Saturday, October 16, 1999
Splats all for a good cause
School district raises money for United Way with pie toss
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
MIDDLETOWN — “Bring on the money!” Wayne Driscoll shouted after stepping into a black plastic garbage bag and donning a clear plastic hairnet.
“Hey, I'm a pig about money — money for kids and money for services!” the Middletown/
Monroe Schools superintendent said.
With that, he adjusted a rubber snout on his face and waited while Mary Jane Litherland, a school nurse supervisor, plunked down her $2, grabbed a 6-inch Styrofoam plate full of whipped cream, aimed and fired — splat into his face.
It was the first of many throws during an hourlong Middletown/Monroe event Friday to raise money for the United Way.
Mr. Driscoll was joined in the central office's parking lot by Edmund Pokora, treasurer; Norris Brown, director of pupil personnel; Rod Hilterbran, coordinator of special education; Beau Rickey, work/study specialist; and Joe DiStaola, director of business affairs.
The men sat in folding chairs in a shaded area marked off by yellow caution tape. A slow but steady stream of people took their turns at throwing — and sometimes smearing — the plates full of edible goodies in their faces and hair while the “targets” shouted taunts.
As his secretary was filling her plate with cream, Mr. Pokora kept up a steady commentary.
“Not that I'm worried about women throwing straight,” Mr. Pokora said. “Come on, right here,” he said to Carolyn Simpkins, just before she whispered, “Happy Bosses Day” to her employer and smacked him in the lower face with a pie.
Students from Garfield Alternative School, covering the event for their newspaper, couldn't resist a few throws, prompted by teachers or staff with less steady hands.
“My principal sent me out,” said senior Erickson Johnson, 17. “I came out to have fun and throw pies. I got him (Mr. Brown) because he's too clean.”
About $200 was raised for the United Way.
“It was a lot of fun for a good cause,” Mr. Pokora said after his wife, Michele, and 12-year-old son Jason threw the last plates of cream.
“I did it for the sheer enjoyment of hitting him in the face,” Mrs. Pokora said.
Five-year-old Paris Osaze-Allen, who was there with her dad, simply wanted to know who was going to clean up the mess.
“I don't want to ride my bicycle in that,” she said after asking her dad why so many people had bags on their heads.
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