LAKEWOOD – Knights, pirates, kings, queens, magicians, harp players and more came out to enjoy the 40th Lakewood Renaissance Faire held by the township’s Lions Club.
The event was held in Pine Park which for that weekend was rechristened as the Village of Pine Park in the East Kingdom of the Barony of Carillion. Along with the Lions Club the organization enjoyed the participation of the local level of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and the Knights of Valour.
The weekend offered a variety of musical performances, jousting, archery, hatchet throwing, medieval fighting demonstrations and numerous vendors.
There’s been a lot of history in the 40 years that the faire’s been enchanting families, said Lions Club leader Don Alemany, who serves as the festival co-director. They’ve even had real weddings performed here.
One of the biggest draws is the Knights of Valour, he said. They are a professional jousting troop. Their owner, Shane Adams, had a TV series called “Full Metal Joust” on the History Channel. They have been here for 20 years.
During the first day of the festival weekend, Alemany said, “we had something extremely rare.” Both knights in the joust were dislodged off their horses during a bout.
Fellow Lions Club member Ashlynn K. Williams who is noted as The Tail Twister said that another attraction is “Ocean County’s best fire breather Needles and we’ve also had belly dancing.”
The members noted that after last year’s absence when the event was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many participants and regular attendees were eager to return to enjoy the event that provides a glimpse into the medieval history.
However, a few vendors did not come this year. Williams added that while they couldn’t come for whatever reason, “they did make fantastic donations to the club which is always great.”
“We had a belly dancing group that opted not to come this year but we do have dancers and a harp performer and this year we have a Roman encampment with gladiators. We have grown over the years,” Alemany said.
Brice Alemany is the “King Lion” or grounds director who sets up where everything will be held each year. “It takes me a day and a half to get everything situated. We put out the promotional signs early. This year it was just me and my sister and my niece. Our manpower has been a bit short.”
“We have 14 members on the books,” Williams said but some are inactive. A few others are living outside of the state.
Don Alemany said 100% of the proceeds goes back to the club’s mission of helping those with vision and hearing problems. “It goes to charitable organizations and one of our biggest is the Lehmann School which is associated with Ladacin Network. We sponsor a blind child at a summer camp.”
Other projects on the state and local level include scholarships for Lakewood High School seniors, PPE for first responders, supporting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Lions Eye Bank of NJ and Delaware Valley and the Katzenback School for the Deaf.
On the National level the Lakewood Lions support St. Jude’s Children’s Research foundation, the Childhood Leukemia Foundation and Shriners Hospital.
As to how the Ren Faire originated four decades ago as the club’s chief fundraiser and a major attraction in Ocean County each fall, Don Alemany said, “we had two Lion members and one SCA member and they got together and said we need to do some kind of fundraising and in October of 1981, the park became known as the village and the Barony of Carillion in the East Kingdom. It has grown to what it is today.”
He recalled that in 2001, “I was trying to get jousters from the Maryland Ren Faire and things fell apart. I get a call from this Canadian guy which is Shane Adams and they agreed to come here and 9/11 happens.”
“They were coming from Canada with a truckload of horses and steel blades and armor and everything else. I think the Lord had it planned because they followed a (Canadian) Mountie in a line of trucks to get into the United States. They had to go through some security clearances and they made it down here,” he added.
“We’ve had our ups and downs with the weather and now the pandemic. Last year with the event canceled we were asked to blend the Halloween contest in town with the Ren Faire in Pine Park. The club didn’t make a lot of money but the vendors did with all these kids coming in with their parents last October. For a time there, there was only three of us who ran this. The biggest thing is to see the people laugh and smile,” he said.
SCA members Pam Herbert of Waretown and Mary Jacobsen of Lacey were busy opening their organization tent on the second day of the event.
Jacobsen served as the autocrat for the event “which for our group basically means that I am in charge of the event. I get the people who volunteer to do things. The local chapter president is known as the seneschal. “We probably have on average about 75 members show up. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of medieval history and recreation from the fall of the Roman Empire to the death of Queen Elizabeth.”
Herbert reminded Jacobsen that the club “now goes beyond Europe.”
“Anything that goes beyond 1600 and happened on Earth, we’re good,” Jacobsen joked.
Cliff Woerner, whose stage name is Jack Morrowin, was the master of ceremonies and a magician who performed during the weekend. “This is year three that I am MCing the event. I started back in 2016 during their 35th anniversary and they wanted me to perform. I came in as an entry level performer and they also asked me to MC the event saying here you are an entertainer here is a microphone and freedom.”
“Now I come up with the schedule for the entertainment and I also talk to the vendors who are wonderful people,” Woerner added.
Among the items you could buy from vendors included dream catchers, decorative jewelry and dragon eggs.
When you got hungry, you could enjoy a hot dog or hamburger from the Men’s Club of Four Seasons at South Knolls in Jackson Township. The members there were selling 50/50 raffle tickets and also promoting their annual walk event to support Lyme Disease research. “We donate a lot to charities such to help those with Lyme Disease, diabetes and deaf and blind schools,” club president Vince Scatuccio said.
