Snapple Bowl: Woodbridge duo raises money for children's charities
by WoodbridgeFootball.com / MyCentralJersey.com / NJ.com on 07/17/16
Autograph seekers stop him at 7-Eleven. He’ll get noticed at the malls. Really, anywhere around Woodbridge, and there’s a chance for a handshake and a hello. Plus, no doubt, a photo op.
“He’s almost like an icon around town, actually,” said David McDevitt, a recently graduated Woodbridge High School football player. “So many people know him.”
That icon isn’t a star from the playing fields or a local singer who made it big. Rather, it’s someone famed for rallying others — the school’s mascot Johnathon O'Halloran, aka The Barron. Unlike many mascots decked in a costume such as a Tiger or a Bear, O'Halloran merely wears a tuxedo with a red bow tie and cumberbund. He’ll dangle a cane and flex a top hat. Everyone sees his face. Threads aside, it’s his enthusiasm that makes fans remember him.
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“We’ve always had students who would dress up and try to rally the crowds at football and basketball games,” Woodbridge athletic director Joe Ward said. “Johnathon took it to another level without us even asking him to do that. Now, he will attend alumni functions and go to elementary schools when they have some kind of pep rally. So he’s made this a community-wide event. He’s just amazing.”
Repeating success
O'Halloran won the mascot challenge at last year’s Snapple Bowl, a charity all-star football game that pits graduated seniors from Middlesex County against Union County. Proceeds go to the Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside and the Lakeview School, a program of the Edison-based New Jersey Institute for Disabilities.
As part of the challenge in 2015, O’Halloran raised $2,525. After visiting the Lakeview School with the Middlesex team and seeing the joy on the patients’ faces, he was inspired to raise even more this year. McDevitt, an offensive tackle selected for the game, has also embraced the fundraising aspect. Together, the duo has brought in $7,000 as of last weekend with the totals still coming in before the July 21st game at Woodbridge High School.
Additionally, O’Halloran, who recently graduated from Woodbridge High School, set up a Spirit Night at the Chick-fil-A restaurant on St. Georges Ave. in the township. On July 19, 20 percent of the proceeds from each order from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. will go to the Snapple Bowl charities.
“When you have great charities behind it,” Ward said, “that’s just an additional driving force for what these kids are all about. They’re about doing things all the way. And it’s such an easy thing to want to get behind and really push.”
O’Halloran didn’t set out to become a mini-celebrity. He simply approached Woodbridge High School principal Glenn Lottmann after noticing the school didn’t have a mascot at the football opener his junior year. As it was, he’d often attend sporting events and, as he put it, “I would say I was the loudest fan even before I put on the top hat.”
The rest is school spirit history. It became a three-season commitment, for home and away games. Woodbridge High School's Class of 1965 requested The Barron for their reunion weekend last year. Two days before the Snapple Bowl, he will be at a classic car contest on Woodbridge’s Main Street.
“I cannot go out any day of the week to a public place without somebody recognizing the face,” said Halloran, who added that his friends tease him when he gets stopped. “It’s a lot more of a public image than I could ever have imagined. At the beginning it was a little tricky, just sort of getting used to it. After a few weeks, though, it didn’t bother me anymore.”
During football games, he’ll run around and ride in a golf cart. It’s just not your typical plain white cart, mind you. He spruced it up with black and red paint with the Barron Mobile in gold letters. He also raised money for a t-shirt launcher.
“He’s a fundraising machine, that guy,” McDevitt said. “He’s pretty outgoing even without the top hat and cane. He’s always saying hello to people and making sure that people are doing the right thing.”
Making it work
The 5-foot-10, 150-pound O’Halloran doesn’t exactly transform from Mr. Shy Guy to The Barron when he throws on that top hat.
“In this instance, Clark Kent and Superman are the same person,” he said. “I like to think I’m not too different on the field than off.”
Along the way, he’s discovered tricks of the trade such as storing hand warmers on cold autumn nights under his belt behind the tails of his suit jacket. He’ll even perform with the cheerleaders, getting lifted in the air, sans the cane, during halftime shows.
“That is one thing I never thought that I would ever say that I had to do when I started high school,” he said. “’Can’t do this, got to go to the cheerleading practice.’”
He hopes to continue his mascot career when he attends Xavier University in Cincinnati in the fall. O’Halloran, who is majoring in communications with a specialization in sports journalism, intends to try out to become Xavier’s mascot, D'Artagnan the Musketeer.
Like O’Halloran, McDevitt is used to helping others. As Woodbridge’s left tackle, he’s protected quarterback Tracy Fudge in the team’s explosive offense the past two seasons. With the Snapple Bowl run up, forget football, he’s thrilled to be helping the children.
“The game is more secondary,” he said. “I’d rather just help the community out. I think it’s just such a good cause. I just feel like that my heart goes out to all these kids. I just want to do as much as I can to help them.”
He’s found that fundraising takes work, whether it’s through getting donations online or by selling ads.
“Most people put up their GoFundMe page and they don’t advertise it,” he said. “You got to really sell it to people. People will hear about it and say, ‘Oh, we should donate a couple bucks here or there.’ Then it will be right out of their minds. You got to keep selling it and bringing it to people.”
The 6-4, 240-pound McDevitt, whose two older brothers both played football for Woodbridge High School, is heading to Rowan University as a business major. He’s initially not playing football, but may try out for the team next spring. Now, would McDevitt ever want to be a mascot once he hits campus?
“Could be,” he said laughing. “Possibly. Anything’s possible.”
TAKE PART
What: MyCentralJersey.com Snapple Bowl XXIII, New Jersey's most successful charity all-star football game.
Where: Woodbridge High School.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21.
Participants: Recently graduated high school senior players and cheerleaders from Middlesex and Union counties.
About the event
Beneficiaries: All proceeds from the game, which has raised more than $535,000 since its inception, benefit Children's Specialized Hospital and the Lakeview School, a program of the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities.
Practice venues: Woodbridge High School (Middlesex County All-Stars) and Union High School (Union County All-Stars).
Key dates: Middlesex County All-Stars visit the Lakeview School in Edison and Union County All-Stars visit Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside on July 18; Snapple Bowl banquet at Pines Manor restaurant in Edison July 20.
Tickets: Can be purchased at the gate for $10 or at each practice site during practices.
Previewing the game: Leading up to Snapple Bowl XXII, the Home News Tribune, Courier News and MyCentralJersey.com will feature at least one story daily, as well as videos.
Game coverage: Look for a game story, a notebook, a Middlesex County sidebar, a Union County sidebar, an A1 story, a photo gallery and video highlights from Snapple Bowl XXII in the Home News Tribune, Courier News and at MyCentralJersey.com.
Social media: Follow us via Twitter @MyCJ_Sports and @SnappleBowl for updates and to interact with reporters and Snapple Bowl XXII game director Marcus Borden.
MyCentralJersey.com Snapple Bowl XXII official web site: Can be found at https://worknotes.com/NJ/SouthRiver/SnappleBowl/
