Picture yourself hanging upside down on another person’s back, a six foot tube protruding from your mouth on which you’re balancing a vase of flowers. All the while the mind is connecting to a bowl of ice cream.

“I love ice cream! And pizza, my two favorite American foods,” says acrobat Pan Lu, also affectionately known as “Kitten.” “American ice cream,” she continues with the aid of a translator, “feels like it is creamier and better tasting than Chinese ice cream. Chocolate is my favorite.”

That unsolicited statement brought a smile to Mark Fancher. Mark is the Territorial Manager for Blue Bell Ice Cream. The North Alabama native, his wife Sabrina and son John Mark have only been residents of the Seymour area since July, having moved from Chattanooga, but already love the area. He has been with Blue Bell for 11 years.

Mark and his family recently attended a Sunday night performance of Cirque de Chine and flabbergasted is to put it mildly. “We have never seen a show like this,” he said. “A production like this with such amazing talent here in East Tennessee is unbelievable. Everybody needs to see it.” It was Pan Lu’s pleasure to meet someone so closely connected with ice cream.

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