Mark’s birthday bash

When my big brother John flew backwards while leaning on the hind legs of a metal folding chair, he began a chain reaction with the neighbor boys as the dominoes started to fall until the last one made a thundering thump on the floorboards below.

The minister’s firstborn whacked Drew Puskarich, who was also teetering on two legs, on the chest with his free hand when he balanced himself.

The oldest son of our neighbor to the south flew back on his chair; however, he was able to jump to his feet before the chair hit the floor by grabbing the back of his sibling’s chair.

But Danny Puskarich, the younger of the brothers, didn’t fair as well. The Ava Maria student’s arms were flailing helplessly in the air as his chair tipped over backwards folding him up like an accordion.

We were sitting around a large folding table on the back porch, which doubled as our playground in the sky, celebrating a special milestone – my sixth birthday – in the small coal mining town of Bentleyville, Pa.

When my mother brought out the chocolate cake with six candles glowing atop the decadent treat, I was all smiles as everyone in attendance began to sing the birthday song.

After briefly closing my eyes to make an annual wish, I enthusiastically blew out the flames on the half dozen melting wax sticks with wicks as everyone applauded.

This newly minted six-year-old and my two favorite chums – Johnny Puskarich and Billy Denny – grabbed two candles each and licked the delicious icing from the bottom of the waxy sticks.

Before Grandma Farrell could move the cake over to the food table, I took a swipe at the icing on the delicious treat with a finger and put the large gob into my waiting mouth.

The middle-aged woman quickly cut the cake and Aunt Sharen scooped out the ice cream before serving it up while Aunt Margie and Dad poured the drinks for all the party guests surrounding the giant table.

Once everyone had a plate of food in front of them, Mom came around and added a handful of potato chips and miniature pretzel sticks to the mix. That’s when the unexpected comedy act commenced.

When my next door neighbor collapsed like a musical instrument, his plate of food went flying through the air and flipped upside down before it hit the floor; and to top it off, a scoop of ice cream got wedged in the chicken wire above the porch railing.

Aunt Sharen and Mom both rushed over to pry the brown-haired lad from his unsavory predicament. Luckily, he escaped without a scratch on him.

Once all the party guests finished up the food on their plates, it was time for this birthday boy to open up the assorted colorfully wrapped presents setting on the gift table.

After opening an array of presents, including a Lite Brite, a Fisher-Price toy telephone and an Etch-a-sketch, I lifted a quilt to reveal the biggest gift of all – my very own Krazy Kar.

The three musketeers gave each other a high five before this birthday boy sat in the yellow plastic molded chair between the two large red and white wheels to take the popular toy for a test drive.

After all the other attendees had the opportunity to take the popular new toy for a spin around the back porch, Mom gathered everyone around the food table at the opposite end of the playground in the sky for games.

The party goers played several exciting games, including Milk Jug Pins, Musical Statues and Pin the Tail on the Donkey, before playing Pass the Orange the most exciting of the extracurricular activities at the festive event.

“I want Johnny, Billy and Danny on my team,” I emphatically stated to make my wishes known. “We’s all gonna be first graders; so it is us against the world.”

“All righty then,” declared Mom as she looked around at the remaining party goers before announcing their competition. “I guess youns will be playing against John, Lori, Drew and … Aunt Sharen.”

The object of the game was to hold the orange under your chin while transferring it to each teammate without using your hands until the citrus fruit reached the end of the line.

The competition went off without a hitch as each team passed the round fruit from chin to chin until our competitors dropped the orange as it neared the end of the row of participants.

Before Aunt Sharen could retrieve the citrus fruit off the floor with her mouth, Danny tucked our team’s circular object under his chin after taking it from Billy for the win.

“Mark’s team wins,” declared the tall slender woman as she raised the birthday boy’s arm into the air. “Youns were the first to get the orange from beginning to end without dropping it.”

My team of rising first graders jumped up and down as we began to sing the lyrics to “I Just Want to Celebrate,” the 1971 number one hit by Rare Earth.

“I just want to celebrate another day of livin’. I just want to celebrate another day of life.”

As the party came to a close, Mom asked all the whippersnappers to check the back of their plates for a “star” to see who won the special door prize.

“Who gets the prize,” asked the mother of three as she watched while all the kids checked underneath their plates. “There should be two winners of the game.”

“Wait,” exclaimed Billy as he inspected the back of his food plate a little more closely. “I think I have one… yes, I have a star on the back of my plate.”

“Danny must be the other winner,” assessed the dark brunette as she gave her husband a sideways grin. “He must have had the star under his plate of food that fell on the floor, so he wins the prize.”