“Seven colors are in the rainbow count them and you’ll see; violet, indigo, blue, and green… violet, indigo, blue, and green… violet, indigo, blue, and green… yellow, orange and red!”
Every color of the rainbow, and then some, was well represented at York Street Project’s 13th Annual ChalkFest. Last year’s event was held on Thursday, July 28th from 12:00 Noon to 2:00 pm at Exchange Place Plaza in Jersey City, and raised more than $37,000 to support the life-changing programs of The Project. Year after year, the children of The Nurturing Place along with their special friends at the Waterfront Montessori School look forward to their annual trip to Exchange Place Plaza to have fun at the ChalkFest.
The day was bright and sunny, and the artistic energy was as brilliant as ever. ChalkFesters young and not so young were found on their hands and knees drawing, shaping, and giving great attention to some very unique works of art. Volunteer artists were on board once again to assist the children, and to add additional art expressions to the ChalkFest Zone. All were adorned in their official Cardinal Red ChalkFest T-shirts which made Exchange Place Plaza look like a field of dancing red poppies swaying to the melody of the wind
New to the scene last year was DJ Leon who had everyone up on their toes, rocking and bobbing to today’s hot tunes. Also new on the Plaza was the “Drown the Clown” dunk tank. Rumor has it that there’s nothing like a heckling lunchtime clown, under a hot July sun, to get your blood boiling. For $5.00 you got three balls and 3 chances to dunk the clown, who by the way, was really was asking for it!
Micky Magic, the Illusionist extraordinaire, was back and along with co-magician Cisco, who is also a supreme Illusionist. Together they mesmerized the children with one great trick after another. Magician Cisco performed the all-time favorite illusion of pulling a rabbit out of a hat. The high-light of that illusion came afterwards when Magician Cisco allowed the children to pet the rabbit. Once they touched the rabbit’s soft fluffy fur, and looked into his big, round, curious eyes, they knew for sure that he was a real rabbit. In the world of magic, a timeless illusion such as this never gets old. Last but not least, the ever popular Balloon Pop Dart Game, a ChalkFest favorite, was back. This fun carnival type game really brings out the competitor in our ChalkFest guests. There were so many great prizes to be won that the prize claim area looked like an isle in a Sporting Goods store. As the winners walked away with their prizes, they each had a bright smile that would charge a solar panel.
In summary, YSP’s 13th Annual ChalkFest was attended by more than 500 lunchtime patrons . The volunteers that worked at the food areas collectively served 1,000 hotdogs, and several hundred; cans of soda, bottled water, Italian Ices, and bags of snack foods.
A special thank you goes out to Fidelity Investments, our Title Sponsor for the seventh consecutive year, and to Pershing for their Challenger Sponsorship. We also would like to thank Porky Products, Sodexo, The Peerless Beverage Company and Tropicana/Dole Beverages for their generous in-kind donations and a host of other local businesses and supporting sponsors for contributing to the success of the 13th Annual ChalkFest. By the way, who was it that said the number 13 was unlucky?
Mark your calendar to meet us on The Plaza for York Street Project’s 14th Annual ChalkFest on Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 12noon. Until then… keep on Chalkin’!
