Wharton native brings silly leprechaun to life
Because his wife was born on St. Patrick’s Day, Michael Lukach loved playing pranks on her and blaming them on a mischievous leprechaun named Louie.
“The kids loved it. My daughter starting asking, is Louie coming this year again? I thought I could actually write a book on this because he comes in and everything in the first half of the book is why he decided to start causing mischief. Then the second half is what he does at my house,” said Lukach, who was born and raised in Wharton.
“Louie the Leprechaun,” a book and stuffed toy combination, is a poised to become a St. Patrick’s Day tradition. Ever wonder why you’ve never found a four-leaf clover? Has your milk turned green or you can’t find your shoes on the morning of St. Patrick’s Day? Whether you’re Irish or not, this entertaining children’s tale has all the answers to these questions and more.
Included with the 36-page book is a 12 inch plush, stuffed Louie toy that can be played with throughout the year to remind everyone of the laughter he brings on St. Patrick’s Day. The story is for ages three and up.
“Louie the Leprechaun: A St. Patrick’s Day Tale” is available at http://www.louietheleprechaun.com/.
“After Louie started coming to the house, my two oldest kids started loving St. Patrick’s Day because they’d run downstairs to see, where are my shoes? Did he turn the milk green? What did he write on the windows? What did he write on the walls? Since that day is my wife’s birthday, there would be ‘Happy Birthday Crystal’ on the windows and they thought that was really great that Louie would come and do that,” said Lukach, a big fan of cartoonist Charles Schultz.
“He’s a silly character, he likes doing stuff like that. The kids had a lot of fun. With my business background, I thought maybe I could make a living doing this. I love kids. I just really enjoy kids. It’s fun to see kids laugh. So that’s kind of what it was.”
As a youngster, Lukach loved playing with stuffed toys and decided his book needed a stuffed “Louie the Leprechaun” to really make an impact.
“I designed everything. The toy is meant to be played with. It’s not meant to sit on a shelf. It’s designed to be played with. That’s the whole point of it. As a kid, I loved stuffed toys. I never understood the whole, ‘You can’t play with a toy’ so when I designed this, I designed it for him to be played with. He’s a goofy guy. I mean, it’s just supposed to be fun.”
After graduating Morris Hills High School, Lukach earned degrees in Business Management and Environmental Science at William Paterson University in Wayne. But he always enjoyed writing.
“I was inspired to do it. I’ve always been a good writer. Creative writing things, I always was good at. It was just something that I never thought I could do. If you asked me five years ago, do you want to publish a children’s book, I’d say you were out of your mind,” said Lukach, who now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and four children.
“But I had a great time writing the book. I actually had a better time illustrating the book with my artist. The pictures and everything in the book really is what was in my head. The artist was able to actually draw it the way I wanted. We had a lot of fun doing it.”
Lukach spends much of his free time bring “Louie the Leprechaun” to the public at festivals, charity events and at library and school readings. He recently read his book at eight different schools with plans for more.
“It’s a lot of work. It’s going to be a grassroots thing. It’s tough but right now I’m excited because I’m doing readings at schools and I have more that are just waiting to give me some dates. I hope I can turn this into a full-time writing job. I’m pretty excited about it.”
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Parsippany Spelling Bee winners move on
The three winners from the Woman’s Club of Parsippany-Troy Hills Spelling Bee, fifth graders Sayanika Upadhyay from the Northvail School and Audrey Kuo and Nehal Singhal from Mount Tabor School, recently participated in the New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs of GFWC District Spelling Bee held at the Sparta Middle School.
Singhal and Kuo qualified for the NJSFWC Spelling Bee Championship to be held at NJSFWC Headquarters in New Brunswick on March 5.
Denville student feted for charitable ways
Shefali Kumar, 16, of Denville, was named a finalist for the 2016 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Kumar, a junior at The Academy for Math, Science & Engineering at Morris Hills High School in Rockaway, has helped raise $35,000 since 2013 to benefit a number of charitable organizations as the co-founder of Youtopia, an organization dedicated to making the world a better place.
Chatham native named to board of directors
Madison Area YMCA member and community leader William J. O’Shaughnessy Jr. was appointed to its Board of Directors. Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Quest Diagnostics Inc., he has held several leadership positions in the community and professional organizations. O’Shaughnessy and his wife Tambria live in Chatham Twp. with their children, Billy and Caitie.
Staff Writer Leslie Ruse: 973-428-6671; lruse@GannettNJ.com.