Christmas celebration takes on Victorian style

By Joyce Blay
Staff Writer

Christmas celebration
takes on Victorian style
By Joyce Blay
Staff Writer


VERONICA YANKOWSKI  Anne Alberta, dressed in her Victorian splendor, sings at the holiday celebration in Jackson.VERONICA YANKOWSKI Anne Alberta, dressed in her Victorian splendor, sings at the holiday celebration in Jackson.

JACKSON — Tiny Tim had the patronage of Ebenezer Scrooge at the conclusion of A Christmas Carol, but township children can thank the Optimist Club of Jackson for charitable funds raised on Dec. 7-8 by the group’s production of A Victorian Christmas.

Taking a page out of a Dickens novel, the club recast Red Cedar Village, an eclectic assortment of fast food eateries on Route 537 east near Six Flags Great Adventure, as a Victorian Christmas village. Visitors couldn’t have been more delighted with the results.

"We came down here to see the (light display) at Great Adventure and saw this place," said Julia Polyak of Hillsborough, who was waiting patiently in line to see Santa Claus with her husband, Rich, their children, Adam, 9, Samantha, 4, and Tina, 16, and their neighbors’ children Andrew Lubin, 8, and his sister Alyssa, 5.

"It looks like it’s from Charles Dickens’ time and there’s a Santa inside, too," said Rich Polyak. "It’s very exciting."

Waiting patiently behind them, Michelle and Tony Szatkowski of Jackson had come with their infant son, Dean, 21 months old, and daughter Halley, 6.

"I think it’s great; it’s so family oriented," said Michelle Szatkowski. "It’s festive and I think that’s what makes it great for the kids."

Behind the Szatkowski family, Eric and Pia Robbins of Jackson stood in line. They said they had come with their children, Skyler, 5, and Garrett, 2, but their oldest boy was nowhere in sight.

"Skyler couldn’t wait and ran ahead to see Santa," said Pia Robbins, smiling. "It’s nice that the Optimist Club is doing this."

The concept was the brainchild of Mary Ann Vinciguerra, who along with her husband, Tony, owns Red Cedar Village. Both are members of the Optimist Club of Jack-son, whose president is Ralph Sicuranza.

An admitted Victorian era enthusiast, Vinciguerra said she came up with the inspiration to hold a Victorian Christmas from several sources.

"Long Beach Island has a Victorian weekend in August," said Vinciguerra, "and a friend of mine, Denise Zimblanski, is the curator of the Kuser Mansion in Hamilton Township, where they offer lectures in Victorian dressmaking. We went there to learn to make (authentic Victorian clothing), as well as Victorian crafts, which we offer here."

Those lessons served Vinciguerra well. She used her knowledge of dressmaking to turn members of the Optimist Club into Victorian era characters, while offering her youthful visitors a chance to enjoy Victorian crafts in one of the other restaurants in the complex.

Seated around a table in the Chicken and Ribs restaurant, a group of children industriously applied gold and silver sparkle to cutouts of striped and patterned stockings they could hang with string over their family’s mantle pieces or from their Christmas tree. One of the parents watching nearby as his children, Benjamin, 6, Michael, 9, and Nicholas, 6, enjoyed the activity was Jackson Township Commit-teeman Michael Kafton. Also present were Nick and Kathy Scheno of Jackson, who had come with their son, Brian, 5, and daughter, Erin, 8.

"We came because we knew there would be crafts for the kids," said Kathy Scheno.

"The kids like to make things and this gets them in the holiday spirit," said Nick Scheno.

In another corner of the restaurant, Tammy McGinness watched as her daughter, Tiffany, 8, constructed angels with yellow and brown yarn hair and lace paste-on dresses and yarn scarves in vibrant shades of peach and forest green.

"I’m going to make it look pretty," Tiffany said as she meticulously cut and pasted a pink and cranberry colored lace dress on another angel whose facial features had not yet been drawn.

For the little girl, the fun was all in creating a beautiful angel, but for children at the opposite end of the restaurant complex, Santa was the main attraction.

Santa was dressed in dark red velvet with a silky white beard in a costume designed by Vinciguerra. Mrs. Claus joined her husband in a long dress of matching red velvet.

As Santa lifted a little girl onto his lap so that she could tell him what she wanted for Christmas, Optimist Club member William Patrick Bates snapped their photo. It will be a memory that both child and parent can share for many years to come each time they look at the picture that was taken that night. But for Vinciguerra, who was not yet sure she would repeat the event next year, the smiles on her guests’ faces was reward enough.

"We try to bring some cheer to the people," she said. "We don’t know if we’ll hold it again next year; we’ll have to see how the turnout is after Sunday."