Madison Costello, 15, cuddles a goat while Frankie Magistro looks on during Comets Soar Day at Crestwood Secondary center.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
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William Savner, 17, added to the festivities of Comets Soar Day by playing his guitar, a skill he picked up during the pandemic. Earlier in the day Eric Rinehimer, 16, had visited the face painting booth and asked to be made up like ‘The Joker.’
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Crestwood student Gonzalo Lozano, 15, had a turtle, a cookie and cat whiskers decorating his face, thanks to the handiwork of schoolmates at the face-painting station. He said the cookie and the heart were both in honor of the cookies a friend’s mother makes.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Crestwood student Sadie Michaud, 15, enjoyed snuggling with one of about 20 young Nigerian Dwarf goats Steinmetz Family Farm of Berks County had brought to Comets Soar Day. ‘I really like it,’ Sadie said. ‘I’ve been here for 2 hours.’ Goat owner Justin Steinmetz said the goats are popular visitors at nursing homes, schools, fairs and goat yoga sessions. ‘It’s called agri-tainment,’ he said.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Roman Magistro, 15, showed off his artistic flair on Comets Soar Day by drawing an elaborate house with chalk on the sidewalk. ‘I’m all about Victorian and Gothic architecture,’ he said, explaining the building was inspired by the work of Brett L. Helquist, the artist who illustrated the Lemony Snicket books.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Roman Magistro’s drawing became quite elaborate, depicting a house filled with gables and Victorian architectural flourishes. Many students had chosen to decorate the sidewalks around Crestwood High School with colorful chalk drawings on Comets Soar Day.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
The mountain air was cool on Friday morning at Crestwood High School, and several students wrapped themselves in blankets as they walked around the outdoor track.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Several carnival-like games of skill gave Crestwood students the chance to hit baseballs, throw ‘axes’ made of soft material and ascend a climbing wall.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
WRIGHT TWP. — Some wrapped themselves in blankets, others gladly cuddled young goats in their laps to share a little body warmth. Many just joined in any of the numerous physical activities available, from a row of inflatable skill challenge structures (Ax tossing with a Velcro axe, basket shooting, and a squishy variation of wall climbing) to flying discs (“Frisbee” is proprietary), football, and a surreal round of baseball where the bat didn’t quite crack when hitting a — volleyball? Well, at least it’s an easier target.
Crestwood High School students got to spend a big chunk of Friday out in the athletic fields to celebrate “Comets Soar Day,” which Superintendent Natasha Milazzo said was a reward for their hard work preparing for imminent state standardized tests.
Walk out the back doors to the fields and you had instant access to some face painting, where 16-year-old Eric Rinehimer asked to be made up like “The Joker” from the Batman films (scary “Dark Night” version, not wry Jack Nicholson interpretation). As Eric’s visage grew ashier, 15-year-old Gonzalo Lozano not only came back for seconds, he walked over to another table to seize a specific shade of red for a heart on his forehead, accompanying the turtle, cookie, nose tip heart, and cat whiskers already painted on his face.
A hop, skip and jump away, the sidewalks sported lots of chalk art, with 15-year-old Roman Magistro drew an increasingly elaborate building in yellow chalk. “I’m all about Victorian and Gothic architecture,” he said, explaining he was inspired by the work of American illustrator Brett Helquist, who is known for his work in the children’s book series “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.” If you took the handicap access ramp down to the fields, incidentally, you really could hop skip and jump your way: someone had drawn a hopscotch grid.
Justin Steinmetz, from Steinmetz Family Farm in Berks County, had set up a small pen with about 20 Nigerian Dwarf goats, all younger than 6 months. Affable and very familiar with people thanks to frequent visits to schools, nursing homes, fairs and birthday parties, the goats proved irresistible to many.
“They’ll jump up, right on your lap,” said 15-year-old Mike Elliott.
“I really like it,” said Sadie Michaud, 15, who said she’d been snuggling a goat “for 2 hours.”
Durability at a single station was not uncommon.
“We’ve been out here since 8,” 16-year-old Ben Radziewicz said as he took a break from tossing a flying disk at a cylinder with a slot for a target. He and his friends were proud to point out they got the disk through a slot four times. Of course, they’d been at it for three hours and counting.
Now fully Joker-faced, Rinehimer had sauntered over to the disk throwers, sitting down next to William Savner, 17, who added a little music to the day with his guitar, showing considerable skill both on the frets and with the pick. How long has he been playing? “About four years.” Okay that takes us back to — oh.
“I started during the pandemic, for something to do.” Now he plays daily.
Across the main sport field numerous students kept warm by running, tossing, kicking and otherwise keeping muscles moving and blood flowing. While most seemed to be trying more or less conventional, one group was whacking an aluminum bat at a soccer ball, then running bases.
Hey, there are many ways for a comet to soar.