From Wooden Nickels To Stickers – Sesquicentennial Contest Means Circus for Kids

The that kicks off this month commemorates the founding of our town 150 years ago. At the same time, a number of the “WO 150” programs evoke nostalgia for the town’s 100th anniversary festivities that many still remember from 1962.

Take for example, the WO 150 Sticker Contest. At a Silvestri family gathering on New Year’s Day, my older brother was quick to relate he’d heard from an old friend from town that the “wooden nickels” from the Centennial Celebration in ’62 were coming back. “Remember those wooden nickels?” he grinned.

I was pretty young at the time and have vague memories of the wooden tokens featuring two triangles and a “WO” that kids in the neighborhood coveted. But I don’t recall much else.

However, West Orange Recreation Director Bill Kehoe remembers all the details.  “A major highlight of the Centennial Celebration was a circus at Colgate Field,” he related. “Kids got those ‘wooden nickels’ which they used at the circus to get popcorn, cotton candy or play games by collecting all the cards in the Centennial Contest that the local businesses handed out every month. I remember looking forward to getting the new cards from places like Claude’s Luncheonette and the market on Main Street.”

Back then, each card depicted a man with a type of facial hair that was fashionable back in 1862. “There were handlebar mustaches, mutton chops, Van Dyke beards,” Kehoe said. 

A program which still brings out childlike smiles on the faces of men in their fifties and sixties must have been a big hit with young people and helped build excitement for the town-wide celebration in ‘62. Kehoe hopes the current spin on the contest will have a similar effect in 2012.

“Just like at the Centennial, a major component of our Sesquicentennial Celebration Week will be performances of the Zerbini Family Circus at the high school on July 2,” Kehoe said.  “And just like in 1962, every kid who completes the WO 150 Sticker Contest will earn a voucher for the Circus Midway that can be used towards games, food, and the camel and pony rides.”

Sponsored by the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, the WO 150 Sticker Contest is very simple, but requires kids get on board right away. To earn the $5 Circus Midway Voucher, they merely have to collect the six different stickers (which highlight local neighborhoods rather than whiskers) provided free-of-charge by about 25 local businesses located throughout the town. The catch is that a new sticker is given out each month, and January is the first month of the program. So in order to stay in the race to win, children must stop by one of the participating businesses and request their first sticker by Tuesday, January 31.

It’s easy to get the stickers. Participating businesses have the WO 150 Sticker Contest Sign in their window, and you can just go in and ask for a sticker – no purchase is necessary. The businesses and their locations are listed on the WO 150 page of the town website. 

The other day, I stopped by at Tory Corner on Main Street, possibly the only West Orange business who’s participated in both the Centennial and Sesquicentennial Contests. The Schneider Brothers said they had no record of their father participating in the contest 50 years ago. However, Roger Schneider showed me two ceramic commemorative plates from the Centennial that he’d pulled out from one of the many nooks in the wall.

“Schneider Hardware has always been an active part of the West Orange community, and we’re sure our dad supported the town’s Centennial Celebration in some way,” Roger said. “Just as today we are happy to be a part of the Sticker Contest that promotes West Orange’s 150^th anniversary.”

Contest sheets to which children can affix all their stickers were given out earlier this month in school to all West Orange students grades K through six. Additional sticker sheets can be obtained at the Recreation Department on Cherry Street. 

West Orange turns 150 only once, and a celebration like this only comes around every 50 years. It’s a great time to reflect on the rich heritage of our town, come together in community and encourage the same pride and excitement for West Orange that kids had back in ’62 in our children today.

Please also check out some of the other programs going on right now, such as the Sesquicentennial Lecture Series. I hope to keep Patch readers informed on more of the WO 150 activities throughout the year.