RICHLAND, WA – William “Bill” Barr is a former Tri-Cities Weather Anchor and former president of the International Juggler’s Association. He was just a kid in the Tri-Cities when he picked up juggling. Barr says he started practicing at 11-years-old.
“I’m auto-didact,” Barr says. “I’m self-taught. I just figured out the pattern and practiced over the bed. I’ve been juggling ever since.”
At 77-years-old, Barr says he plans to keep juggling through his golden years.
“What am I going to do?” Barr asks. “Just sit around and not use this? No! The “R-word” has never been in my vocabulary. I just said it there, so you knew what I meant. That has never been a goal of mine.”
Barr says he is inspired by many different jugglers who were paving the way ahead of him, but his biggest inspiration comes from those he makes smile.
“I was doing what we call the cascade,” Barr says. “Because I use peripheral vision, I can look through it and I saw a young boy smiling. I thought, ‘Something could be more important than this?’ My goal is to see how many people I can positively touch.”
Lilli Mendoza is a 24-year-old server at a local restaurant who met Barr during a normal lunch rush and felt the positive connection.
“They told me they had stuff in the back of their car, so I said there is no one outside if you want to put on a little show.” Mendoza says.
Mendoza says life can have unexpected moments and if you don’t take opportunities as they come, you’ll miss out on all the fun.
“My life has been boring for 20 years now,” Mendoza says. “I’ve had like four years of just having fun and I want to keep that going. You have to say yes to things, say yes to strangers, it’s more fun than being on your own. You never learn anything. You never make new opportunities being by yourself out of nothing. It takes other people.”
Barr says spontaneity is a key component in juggling and life.
“We live in a universe of beauty and there’s a lot of challenges,” Barr says. “It isn’t easy to be human beings.”
Barr and Mendoza practice when they can at Leslie Groves Park in Richland. If you happen to see them around, stay for the show, ask to learn a toss, or just say hi because you never know what will come from a simple conversation.
