Melody and Rainbow Jack are the founding members of a VBS clown team that is based out of Long Island, New York. Every summer the clowns and their friends go on new adventures in a week long Vacation Bible School program and share the love of God and Biblical principles with children of all ages through skits, songs, puppet shows, and dances. Melody the Clown is played by Kristen Buttafuoco, a Long Island native and member of Bethpage Assembly, however her clown training and experience began nearly a decade earlier. In 1996, when Kristen was only a freshman in high school, she was presented with the opportunity to go on her first missions trip to Nashville, Tennessee. There she performed dances, songs and skits that she had been taught and was able to minister to children in orphanages, elementary schools and juvenile detention centers. Kristen had always loved to perform and she felt that this was an area where she could continue to serve God with her talents, so she went on numerous other missions trips all over the world, including Belize, Amsterdam, London and Ireland. In 1997, another opportunity presented itself when Kristen and her mother were given control over the Vacation Bible School ministry at their church. Kristen took the skits and dances she already knew and taught them to some of the members of the church and performed them for the children of the community. She gave her clown the name Melody, because she loves to sing and a character was born. Melody has returned every year since then and the Vacation Bible School has only grown bigger and better! Now Kristen is the VBS Director and the Drama Director and continues to write skits and choreograph dances for her clown team. Kristen has a bachelor of arts in theatre and creative studies and a Law Degree. She also has a background in dance and some musical, theatre, and film credits. Rainbow Jack is played by Rob Taormina, who was recruited by Kristen in 1999. He is a Long Island native and the Youth Pastor and Music Director at Bethpage Assembly of God. In a VBS contest to “name the new clown,” the winning name, by a majority vote, was Rainbow Jack, and another irreplaceable character was born. The kids quickly grew to know and love Rainbow Jack, both for his humor, talent and for the candy that he throws to them! Rainbow Jack also leads the worship songs for VBS, showing the kids how much fun it can be to worship God! Rob has also taken his clowning talents around the world, most recently visiting Mexico and Brazil on a missions trip to minister to underprivileged children with sidewalk Sunday schools. Rob also brings a dance and theatre background to the mix, with numerous credits under his belt including children’s musical theatre and recently recorded an original Worship Album called "Come Home" under the name NINTH HOUR (you can download the album off of iTunes.)Kristen and Rob were married in June of 2006 and continue to serve the Lord with their talents as Melody and Rainbow Jack. In order to include the children, Rainbow Jack “proposed” to Melody at VBS 2005 and in VBS 2006 the kids were invited to the wedding, which took place on Friday August 18th, and they were able to be a part of the clown wedding of the century! It sure was unforgettable!! The rest of the clown consists of Rachel Buttafuoco, who plays Pixie, Taryn Buttafuoco, who plays Sweettart and Eric Rowand who plays Ollie. Rachel and Taryn grew up going to VBS and watching their older sister perform as a clown and were natural fits when they graduated from VBS and new clowns were needed. Together, the five of them make up the best clown team ever! 
