Let’s hope that Jennifer and Kurt Vandenbrink gave handsome tips to the babysitters after Sunday’s Giralda Music & Arts Festival.
They can afford to, after winning $1,500 in the 50-50 raffle.
The Hackettstown couple decided to celebrate their 17th anniversary sans children, so they punted all five to the grandparents and enjoyed the relative peace and quiet of the New Jersey Symphony with a few hundred other close friends on the great lawn of Giralda Farms in Madison.
Please click icon below for captions.
“We’ve always wanted to come,” said Kurt, a remodeling contractor.
The $1 raffle tickets benefited the Arts Council of the Morris Area, which celebrated its 29th year of Giralda festivals.
“We figured it would support a good cause, so we bought 10 tickets,” Kurt said.
If you’re reading this Kurt or Jennifer, let us know…are Grandma and Grandpa threatening to strike if they don’t get a raise?
In the annual picnic theme competition, the incredible Crater-Peterson-Moore team fell short of a three-peat yet still won third place with its Team USA Pavilion at the London Olympics. Giralda fans may remember this group’s prior championships with Pirates Cove and the Hippie Hut.
This year’s entry included hula-hoop Olympic rings in official colors, a model of London Bridge, a portrait of the Queen by Jackie Crater and Viscount Severn’s smoked salmon and dill tea sandwiches. We can hardly wait to see what these families cook up next year.
In the meantime, they will be catching Zappa Plays Zappa at the Mayo Performing Arts Center. Perhaps they will want to fortify themselves first with the Queen Mother’s English mint tea with a dash of American bourbon, from their picnic menu.
Photos by Cathy Veit. Please click icon below for captions.
Top honors on Sunday went to sisters Sydney and Abbie Kriech, 19 and 16, of Basking Ridge for their Garden Party picnic motif, complete with white picket fence and cupcakes decorated with assorted veggie frostings.
“My sister likes to cook a lot,” said Abbie. Let’s hope she likes music, too, because they won tickets to the New Jersey Symphony.
Michele Para and Elena Dones of Morristown won second prize with What to Expect When Expecting, a surprise baby shower for their friend Cynthia Flanagan. Their exercise in pink was good for tickets to see the Masterworks Chorus at Carnegie Hall, plus tickets for historic walking tours in Morristown, courtesy of the Morris County Tourism Bureau.
In fourth place was the Burke family of Morris Plains with Christmas in June, authentic right down to the fake tree, green sweaters and yummy tripe. They won tickets to the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and Macculloch Hall, while reminding us that there are only six more shopping months until Christmas. Ho ho ho.
