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Pete 'Oompa' Garifalos loves being a clown
(by Kathryn A. Burger - August 06, 2008)
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Staff photo by Kathryn A. Burger
'Call us Clowns' entertained Westwood Recreation Department campers at Berkeley School in Westwood last week. The show featured magic, music, and a healthy dose of silliness. Pictured from left are: Jim 'Jim-Bo' Avidon of Fair Lawn, Joe 'Bobo the Hobo' Fregenti of Cresskill, Pete 'Oompa' Garifalos of Westwood, and Ginnie 'Foxy Roxy' Testo of West Paterson. 'Oompa' is holding Vincent Orfini, son of camp director John Orfini or Westwood.
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“I’ve always wanted to take a pie in the face!” Only a clown could make that statement convincingly and that’s exactly what Pete Garifalos said after he and his fellow clowns from “Call Us Clowns” finished their recent performance for Westwood Recreation Department campers at
Berkeley
School .
With traces of whipped cream still clinging to his face, Garifalos, 75, was all smiles. “I’ve never done that in a show before and I always wanted to,” he said. “It was great!”
“Oompa” (Garifalos) and his cohorts for this performance, Joe “Bobo the Hobo” Fregenti of Cresskill; Jim “Jim-Bo” Avidon of Fair Lawn; and Ginnie “Foxy Roxy” Testo of West Paterson, are all members of the non-profit volunteer clowning organization. Teams from the group perform year round at schools, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, libraries and at fundraisers. They make regularly scheduled visits to the Veterans Home in Paramus and to
Valley
Hospital in Ridgewood and
Holy
Name
Hospital in
Teaneck . The troupe also participates in the borough’s “Home for the Holidays” parade each year.
Garifalos said he’s always been interested in clowning. “I coach baseball – 14- and 15-year-olds – and over the years, I made up a clown routine that takes place on a baseball field,” he said. But there was nowhere to perform it and no one to perform it with. Then, three years ago, he saw the notice in the paper for clowning classes offered by “Call Us Clowns.” He signed up, and, as they say, the rest is history.
Watching his performance, it’s clear he is having just as much fun as his audience, but there’s more to it than just having fun. “You can’t believe the satisfaction you get when you make people smile – at a hospital, a nursing home. You cheer them up and you get this wonderful feeling,” he said. While making their hospitals visits, they stop by the Emergency Room. When deemed appropriate by the staff, they entertain not only young and old patients awaiting treatment or test results, but also their family and friends in the waiting room.
The show for the campers was the group’s official kick-off of “International Clown Week.” Established by an act of Congress in 1970, it is observed each year from Aug. 1 to 7. The designation is intended, “to call public attention to the charitable activities of clowns and the wholesome entertainment they provide…”
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‘Call Us Clowns’
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The “Call Us Clowns” basic training course is staffed by experienced clowns and requires a total of 20 hours, meeting twice a week over a five- to six-week period. Classes teach participants about clown make-up, costuming, history, persona and movement as well as balloon sculpture, face painting, juggling, magic and other skills. For further information, visit www.callusclowns.org. For information about International Clown Week, and for links to clown-related resources, visit www.internationalclownweek.org.
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The campers, ages 5 to 8, were a great audience and enthusiastically participated in the show. There was no shortage of volunteers when they were asked to help with a skit or trick. Disappearing and re-appearing scarves and red rubber balls, sing-alongs, now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t tricks, and a good deal of flat-out silliness kept the campers entertained for nearly an hour.
Even the counselors enjoyed the show and one, Ricky Ryan, 19, helped with one of the tricks. “This is my sixth year as a counselor and I love it. The kids are great!” He is now the camp’s athletic director. Six years is a long time to be camp counselor, but apparently not in the Ryan family of Westwood. “My brother was a counselor for 11 years,” he said.
Garifalos, who is retired, is a lifelong resident of Westwood and was thrilled to entertain in his hometown. About his career as a clown after all those years of wanting to be one, he said with a broad grin, “Now, I can’t stop!”
Kathryn A. Burger's e-mail address is burger@northjersey.com.
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