The pastoral lawn at Raynham Hall recently became the sight of mayhem and disorder as witches, headless horsemen and superheroes stomped, pranced and howled on the grounds, making quite the hullaballoo.
The highly orchestrated chaos was part of an annual event taking place at the historical sight, appropriately billed, the “Halloween Hullabaloo.” Kids in costume were invited to spend the afternoon painting pumpkins while waiting to have spiders, ghosts and witches painted on themselves by volunteer docent JoAnn Paulsen, “The Face Lady.”
It was musician, author and storyteller Johnny Cuomo, however, who brought order to the bedlam, as he enraptured his audience with tales from Ireland. It seemed fitting, given the nature of Raynham Hall, that a storyteller would provide the historical background of the mystical holiday.
“Halloween actually originated in Ireland,” he said.
Cuomo later confided to a group of adults that he has a large repertoire of Irish ghost stories, but deemed them too frightening for his young audience. Instead, he stuck to stories about nature, the changing seasons, animals and fairies as well as a Halloween song about ghosts, which the children were invited to sing-along. During the performance, Cuomo had the kids pretend to be fairy-folk, another contribution of Irish folklore, as he played the penny whistle, a Celtic instrument resembling a flute.
“Irish music is a part of everything that I do,” he said. “Whether it calls for it or not, I incorporate it.”
Sisters Amanda and Camila Cerda from Oyster Bay are regulars to Raynham Hall.
Camilla, 7, said, “I really wanted to come this year because we came last year and it was really fun.”
Older sister Amanda agreed. “We like doing activities,” she said. “Last time we made soap here.”
When families attend Raynham Hall, there is certain to be something for everyone. Regina Moran, of Garden City, said her daughter loved the stories, songs and pumpkin decorating, while her older niece had a great time enjoying the history of the home. “As an American history buff, I loved seeing the house again,” she said.
“Raynham Hall is a total family experience,” says Alex Sutherland.
