Buffo the Clown makes a strong impression

There's more to Buffo the World's Strongest Clown than just big biceps and quads. He's got a big heart, too.Though Buffo, also known as Tommy Toman, has been a professional baseball player, a physical education teacher for special needs children, a bodybuilder and a marathon runner, he's found his calling as the World's Strongest Clown, a role he has been playing for more than 30 years. Toman was drafted out of high school to play professional baseball for the Chicago White Sox organization. He also later played in the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Houston Astros organizations.After playing baseball for seven years, he went to the University of Pittsburgh, focusing on health and physical education for special needs children. Toman worked as a physical education teacher at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children in Pittsburgh. However, he would still put on his clown costume part-time, something he's been interested in since high school. He loved it so much that he decided to take a one-year leave of absence from teaching to try it out full-time. "I decided to see what it would be like to be a full-time clown," he said. It was then that he realized he could make more kids smile as a clown, whether special needs or not."It's great because I can reach so many kids now," said Toman. "That was the big determining factor for me."Now doing about 300 shows a year, he has slowed down from the 500 shows a year he used to do so he can spend more time with his wife, Nancy, a retired teacher.Toman was one of seven children he grew up in Monroeville and attended Gateway School District. It was there that he met Nancy, who was actually one of his high school teachers right out of college. Little did he know they would later be married at home plate when he was playing for the Astros.Now married for more than 30 years, they live in Zelienople and often practice their favorite pastime — ballroom dancing.And when he's not Buffo, or dancing, it's safe to say Toman is working out either at the gym or home. He and his wife are big on fitness, spending hours every day exercising. He can repetitively bench press his own size."I can do my own weight 28 times," said Toman, 56.Toman used to be bigger, but marathon running trimmed him down. "It's hard to do unicycling and stilt walking when you're massive," he said.The hours of exercising is necessary in Toman's line of work, which includes ripping phone books in half, juggling bowling balls, stilt walking and straight-jacket escapes, according to his website.He even can balance a child on a chair using his face.He's does shows for the local schools, churches and other groups. Since he knows sign language and has a master's degree in special education, Toman said his charity of choice is doing shows for special needs children, which he'll often do for free.He's regularly seen at company picnics and even parties for adults, where he usually incorporates fire eating and more dangerous clown activities. He tones it down for the younger parties.His biggest show probably was at the annual Easter Egg Roll at The White House where he was invited to perform three times when President George H.W. Bush was in office. Toman said he was invited since he could help children there who needed sign language. But the U.S. Secret Service had to first confiscate his hatchets and meat cleavers, which he used in his juggling act. "I wasn't allowed to take those in," he said.Cathi Zenner, a former Cranberry-area resident who now lives in Washington, Pa., has used Toman for parties for her grandchildren, Devin, 5, Lisi, 4, and Ryan, 2."He's so personable. He's wonderful with the kids," said Zenner. She said he's perfect for any age, such as her daughter's Sweet Sixteen birthday party and her mother's 79th birthday party. Zenner was most touched when she had him perform for the children of her best friend who had died."Their faces just lit up. It was the first time I've seen them smile in eight months," said Zenner, 46.As a former teacher, Toman knows that it's important to send a positive message to kids, which includes saying no to drugs. Toman makes it clear that, despite his extra-muscular body, he's never touched performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids, which can sometimes be found among bodybuilders, he said. But all this hard work isn't stopping anytime soon, as he does not yet have plans of retiring his clown shoes. "I haven't missed a show for 33 years," Toman said.For more on buffo, visit www.buffo.com.