Chris Petrowski and Kieth Fernandez of Allentown practice juggling Friday at Upper Freehold Elementary School. (Staff photo by Phil McAuliffe)

WANDERINGS column

 UPPER FREEHOLD - Timothy Marchetti knows all about juggling a career with the demands of everyday life.
   In fact, Mr. Marchetti juggles every day.
   Since January, Mr. Marchetti, a former bartender from Hamilton, has been forging a career as a full-time juggler and magician. Last week, he spent a week teaching his craft to youngsters in the Upper Freehold Elementary Summer Child Watch program.
   In addition to teaching the children juggling techniques, Mr. Marchetti brought a positive message to the school - anything is possible if you work hard and believe in yourself.  "I taught myself to juggle," said Mr. Marchetti, 36. "Because I was a bartender, I had free time during the day. I just started messing around by juggling some fruit.

"This was the first thing that I saw when I put my mind to it, I was able to do it. I can juggle five balls now. I'm doing stuff I thought was impossible. I'll never say anything is impossible again. I tell that to the kids, too. Nothing is impossible if you work at it and believe in it. That's the best lesson anybody can learn."    Mr. Marchetti started juggling six years ago. It took him several months to get where he could juggle well three balls at a time.    "I can teach these kids in a few days what it took me months to learn," he said with a laugh. "I've learned the hard way. But I think that makes me a very good teacher. It seems like every kid could benefit from this."

   The teacher impressed the students with his ability to juggle items such as swords and flaming torches. He ended each day's lesson by showing the youngsters a magic trick. "No one wants to watch you juggle for an hour, no matter how good you are," Mr. Marchetti said. "That's why I added the magic. Putting on an hour show is pretty tough."

   Mr. Marchetti puts on shows for private parties through his company, "Jugglers-R-Us." He also enjoys teaching juggling, and would like to do more instruction through camp and school programs. The youngsters in the Child Watch program enjoyed the chance to learn a new skill. "I learned that it's hard," said Aimee Bux, a 10-year-old from Cream Ridge. Aimee demonstrated the technique she used prior to meeting Mr. Marchetti. She tossed a ball into the air, caught it, and then tossed another ball into the air. "I learned that's not juggling," she said with a smile. "It can make you better at sports," 8-year-old Haley Wilhelm, also from Cream Ridge, said about juggling. "It helps your hand-eye coordination," Aimee added.

Haley and Aimee were among a group of kids working on juggling three balls at once. Another group of youngsters worked with Mr. Marchetti on mastering their technique with two balls before adding a third. "It's easy once you get the hang of it," Haley said, adding that she planned to teach her friends and relatives how to juggle.

The youngsters said Mr. Marchetti taught them how to make "juggling balls" out of socks and electrical tape. Keith Fernandez, a 10-year-old from Allentown, said he learned to juggle in two days. Christopher Petrowski, another 10-year-old from the borough, said it took him a day. Kevin Bux, 9, watched while Keith and Christopher showed off their newfound talent. "It's sort of hard," Kevin said. "It's weird. You have to throw balls up and when they come down be able to catch them all." Sammy Shonk, a 7-year-old from Allentown, said he would like to become good enough to juggle swords and flaming torches. He was realistic about the prospects, however. "I think my parents would say no," Sammy said.

Mr. Marchetti said the swords he used are not sharp. He said that when jugglers appear to be doing dangerous stunts, such as using chain saws, things are not always as they look. "Juggling and magic are kind of the same," he said. "It's all an illusion. You have to use common sense." He said the most difficult trick is to juggle three different shaped items, like a club, a ring and a ball. "You have to throw them different ways, so it's harder," he said. "When you have things that are different weights, like a small ball and a bowling ball, it's hard at first, but you get used to it. "If you can juggle three different things in different ways, that's good. A lot of jugglers look for quality, not quantity."

Mr. Marchetti said he decided to become a full-time performer because he "didn't want to work for anybody else." "If I can, I'll do this for the rest of my life," he said. "I enjoy working with the kids. I relate to them. "I'm still a kid myself."