VOL. 66, NO. 23
Friday, June 4th, 2021
hopewellvalleynews.com
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Serving the Valley’s Communities and Schools Since 1956
D&R Greenway Land Trust preserves ‘piece of heaven’ from Marino family
Pennington School Aviation Club students design plane, win second place in GAMA challenge
Marino property on Hopewell-Wertsville Road PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PENNINGTON SCHOOL
From left: Avani Prakash of West Windsor; Jack Wang of Beijing, China; Jonathan Eaton of Princeton; and Michael Krajci of Yardley, Pennsylvania.
The Pennington School’s Aviation Club team recently won second place in the GAMA Design Challenge, competing against more than 60 teams across the nation. The competition, sponsored by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), challenged high school students to design a plane using flight simulation software. The planes were evaluated based on how fast they could fly and how much weight they could carry. The GAMA Design Challenge began in January; during that month the team studied the science of aviation and airplane design, then entered the official competition in March, according to
information provided by The Pennington School. The judges said, “The Pennington team’s design incorporated an increased wingspan and area, increased engine power, and a streamlined fuselage.” As a prize, the team will receive a custom aviation course from Redbird Flight Simulations. Led by Teacher of Science Ryan Vogt, Pennington’s aviation club team is cocaptained by Jonathan Eaton ’22 and Jack Wang ’21, and includes William Arthur ’24, Nicholas Callan ’23, Gavin Cui ’22, Sebastian Drezek ’24, Michael Krajci ’21, Avani Prakash ’22, Charles Sanders ’21, and Elias Sebti ’24.
D&R Greenway Land Trust announces the permanent preservation of its 316th property since its 1989 founding, less than a half mile from where the land trust first purchased land for preservation. This multigenerational half acre, made up of scenic woodland along Hopewell-Wertsville Road, is the second parcel of land preserved by the Marino family with D&R Greenway. Donated by the Marino siblings, preservation of this roadside woodland ensures continuation of the rural character of the area. During its first decade, the Marino family was among the earliest preservationists with D&R Greenway. Their initial preserved property contributed to the core of the land trust’s Sourlands Ecosystem Preserve that now protects over 3,000 acres within New Jersey’s largest contiguous forest.
PHOTO COURTESY OF D&R GREENWAY LAND TRUST
Gary Marino said, “On behalf of the Marino family, I would like to thank D&R Greenway and attorney Richard Goldman for accepting our donation of property in Hopewell. This property had been owned for 100 years by three generations of Marinos. Many family memories are associated with the property. We are so happy that the land will be preserved in its natural state by D&R Greenway for many generations to come.” This sparsely populated area known as the Sourlands includes parts of Somerset, Hunterdon and Mercer counties. Groundwater recharge and healthy Sourlands streams that flow into the Delaware & Raritan Canal and the Millstone River protect drinking water for over 1.2 million New Jerseyans. The new preserve, which D&R Greenway CEO/President Linda J. Mead refers to as “a
piece of heaven,” also connects to the Hunterdon Sourlands Preserve. Among the fascinating aspects of this latest preservation success, says Mead, is that, “The first property protected by D&R Greenway was also the very first acquisition in New Jersey completed with the new, at the time, NJ Green Acres nonprofit grant funds. This acquisition brings us full circle, occurring in the same year that we are celebrating the NJ Green Acres Program’s 60th anniversary.” New Jersey has the distinction of having the first state-funded open space protection program in the nation. Initially focused on direct state acquisitions, and municipal and county grants, in 1990, the year after D&R Greenway was founded, the state began its nonprofit grant program.
See GREENWAY, Page 3A
Hopewell Theater will reopen in September, four years after initial opening
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After over a year of closure, the Hopewell Theater has set an opening date of Sept. 7. That date marks the anniversary of the theater’s first opening four years ago in 2017, said Sara Scully, executive director and cofounder, in a statement released to the public. “To celebrate our anniversary and our reemergence from the long pandemic shutdown, we will hold a special event performance that week – headliner to be announced – for our dedicated members, press and special local guests,” she announced. “On Sept. 15, the selectively eclectic programming our patrons have come to expect at Hopewell Theater will resume. Get ready for an array of live music, live
performance, comedy shows, and film screenings to go on sale in the coming month for the fall season.” Scully said more than 200 comments were received for the reopening survey “letting us know how much you value our theater and in-person live shows. Knowing that kept us going,” she said in the statement. Hopewell Theater joined the New Jersey Independent Venue Association last year in hopes of
securing necessary funding for local theaters. “We also want to thank you for helping us advocate for and spread awareness of the plight of shuttered indie venues during our campaign for federal and state venue relief funds. Not all venues made it through to the other side, but your loyalty is one of the reasons why Hopewell Theater and many other venues can return this fall – the government heard your support for venues and answered
with relief dollars,” she said in the statement. “The pandemic affected the entire world as we once knew it, from billions of individuals to the whole of society itself. The decline of performing arts during the pandemic was not just a loss to the economy and community, but to the cultural nourishment of each and every one of us. It showed us how much we need each other and need to be together, in person, over creative enter-
tainment. “The reopening of the state is a boon for the arts industry, the communities tied together by their local performing arts centers, and the people who have come to miss the unforgettable experiences theaters provide. With the state reopening and the promised but not-yet-delivered state and federal venue relief grants, our theaters will fully recover, together,” Scully said in the statement.
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