Carly Schiff, 8, and Jesse Einstein (behind) roll beeswax candles.
make kreplach from dough and fruit fillings. At the flower booth,
Jayme Jackson, 7, made a colorful bouquet of carnations for her
living-room table.
Twisty the Clown and Howard Faber, also a clown, regaled
the children with magic, antics and balloons. Performer Julie Austin
led a sing-along, and the Jewish Community Center's intergener-
ational choir added to the gala with more song and dance.
Under white tents outdoors, children twirled — then devoured
— pink cotton candy. Some pressed apples for cider. Others dan-
gled like apes from the swing set.
Those in a quieter mood listened to stories in the sukkah, but
children like 6-year-old Benjamin Swerdlow-Freed lingered at the
Neighborhood Project booth, where he and his little brother, Aaron,
3, made calendars for the New Year.
The Apples and Honey party featured cakes donated by area
kosher caterers, as well as a mammoth cardboard birthday card
to the world.
"The High Holidays are called the Days Of Awe and they're treat-
ed with such seriousness. One of the purposes of Apples and Hon-
ey is to engage families in the experiential and fun parts — and to
hopefully send parents and children away with memories and skills
they can use at home," says Robert Nosanchuk, a JEFF program
director.
Doubling as a soothsayer, Mr. Nosanchuk says: "There's going
to be a lot of good stuff happening this year." 0
Above: Gabriel
Tennenberg, 6, gets
a hairpiece from
Twisty the Clown.
Above: Helen Chepurmaya, 9,
shows off her handiwork at Apples
and Honey.
Left: Emily Shepley, 8, smashes
apples into cider with the help of
Ryan Zootecki.