Post by admin on Oct 17, 2007 4:38:17 GMT -5
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Here is a good way to start the morning. Nick did us some justice, as always.
Painting the town "spooky"
ARTISTS FROM FREEHOLD SCHOOLS GET IN HALLOWEEN SPIRIT
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/17/07
BY NICK PETRUNCIO
FREEHOLD BUREAU
FREEHOLD — Each Halloween season, the downtown becomes a canvas for high school artists, and Halloween Spooktacular Committee volunteers like Jean Holtz work to make Freehold the Halloween hub for western Monmouth County and beyond.
On Tuesday, students from the six schools of the Freehold Regional High School District and the borough's Freehold Intermediate School and St. Rose of Lima school painted Halloween-themed scenes on windows belonging to borough hall and businesses along Main Street.
"The best way to express yourself is through art. I couldn't think of a better way," said Lauren Caldarola, 17, a senior at Freehold Township High School.
Her outfit intentionally — and fashionably — splattered with paint, Caldarola said happily that art is nothing to be uptight about and that everybody decorating the windows should be covered with paint.
The students were participating in the borough's annual downtown window decorating contest. This is one of the events that complements others, such as a competition to see which resident and neighborhood has the best scarecrow or who has the best jack-o-lantern. There's also the annual house-decorating contest, the annual haunted hayride, and the Halloween parade in which musicians from the local high school bands march in costume.
"It's all free. We just do it because we love Halloween and we want people to come downtown and enjoy Freehold for the holiday season," said Holtz, herself a Freehold High School graduate who remembers decorating the windows and winning a trophy one year in the 1960s.
While the window painting has been a longstanding tradition in town, this is only the 13th annual "official celebration" with the various organized and adjudicated events, according to Holtz.
She said Roger Kane — who was a councilman from 1970 to 1975 and mayor from then until 1980 — and his wife, Barbara, wanted to expand the Halloween celebration for families in the community, and they put together a group of volunteers to organize various activities.
Painting windows Tuesday, Sean Hecht, a 17-year-old senior at Marlboro High School, noted his school's theme this year is "Fairy Tales Gone Wrong." He and his classmate Mike Englisis, also 17 and a senior, were working on a painting of the spider in Little Miss Muffet getting the upper hand.
"I just like coming outside and showing our art to the whole town and showing them what we can do," Hecht said.
"It's fun to just come down and share with people our art," Englisis said.
Lisa Cracchiolo, 16, a junior at Manalapan High School, and classmates Steven Simione, 15, a sophomore, and Jacquelyn Rybak, 16, a junior, were working on a silhouette of a witch holding a girl's hand on a background of deep colors applied in a sponge-like way. That painting is on the front of the American Hotel.
"I didn't want to do anything too cliche," Cracchiolo said. "I like the burst of color. I thought I'd be abstract and take a modern approach."
Across the street at Tony's Freehold Grill, Leslie Daley watched Freehold Intermediate School student Allison Vota, 13, work on a painting that included Cinderella's carriage.
"This is a highlight of their whole (school) career. They remember this. They remember the day they came down town," said Daley, who is retired after 34 years of teaching, but still likes to help out with the Halloween events. "They're making the town look beautiful."
Nick Petruncio: (732) 308-7752 or npetruncio@app.com
Here is a good way to start the morning. Nick did us some justice, as always.
Painting the town "spooky"
ARTISTS FROM FREEHOLD SCHOOLS GET IN HALLOWEEN SPIRIT
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/17/07
BY NICK PETRUNCIO
FREEHOLD BUREAU
FREEHOLD — Each Halloween season, the downtown becomes a canvas for high school artists, and Halloween Spooktacular Committee volunteers like Jean Holtz work to make Freehold the Halloween hub for western Monmouth County and beyond.
On Tuesday, students from the six schools of the Freehold Regional High School District and the borough's Freehold Intermediate School and St. Rose of Lima school painted Halloween-themed scenes on windows belonging to borough hall and businesses along Main Street.
"The best way to express yourself is through art. I couldn't think of a better way," said Lauren Caldarola, 17, a senior at Freehold Township High School.
Her outfit intentionally — and fashionably — splattered with paint, Caldarola said happily that art is nothing to be uptight about and that everybody decorating the windows should be covered with paint.
The students were participating in the borough's annual downtown window decorating contest. This is one of the events that complements others, such as a competition to see which resident and neighborhood has the best scarecrow or who has the best jack-o-lantern. There's also the annual house-decorating contest, the annual haunted hayride, and the Halloween parade in which musicians from the local high school bands march in costume.
"It's all free. We just do it because we love Halloween and we want people to come downtown and enjoy Freehold for the holiday season," said Holtz, herself a Freehold High School graduate who remembers decorating the windows and winning a trophy one year in the 1960s.
While the window painting has been a longstanding tradition in town, this is only the 13th annual "official celebration" with the various organized and adjudicated events, according to Holtz.
She said Roger Kane — who was a councilman from 1970 to 1975 and mayor from then until 1980 — and his wife, Barbara, wanted to expand the Halloween celebration for families in the community, and they put together a group of volunteers to organize various activities.
Painting windows Tuesday, Sean Hecht, a 17-year-old senior at Marlboro High School, noted his school's theme this year is "Fairy Tales Gone Wrong." He and his classmate Mike Englisis, also 17 and a senior, were working on a painting of the spider in Little Miss Muffet getting the upper hand.
"I just like coming outside and showing our art to the whole town and showing them what we can do," Hecht said.
"It's fun to just come down and share with people our art," Englisis said.
Lisa Cracchiolo, 16, a junior at Manalapan High School, and classmates Steven Simione, 15, a sophomore, and Jacquelyn Rybak, 16, a junior, were working on a silhouette of a witch holding a girl's hand on a background of deep colors applied in a sponge-like way. That painting is on the front of the American Hotel.
"I didn't want to do anything too cliche," Cracchiolo said. "I like the burst of color. I thought I'd be abstract and take a modern approach."
Across the street at Tony's Freehold Grill, Leslie Daley watched Freehold Intermediate School student Allison Vota, 13, work on a painting that included Cinderella's carriage.
"This is a highlight of their whole (school) career. They remember this. They remember the day they came down town," said Daley, who is retired after 34 years of teaching, but still likes to help out with the Halloween events. "They're making the town look beautiful."
Nick Petruncio: (732) 308-7752 or npetruncio@app.com