CAREFREE TRUTH
Carefree Truth #464
Carefree Truth
Issue #464, February 22, 2016
Following Gina Kaegi's presentation on Ray Villafane and the Pumpkin Festival, Mayor Les Peterson said, "The question is how do we continue and build on this? Where do we go next?" Mrs. Kaegi gave the floor to Mr. Villafane.
"From the moment Gina called me and I visited the website of Carefree and started to see some of the images, I was really drawn to it. The name itself just kind of felt right. When I visited the Garden, just the vibe, the Garden, just was so unique. I started to get excited about doing stuff here." He comes from the northern areas of New York and Michigan, where Halloween and pumpkin cultures thrive. "At first it seemed odd to be doing a Halloween thing in the desert with cacti." But he fell in love with it because it was so novel. He looks for areas that are unexplored and that he "likes to play in". The uniqueness of the Garden is a seed that is waiting to grow. Mr. Villafane said the show was good, but there are so many more possibilities here. The trees and plants have a Dr. Seuss look which sets the scene for good stories. "Dr. Seuss meets 'The Nightmare Before Christmas.' It's the perfect setting."
Moving forward, he proposed a year round venture with the Garden to capture the same sort of magic. Ray Villafane is in a position to pick and choose his jobs, and he views the Garden as his big playground. He wants to explore and expand the possibilities in the Garden. Mr. Villafane has a large following, and can bring as many people as Carefree wants.
"If you imagine what you want instead of seeing road blocks, then you can solve your way past those seeming road blocks." He dives in with passion. He is currently working on a proposal for one of Europe's largest theme parks, the second largest after Disneyland Paris. He's worked at Ocean Park in Hong Kong, one of China's largest theme parks. He's worked with the New York Botanical Gardens, one of the largest in the U.S., for the past 4 years, which brought in the SyFy channel and the Guinness Book of World Records. He did a show on the Food Network. He dives in and has fun. "It's magnetic. Everyone likes to have fun!" Carefree can count on him to drive that sort of feeling in the Garden.
Mr. Villafane wants to expand the Pumpkin Festival this year, with more carvings and immersive story driven exhibits. For example, he'd build a little village, or a boxing ring with changing rounds. He'd like to give it more edginess, not gory, but with more of a Halloween feel. Market "SCarefree Nights". He'd like to use more music and projected animations, like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. He would create custom animations exclusive to the Garden.
His latest idea is to create scarecrows in the Garden. He scanned the Internet and found no good scarecrows. There were very few even in films. "The best scarecrows out there will be the ones in the Carefree Garden. They just don't exist yet!" Mr. Villafane is really excited to push the world of scarecrows like he's pushed the world of pumpkins. They go hand-in-hand. It will create a niche market to create the desired numbers. The stage in the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion will be transformed to look like a Broadway play. It will be a Halloween Mecca. Edginess broadens the audience appeal.
Ray Villafane will engage in year round projects in Carefree. He loves sand, and is also a renowned sand sculpture who has been commissioned to create sand sculptures around the world. They can be done at any time of the year, using seasonal themes.
Sand is a fairly quick medium that can last quite a while under the awnings if there are no heavy rains. He might also do a snow sculpture for the Christmas Festival. Mr. Villafane is considering moving his family to Carefree, so will do at least 2 sand sculptures and possibly more. "If you give me a sandbox, I will play in it!"
He would also enjoy seeing small bronze sculptures added to the Garden over the course of years. Cleverly placed bronze fairies, pumpkins, and a troll under the bridge would make the Gardens a magical enchanted destination, creating an experience. Another idea is sculptures created from natural desert materials such as sticks and assorted native vegetation, with a natural look and feel. These would be a perfect fit.
He was a K-12 art teacher for 13 years, and enjoyed working with the YMCA and the high schools during the Pumpkin Festival. Mr. Villafane is willing to continue doing similar workshops, as well as arranging for exotically dressed models in pirate or Conan outfits that would not normally be seen, for local artists to paint or draw. He values the opportunity to work with the Town in a blending of art and teaching. "It's important that kids embrace the creative element that can be a driving force in their life. Too many people are not creative, when it is there for the playing around with."
Ray Villafane wants to be involved with the community, and it seems like a good fit. He is really excited and hopes the Council understands the value and sincerity of that statement. He's "an optimist who sees never ending possibilities, which eventually always work out." There are no such things as road blocks; it's important to be an optimist. "The Carefree Garden has the ability to be world renowned. That's my short term goal!"
Mayor Peterson said, "We have the same feeling for you as a person, and your art, and what you bring to this town. The townspeople have embraced you like I've never seen before. As much as you liked and warmed to them, they did the same to you. And they would come back to see you and your art, and they were smiling when they went through the Garden."
(Part 3 of 3 will be sent out on Friday.)
"Spring is here. If you are inclined to look for the meaning of life, get thee to a garden. There are profound reasons why the garden is central in the sacred text of major religions. Since ancient times, it has been the place where the soul goes to exercise, while simultaneously engaged in a multi-layered dance with earth, plants, sun, birds, bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, night and day, temperature, the faithful earthworm, water, minerals, fragrance, a cast of thousands of microorganisms, our stalwart friends the fungi, chlorophyll, nectar. I think of it as a ballet in the biosphere."
George Ball
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
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