Gumball the Clown, also known as Suzan Houston, of Bath, has spent more than 300 hours volunteering at Akron Children’s Hospital since February 2008.

Photo courtesy of Suzan Houston

It was that day the Bath resident realized her dog wouldn’t make a good candidate for the Doggie Brigade, a group of dogs and their owners that go into Akron Children’s Hospital to visit children.

“I was thinking, what could I do to make kids smile,” said Houston, 48, who knew she wanted to volunteer in some way at the hospital. “That’s the first time [becoming a clown] crossed my mind.”

Within a few weeks, she had a name — Gumball — and an outfit and just needed to get the training to become a real clown. She heard about “clown college” and eventually discovered the Ohio College of Clowning Arts and inquired about its class.

The year of training was already halfway over, but headmaster Robert Kreidler, a West Akron resident, said Houston could start the class and finish her studies when the new class started in September.

Houston began volunteering at Akron Children’s in February 2008 and spends about eight hours at the hospital every Tuesday. She said she’s already volunteered more than 330 hours since then.

She makes her own costumes and special orders the leather Converse shoes she wears while doing her best to cheer patients and their families at the hospital.

Judy Pedrotty, director of volunteer services at Akron Children’s Hospital, said Houston has been a delight.

“She is absolutely, unfailingly enthusiastic about what she is doing here,” Pedrotty said. “I know she’s really touched different families while she’s been here. She really is more than willing to go the extra mile in every way to be a service or help to the kids and brighten the day for them, their families and the staff.”

Houston said Gumball is now what is called an Auguste clown. She first began as a whiteface clown, but when working with another Auguste clown, she realized that clown style was less scary to children.

The makeup of Auguste clowns starts with a flesh-colored base and uses makeup to create exaggerated eyes and mouth.

“They are the goofy ones, the ones that would try to throw a pie and end up getting a pie thrown at them,” Houston said.

On Tuesdays, she spends 90 minutes applying her greasepaint and getting dressed before getting into the car for the trip downtown.

“I have had people stick their cell phones out of their windows and try to take pictures of me on the highway,” she said.

Once she arrives, around noon, she’s in business.

“As soon as I get out of my car, I’m on,” she said. “As a clown, you are always on.”

She said she visits every room and department in the hospital with the exception of the emergency room and the teen unit.

As a hospital clown, Houston said her personality is not boisterous.

“What I do in the hospital is much lower key,” she said. “I’m reading body language because I don’t want to scare [the patients]. Sometimes they’re just speechless. I’m fortunate that I’m able to take my time with what I feel each room needs.”

And she noted she is there for the patients as well as their family members.

“I don’t clown for just the patient,” she said. “I clown for the patient, the family and the staff. Some of the parents need that relief. It’s hard when your child is ill.”

Houston said she’s an empathetic person who worried that she might become emotional while visiting patients. But once she is in her Gumball persona, she is able to keep her emotions in check, she said.

“I go in a different zone,” she said. “I focus on the child and family and parents.”

In addition to her local training, Houston has attended conferences around the country over the past two years to enhance her skills. In response to requests, she learned how to do face painting and balloon twisting, which she does for hire for parties and other events.

Houston’s skills have become so good that she recently was awarded a $500 educational scholarship from the World Clown Association. She will put the money toward a weeklong training camp in La Crosse, Wis., in June focusing on “Caring Clowning.”

Meanwhile, she intends to continue her mission of bringing smiles to the faces of patients and their families at Akron Children’s.

“I have seen firsthand what a true difference it makes,” she said. “It’s healing for them and it’s healing for me.”