Local psychiatrist Max Trask is even more well-known for his love of fine art than he is for his ability to help his patients. So when he heard that a major art auction was to be held in nearby Gilder City, he thought it would make an excellent day trip for his Tourette Syndrome support group. An all-bids-final auction of millions of dollars worth of paintings combined with half a dozen people who twitch, jerk, and cry out uncontrollably seemed a perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Dr. Trask and his group attended the auction, and it went off without a hitch. The doctor even bid successfully on a Yari reproduction, which he plans to give to his wife on their anniversary.

It was after they left the gallery that things went very wrong. Their van was broadsided in the parking lot by a circus wagon. There were no serious injuries, but several of the Tourette patients were left lying on the pavement as unicycling clowns and hopping, skirt-wearing poodles circled around them.

“I don’t think any of us saw that coming,” says Dr. Trask. “Considering how the day started, it was a surreal turn of events that came completely out of the blue.”

He said that he and his patients were very eager to get back to Chrislip. “It’s not perfect,” he says, “but it’s home, and the set-ups always match the endings.”