforcement arrived.

“I told the state trooper what had happened, and he was trying to keep a straight face. You could tell he thought it was funny,” Donald said. “She wanted me to go to jail.”

Fortunately, the state trooper was able to soothe ruffled feathers, and Donald escaped without a career-ending ticket.

Even more fortunate, Donald met the late James “Shorty” Bryant, a Shriner clown. He invited Donald to join the Shriners, which is a group of Master Masons who run hospitals for children with burns, orthopedic problems, cleft lip and palate.

According to Donald, the group does not charge for its services, and provides transportation, room and meals for the family. If the family agrees, and they do have insurance, that may be used, but the Shriners take care of the deductible.

There are 22 Shrine hospitals throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. Referrals to Shrine hospitals are made by a child’s physician, or a family may contact the Shrine hospitals directly by writing: Shriners Hospitals for Children, P.O. Box 31356, Tampa, FL 33631; or by calling 800-237-5055.

“They have even opened a Shrine Club in Germany,” said Donald. He belongs to the Hadji Shrine Temple in Pensacola.

Donald noted there are a number of things that can be done to support the Shriners’ work. The couple collects pull-tabs from cans. If someone has a collection, they can call a Shriner or the nearest temple to arrange pickup.

The Shrinees also collect Campbell’s Soup labels to provide toys and other items for hospitalized children.

Glenda became a clown around 1985. She started going to Shrine activities later.

“They were short at the Shrine and his unit was helping out, so I joined,” she said.

She became “Peanut,” wearing a wig, tie-dyed shirt and a big red nose to compliment Donald’s (or “Pop Pop” as he is called in clown costume) tramp-style costume.

“Seeing the kids is the best part,” said Glenda. “Their faces just start glowing.”

Both clowns know how to create balloon figures, but Glenda has mastered the hard-to-do poodle.

“I just kept practicing,” she said, explaining that she would untwist and re-twist a balloon poodle another clown made for her. Her experience as an artist comes in handy when painting faces.

Some children (and adults) become frightened when they see clowns. Glenda knows that her husband can calm them down.

“He knows how to talk to them,” she said.

“I find many places where people are afraid of the full white-face clowns,” Donald said. He went on to say that he thinks some scary movies and television shows have had a lot to do with that.

“I tell people if a clown does not take the time to get to know your child, you don’t want him or her,” said Donald.

The Skowronskis also assume the characters of Santa and Mrs. Claus” at area schools.

“We went once and the kids wanted shoes for Christmas,” said Donald. “It breaks your heart.”

But, some of his favorite stories involve Pop Pop and kids.

“There was one autistic girl we visited who loved clowns,” he said. “The second year (we visited) she asked what she could give me for Christmas. I told her that if she learned part of ‘Amazing Grace’ for next year, that would be fine. The next year, she sang the whole song.”

The Skowronskis kept coming back, as the girl began to grow up.

“One year she ran away,” Donald said, “and I wondered what I did wrong. Turned out that she went to get her family and tell them, ‘my clown is here.’”