News
You Can Call Him 'Al'
By Ryan Fennell
PRINCETON - From now on, just call him Joe "Einstein" Lepis.
We've all heard that question at one point or another in our lives when someone approaches and says, "You know who you look like?"
For some it's a daily occurrence. For others it can be flattering and rare to hear that they look like a celebrity or world leader.
On Sunday March 14, Princeton held its first Princeton Pi Day and Einstein's Birthday Celebration. The celebration incorporates Einstein's birthday and the date of the year that can be translated to 3.14 or Pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.
During the event an Albert Einstein Look-a-Like contest was held at the Princeton Public Library and Sea Bright resident Joe Lepis took the cake, literally.
A three-dimensional cake was presented to the participant that most resembled Einstein according to a panel of judges.
Lepis had heard the comparisons about his resemblance to the world-renowned physicist and when he read about Princeton's Pi Day and the Einstein Look-a-Like contest he figured he'd give it a shot.
Lepis looked at some pictures from Einstein's biography and found a couple of outfits to help his appearance along and headed for Princeton.
"No good plan goes unpunished," Lepis said. "Enter the three-day monsoon with flooded roads, fallen trees, and (downed) power lines."
The inclement weather delayed his arrival to town, which he felt might hurt his chances at garnering some votes.
"The plan was to walk Nassau Street and garner some recognition and votes for the 4:45 p.m. contest," said Lepis.
Lepis arrived at the library and came face to face with his competition.
The contestants were photographed and scrutinized by a panel of ten judges.
Shortly thereafter, each contestant was introduced to the audience and given an opportunity to speak.
Lepis was the second to last competitor to be introduced.
"At my introduction I say in a 'high school play' German accent, 'Two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe'."
"Riding home from the contest with the Einstein cake prize in the back seat [I knew that] despite the travel difficulties, it was surely worth the ride," Lepis added.
As for the Pi Day and Einstein's Birthday Celebration event, organizer Mimi Omiecinski of the Princeton Tour Company said, "it was a colossal success."
According to Omiecinski there were over 1,300 people in attendance at the library and over 300 paid tours of Princeton were performed. The pie-throwing event drew over 200 participants. There was also a Pi recitation event where a six-year-old boy was able to recite Pi to 107 digits.
"We raised some good money for the library," Omiecinski said. "It's a great town and it's easy to love it."
