Tim Hernandez

Tim Hernandez is a Sarasota circus legacy. He was a performer in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and is part of the history of circus. His mother, Liza (Hernandez) Rosaire was an acrobat in the Mexican circus, and his stepfather, Derreck Rosaire, a famous animal trainer, a started the Rosaire Circus.

Mr. Tim talked to us about his experiences in the circus and let us come in to watch one of his classes. He says the style of life of circus people is "unbelievable." "You get to travel all over the place, make friends at shows and 30 years later you get to see them again and you're still best buds," he says. We asked him what he thought about animals in the circus, and he told us that circus people don't force animals, the animals choose themselves. "It's like trying to get a horse to drink," he says. He said he knows some circuses don't treat animals well, but most do. His stepsister, Kay Rosaire, runs the Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota and sister Pam Rosaire-Zoppe has been raising chimps for about 50 years. By the way, he says that chimpanzees are 8 times stronger than humans, and he told us a story about visiting his sister when he was 13. Her chimpanzee got him a beer from the fridge, but she told him "NO!" he's too young for that, get him a Coke. So the chimp went back and got a Coke shaking the Coke bottle and it exploded everywhere when the chimp opened it. Pam said, "Look what you did, can you get some paper towels and clean that up?" And the chimp did. Mr. Tim also was jealous of the chimp because the chimp ripped the paper towel off in a perfect straight line, which according to Mr. Tim, he can't do himself. Pam's best friend, a chimp, died recently

Mr. Tim also told us that his stepfather trained "Mr. Ed" (the horse).

Mr. Tim has been surrounded by circus stars his whole life so he learned circus when he was young. And his wife, Leslie Hay is a former circus star as well. They both now teach circus to kids in the Sarasota area.

Mr. Tim  is still performing at the Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota, which was founded by his step-sister, Kay Rosaire.

Recently, the Rosaire family was featured in a film Circus Rosaire at the Sarasota Film Festival.