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Hairstylist Robert Matuzsan’s ‘Marines Don’t Have Curlers,’ page 7; Playwright Chisa Hutchinson and more from the Stages Festival, 11.

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609-452-7000 • PrincetonInfo.com

Keep Calm & Cook On

Frank Benowitz and Mercer County College’s hospitality programs are helping students get ahead in an industry poised for a rebound.

George Point reports, page 12.

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MARCH 10, 2021

Update on COVID-19 From Mercer County MANAGING EDITOR Sara Hastings ARTS EDITOR Dan Aubrey DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL INITIATIVES Joe Emanski ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR

Megan Durelli

PRODUCTION MANAGER Stacey Micallef SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Jennifer Steffen

ADMINISTRATIVE ADVERTISING ASSISTANT

Gina Carillo

CO-PUBLISHERS Jamie Griswold Tom Valeri ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Thomas Fritts FOUNDING EDITOR Richard K. Rein, 1984-2019

For editorial inquiries: 609-452-7000 Display Advertising: tfritts@communitynews.org 609-396-1511 x110 Classified Advertising: class@princetoninfo.com 609-396-1511 x105 Mail: 15 Princess Road, Suite K, Lawrenceville 08648.

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ear Mercer County Community: It’s been a full year since a novel coronavirus began altering our lives. March 4 marked exactly 12 months since the first case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, was reported in New Jersey, although the number of confirmed cases globally was already approaching 100,000. Nine days later, the first case in Mercer County was announced. Last March, as my administration heeded the guidance provided by public health experts and took steps to keep people safe — such as securing personal protective equipment and establishing a COVID-19 testing operation — it wasn’t clear how severe the crisis would be or how long it would last. But it was hard to imagine we’d still be engaged in this battle a year later.

Sadly, confirmed COVID19-related deaths in Mercer County now total 844, and nationwide it’s more than half a million. The staggering number of lives that have been lost to this pandemic — and the grieving families left behind — should be all the motivation anyone needs to keep their guard up as we move forward with the vaccination process and toward a return to more-normal routines.

Throughout this ordeal, health U.S. 1 WELCOMES letters to the editor, corrections, and criticisms of our stories and columns. E-mail your thoughts directly to our editor: hastings@princetoninfo. com.

care workers and others on the front lines in Mercer County have heroically led the battle against COVID-19, and the rest of our community has stepped up by following public health protocols and supporting each other. I thank all of you for that and for the many sacrifices you’ve made. We’ve come a long way together since March of 2020 but we need to go farther. I’m confident that the COVID-19 vaccination process will continue to improve as the federal government ramps up vaccine supply and the New Jersey Department of Health fine-tunes its online Vaccine Scheduling System and call center.

This week, the state Health Department received its first shipment of Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved vaccine, which joins vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna as weapons for fighting the pandemic.

The single-dose J&J vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage, making it transportable. That will help us reach homebound individuals and others who cannot easily get to a vaccination site. For example, Mercer County provided 200 doses of the J&J vaccine to the Hamilton Township Health Department to hold a vaccination clinic today at the Alvin E. Gershen Apartments, which offers affordable housing for older adults and young people with disabilities.

State officials caution that the supply/demand imbalance we have experienced with COVID-19 vaccines is likely to continue through March, especially as many more New Jerseyans become eligible for vaccinations in the coming weeks.

But the situation will change for the better in April, Governor Murphy said this week, when vaccine supply is expected to increase dramatically. Please continue to be patient.

If you haven’t done so already, register online to receive a vaccine or

Editor’s Note: In additional signs of progress in the fight against U.S. 1 Is in Print COVID-19, several Trenton-fo& Online cused nonprofits have announced new efforts to help ensure vulneraU.S. 1 has resumed print ble residents have access to testing publication. Distribution is to and vaccinations. news boxes located in downWith funding from the Departtown Princeton and Trenton, at ment of Health’s ELC grant protrain stations, and in other gram, Trenton Health Team, Cathhigh-traffic outdoor areas. olic Charities, and LALDEF (the Additionally, it is now posLatin American Legal Defense and sible to browse full PDFs of Education Fund) are partnering to recent issues on U.S. 1’s webfocus on community outreach and site, www.princetoninfo.com. access.

Click on “Read This Week’s Catholic Charities will offer Digital U.S. 1 E-Edition Here.”

COVID-19 testing and vaccines A full digital edition of U.S. and provide telehealth services at 1 is also distributed by e-mail its El Centro program at 327 South every Wednesday. Subscribe at Broad Street. It will also assist resitinyurl.com/us1newsletter. dents with vaccine registration and scheduling and offer resources for transportation or childcare. call 1-855-568-0545 for assistance.

Additionally Catholic Charities In the coming months, everyone will create wellness groups, work who wants a vaccination will be with vulnerable and hard-to-reach able to get one. The bottom line is individuals through in-home enthat we’ll head into spring with gagement, and provide safe spaces what health experts agree are three for immigrants to ask questions vaccines that are extremely effecand receive information. tive in preventing serious illness, LALDEF plans to develop writhospitalization and ten materials in English death, which is what Between and Spanish available matters most. Health exon site and disseminated perts are urging people The to churches, local superto take whichever shot is markets, the Princeton Lines available to them when Public Library lobby, they are eligible. and around the commuWith the virus still active in our nity. Flyers will be posted on social community, the basic preventative media and distributed via text mesmeasures that we’ve followed for saging. the past year — mask wearing, soLALDEF will also assist with cial distancing, frequent hand vaccine pre-registration — specifiwashing and staying home when cally those immigrants who are not sick — remain necessary. We need digitally literate — through teleto continue to fight COVID-19 phone or in-person assistance in with every available tool we have.

Spanish and/or English. It will also Thank you again for your ongoing work with Catholic Charities to decommitment to this effort. Let’s velop LALDEF’s headquarters as a continue to support each other and vaccination site. And it will broadwork together. cast informational webinars in Brian M. Hughes Spanish.

Mercer County Executive

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SPENCER TRASK LECTURE

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MARCH 10, 2021

Survival Guide Womanspace Launches Advisory Council

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omanspace, a Lawrenceville-based nonprofit that serves individuals and families impacted by domestic violence and sexual assault, is accepting applications for members of its newly created Young Adult Advisory Council (YAAC).

The council will comprise eight young adults between the ages of 14 and 22. Through their social media platforms and life experiences, members will assist in continuing the mission of Womanspace and spread awareness to other young adults who may not be aware of Womanspace programs.

“We are creating the Young Adult Advisory Council to make sure youth who are passionate about ending interpersonal violence have their voices elevated and heard just as loudly as those of us who have been working in this field for years,” Coordinator of Prevention and Community Education Danielle Scollins said in a statement. “We are hoping to reach more people in new and innovative ways.”

The council will meet once a month for hour-long virtual meetings. The goal of these meetings

will be to create content for fiveminute videos for social media platforms on topics related to consent, sexual assault, and bystander intervention.

To apply contact Scollins via email at des@womanspace.org for further discussion as well as an application.

Founded in 1977, Womanspace offers emergency and follow-up services including crisis intervention; emergency shelter; transitional housing; individual counseling and therapeutic support groups for adults and children; court advocacy; and the 24/7 crisis hotline at 609-394-9000. Womanspace also operates the 24/7 New Jersey Statewide Domestic Violence Hotline 800-572-SAFE. Visit www.womanspace.org.

Business Meetings Thursday, March 11

Young Professionals Networking Trivia, Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce. www.princetonmercerchamber. org. Mix, mingle, and virtually compete in trivia for the opportunity to win prizes. St. Patrick’s Day attire encouraged. Register. $25; $15 members. 4 to 5:15 p.m.

Friday, March 12

JobSeekers, Professional Service Group of Mercer County. www.psgofmercercounty.org.

Debra Wheatman, president of Careers Done Write, reviews the critical components of your resume as well as the importance of a consistent and streamlined brand to present yourself effectively. 9:45 a.m. to noon.

Monday, March 15

Finance Management for Small Business, Princeton SCORE. princeton.score.org. Learn about

Perfect Company:

Age of Speculation Debra Wheatman of Careers Done Write speaks at the PSG of Mercer County meeting on March 12. the importance and basic elements of creating a budget, recording financial transactions, creating a financial statement, and other fundamental entrepreneurial responsibilities. Webinar presented by Binnur Altiok. Free.

Register. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 16

Virtual Job Fair, Hamilton Township Economic Development Advisory Commission. www. hamiltontownshipjobfair.com.

Showcase of job openings from a range of employers in various fields and skill sets. Free. Open to Hamilton residents. 3 to 5 p.m.

JobSeekers. sites.google.com/ site/njjobseekers. Virtual meeting for those seeking employment.

Visit website for GoTo Meeting link. 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 17

Business Before Business Virtual Networking, Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce. www.princetonmercerchamber.org. Networking over your morning coffee, followed by a presentation. Register. $25; $15 members. 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

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by Glenn Paul

e have entered the Age of Speculation — when the possible is valued more than the practical, the whimsical is desired more than the useful, and when belief is all that matters.

Evidence is everywhere.

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are out-pacing IPOs 2-to-1 this year with 145 SPACs raising $44 billion versus 55 IPOs raising $22 billion. SPACs raise money behind the names of investors including former house speaker Paul Ryan, quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and human rights advocate Martin Luther King III. To their credit, SPACs are transparent about their brazenness: They refer to themselves as “blank check” companies.

The SPACs take your money and compete with all the other SPACs to find great private companies to buy. This drives up the price of the few good private companies that have already been picked over by private equity, and the deal flow is likely to become increasingly bizarre.

For instance, if you’ve been thinking, “How can I get in on the dog walking craze?” you’re in luck: A SPAC with the symbol NEBC has announced a deal with Rover.com, which will give Rover a valuation of just $1.3 billion.

NEBC went public a year ago at $10.75. Today, it sells for $10.10.

Many stocks are valued beyond

all rational possibility. Let’s start with the idea that value is proportionate to the reward or the joy that it produces. If your bird lays golden eggs every day, you’ll want a great sum for that bird. If you open your eyes every day to the original painting, “Flaming June” — now hanging in a museum in Puerto Rico — you might think, “Wow, that’s awesome — I want a lot for that painting.”

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hat if you could buy a company that put funny ears on faces and made pictures disappear after someone looks at them? The company has sales of $2.5 billion and loses $926 million annually. You can pick up this company (SNAP) for only $97 billion ($106 billion last week) — just two times Ford Motor (F) and 3.4 times Discover Card (DFS), which earned $1.1 billion in a bad year.

Or you could buy another company that offers taxi rides and food delivery, but whose real value is its ability to convince jobless car owners to trade future car repair bills for cash today. UBER sales declined from $14 billion in 2019 to $11 billion in 2020. UBER’s loss declined to $6.7 billion, and its market cap increased to $100 billion ($108 billion last week.)

Two years ago I recommended puts on UBER that I cashed out at the beginning of the pandemic.

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Two surprises: (1) UBER is higher priced than ever, and (2) most people with whom I speak assume that UBER is wildly profitable. The exact opposite is true.

Then there is GameStop (GME), a company with 5,500 retail leases when massive multiplayer online games give away their services to millions of gamers who make ingame purchases. A Yahoo Finance / Harris Poll found that 28 percent of Americans bought GME or other viral stocks in January. While a majority of Americans have some investment in stocks, only about 15 percent hold two individual stocks, so if 28 percent bought viral stocks in January, we’re into a whole new frenzy.

This isn’t a craze for a new technology that will change the world: this is somebody-told-me-thiswill-take-off buying. At one point, my son’s friend said he held $1 million of GME. “I’m going to wait until it’s worth $11 million,” he said. I suggested that, if GME went up another 11 times, it would be one of the largest market caps in the world. He eventually accepted a much lower price. He could have been a contender.

The Age of Speculation encourages every kind of wager. If you still see commercials, you may have noticed that about half of them encourage you to bet on sports or online casinos. This is the most cynical of all speculations because it is designed to systematically rob its customers. Yet online gambling is growing by 11.5 percent a year. DraftKings (DKNG) is spiking upward, but it loses prodigious amounts of money: Trailing Twelve Months revenue is $423 million with an operating loss of $606 million. Insiders have sold millions of shares.

Even art is packaged for speculation. When I tried to join Master-

works.io, “the first platform for buying and selling shares representing an investment in iconic artworks,” I was 32,000+ on the wait list. Somehow, my number came up the next day.

The one thing that people understand even less than Uber’s profitability is art. Recall that the day of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy — September 15, 2008 — Damien Hirst sold $200 million worth of sharks, zebras, and cows in formaldehyde along with other conceptual art. Hirst’s bounty was the high-

We have entered the Age of Speculation — when the possible is valued more than the practical, the whimsical is desired more than the useful, and when belief is all that matters. water mark for art excess until his 2017 Venice auction that reportedly raked in $330 million. He called his mockumentary on the exhibit “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.”

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he King and Queen of the Age of Speculation are Elon Musk and Cathie Wood. They supply belief that good things can — and will — happen. Musk applies physics to the business world, whether he is boring tunnels, designing hyperloops, optimizing batteries, or winning the space race in his spare time.

One must stand amazed: as Boeing’s planes drill into the ground and drop their engines, Musk toss-

es cars into space and lands rockets on ships. That said, Musk fuels the Age of Speculation by feeding the attention economy. One week, he tweets for Bitcoin; the next, he says Bitcoin is overvalued. Slow week?

Musk introduces the Cybertruck that takes deposits and stalls future truck competition. He’s got flamethrowers. He’s taking the company private — no, he’s not. He’s moved to Texas. He’s the world’s richest person — no, he’s not. He’s connecting computers directly to the brain. He’s launched an OpenAI platform. A day does not pass when we are reminded that Elon Musk is the chief architect of our future, and that, someday, he will leave us for Mars.

Cathie Wood is Musk’s biggest cheerleader and the most effective promoter of new technology. The first time I saw her, I thought, “Wow, someone on CNBC has something to say.” Guests usually hawk a thin story or hedge every statement they make. Cathie Wood declares her vision for disruptive innovation, and she has packaged companies into market-beating ETFs such as Ark Innovation (ARKK), Ark Technology and Robotics (ARKQ), and Ark Genomic Revolution (ARKG).

Wood’s picks become a self-fulfilling prophecy: She anoints them, and prices are driven, if not to Mars, then to the moon. Tesla, with a market cap of $676 billion, is worth more than the combined value of all the world’s other large car companies. On February 23, when ARKK and TSLA both slid, ARK funds bought an additional 240,548 TSLA shares.

Why Are We Speculating Now? A convergence of motives and factors has ushered in this Age of Speculation: To keep the economy and voters afloat, the government flooded the

market with cash. I have spoken with business people who ended up with a surprising amount of cash that, instead of spending on operations, they happily invested.

During the pandemic, employment options have been limited, and speculation provides a new entertainment — especially when Robinhood advertises free commissions. Add to this the excitement of wild swings and bragging rights for taking down a hedge fund, and you’ve got some real fun.

Then there is bundling — a kind of willful ignorance. Financial marketers bundle up stocks, loans, and other investments so that buyers cannot rationally evaluate the purchase. Investors find themselves sitting at conference tables looking at lists of historic performance and trying to appear intelligent. You can consider (1) the name of fund and (2) the historic performance, though a note emphasizes, “Past performance is not indicative

The biggest speculative driver is the fear of missing out, which has its own acronym: FOMO. Who can sit on the sidelines when others are getting rich? of future performance.”

You buy the bundle and hope for the best because it’s easy, and, one hopes, safer because risk is distributed. However, bundling has led to disasters like the bad loans bundled in the mortgage crisis: no one really knew what was in the packages.

Cathie Wood’s ARK bundles are more transparent, but they encour-

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age betting on “disruption” that, at some valuation, become more speculative than investable.

The biggest speculative driver is the fear of missing out, which has its own acronym: FOMO. Who can sit on the sidelines when others are getting rich? Isaac Newton sold his South Sea shares in 1720 for 100 percent gain of £7,000 — only to jump back in at the top to lose £20,000 — about $4.2 million in today’s money.

He said he “could calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of the people.”

Neither can any of us afford to “miss out.” With interest rates still near invisible and inflation looming, keeping up is important.

What No One Tells You About Speculation. I know a few people who gamble in Atlantic City. They all say: “I always make enough to pay my expenses — dinner, parking — it’s just fun.” Sometimes, they win big and tell the tale, but no one ever talks about their losses.

Losing is embarrassing, so you never hear about the ceaseless, accruing losses.

We don’t know their names, but someone bought GameStop at the top. At that time, I looked at other heavily shorted companies, and thought that ESPR might have a real business that could take off if the horde decided to squeeze the shorts. I bought at $34.62 and closed out my loss at $30.04. It was pure speculation. ESPR is at $28 today. Imagine the pain of people who bought GameStop at $325. It plunged to $38, and, after a big rally, went to $150, settled back at $107, but as of March 9 was up to $237. You’ll never hear from the people who bought at $325, but some lost big. It could be you.

Continued on page 14

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ART

MARCH 10, 2021

FILM

LITERATURE

DANCE DRAMA MUSIC

PREV I E W DAY-BY-DAY EVENTS, MARCH 10 TO 17

Event Listings: E-mail events@princetoninfo.com Events for each day are divided into two categories: socially distanced, in-person gatherings, and virtual gatherings taking place online. Visit venue websites for information about how to access the events. To include your event in this section email events@princetoninfo.com.

Wednesday March 10 Faith The Origin and Tradition History of Passover and Matsot, Jewish Center of Princeton. www.thejewishcenter.org. Professor Alan Cooper of the Jewish Theological Seminary leads a close reading of Exodus chapters 12-13, showing that two disparate old festivals were combined in order to create a new one to commemorate God’s act of liberation from Egyptian slavery. Register by email to info@thejewishcenter.org for Zoom link. 7:30 p.m.

Memoirs on Stage Music Mountain Theater in Lambertville concludes its season with ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’ presented weekends through March 21 for a socially distanced in-person audience and at-home viewing.

Wellness Do Diets Work?, Mercer County Library. www.mcl.org. Join Heather Bainbridge, EdM, MA, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist with Princeton Medical Center, for this informative program and learn how to: modify your eating habits and expectations in a healthy way, no matter what diet you choose; recognize common dieting pitfalls and food triggers; and develop strategies to empower you to succeed. Register for GoToMeeting link. Noon to 1 p.m.

For Teens

Early College Panel, Princeton Learning Cooperative. www. princetonlearningcooperative.org.

Who are good candidates for starting community college while still in high school? What things should be considered before enrolling? How do I decide whether to use credits toward high school or toward college? Parents, edu-

cators and young people are invited to explore these questions related to supporting teens on their path to a successful career and satisfying life. This event will begin with a brief presentation of information and resources, followed by discussion. Via Zoom. Free. 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Lectures

Lunchtime Gallery Series, West Windsor Arts Council & Princeton University Art Museum, 609-716-1931. www.westwindsorarts.org. PUAM Docent Joyce Felsenfeld, a longtime faculty member at Stuart Country Day School, presents “Highlights of the Ancient World Greece and Rome.” Register. $10; free for WWAC members. 1 p.m.

Sustainable Princeton: Going Beyond, Princeton Public Library. www.princetonlibrary.org.

Third in the series of four Great Ideas programs for 2020-2021, this program centers on climate action and equity. Register. 7 p.m.

Socials Library Drawing Party, Mercer County Library. www.facebook. com/mclsnj. Follow along for a drawing lesson, then share your finished work. For all ages. 7 p.m.

Thursday March 11 Lectures Artist Talk: Glenn Ligon and Hilton Als, Princeton University Art Museum. artmuseum.princeton.edu. Artist Glenn Ligon, whose work draws on literature and history to explore race, language, desire, and identity, joins author and critic Hilton Als to discuss the ways in which art can engage and rethink the most urgent issues of our time. Register. Free via Zoom. 5:30 p.m.

Grand Homes & Gardens Distinguished Speakers Series, Morven Museum & Garden. www. morven.org. Lecture series with the theme “The Woman of the House.” Gary Lawrance, architectural historian and lecturer, speaks on Harbor Hill & Beacon Towers: Long Island ‘Gold Cost’ mansions and the women who created them. Virtual program with live Q&A. Register. $25. 6:30 p.m.

Women Justices of the Supreme Court, Mercer County Library. www.mcl.org. It took 191 years after the founding of the Supreme Court for the first woman to be allowed to become part of that august body. Trish Chambers introduces Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, the first four female justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Register for GoToMeeting link. 7 p.m.

Disparate Environmental Impacts: Causes and Solutions to Environmental Injustice, Plainsboro & East Brunswick Public Libraries. www.ebpl.org/ calendar. Online program by Dr. Maritza Jauregui, associate professor of sustainability at Stockton University, focuses on the factors that produce environmental hazards in vulnerable communities, while other communities are able to avoid such hazards completely.

Jauregui also speaks about ways to prevent these inequalities and

MARCH 10, 2021

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Off the Presses: ‘Marines Don’t Have Curlers – Reloaded’

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by Dan Aubrey

ubtitled “Fifty Years Behind a Styling Chair,” the book “Marines Don’t Have Curlers” is area hair stylist Robert Matuzsan’s series of vignettes that in one way provide fleeting recollections in the life of a hair salon owner — starting in Trenton (where he grew up and graduated from Trenton Central High School) and continuing today with a shop in Robbinsville.

However, since salons and barbershops attract people from all walks of life, such recollections also provide a glimpse of a time and region.

But what about the title? One part alludes to the stylist-turnedwriter’s service as a member of the U.S. Marines. The “reloaded” reference refers to the book of 200 scenes originally published in 2015

by Merriam Press augmented and re-released by Personal Chronicle 9 in Robbinsville.

Here are a few samples in this book filled with drops of candylike moments.

Miss Saint Patrick. I have always looked for ways to promote my salon and when I saw an ad in the local paper for a Miss Saint Patrick to ride on a float in the Saint Patrick’s Day parade, I seized the opportunity.

One of my clients, Colleen, would be a sure winner. She was naturally blonde, had a warm complexion, blue eyes, and a great smile and was all Irish. This would be a salon project.

I took Colleen to the competi-

tion that was held in a local restaurant. She looked great, complete with manicured nail tips, makeup, hair extensions, dress right out of a fashion magazine, and heels. We found the room and before she entered I rechecked her hair so she would look outstanding as she made her entrance.

As Colleen entered the room, I peeked in to see our competition.

There were about 10 girls, mostly jeans and T-shirts, freshly scrubbed

While attaching the pre-glued hairpiece onto his client, Joe had incorrectly measured and had placed the hairpiece too low on his client’s forehead, about an inch above his eyebrow, and the glue had set. faces. And the person conducting the interview? A Catholic nun. It looked like I brought a hooker to the interview. I undoubtedly read that competition wrong.

I let Colleen keep the extension.

Hairline. When Joe joined my salon team he brought with him his expertise in men’s hair replacement. Joe preferred permanent hair attachment, which is bonding a hairpiece directly onto the scalp using bonding material strong enough

about possible solutions to promote resilience once the danger is present. Register for required tickets. Free. 7 p.m.

Train Station Series, Sourland Conservancy. www.sourland.org. “Forest Threats” presented by Rosa Yoo, forest health specialist with the New Jersey Forest Service.

Free webinar. Register. 7 p.m.

Socials

‘Not Your Bubbe’s Passover Trivia’ Trivia Night, Beth El Synagogue of East Windsor, 609-443-4454. www.bethel.net. Via Zoom. 8 p.m.

Friday March 12 In Person: On Stage The Diary of Anne Frank, Music Mountain Theater, 1483 State Route 179, Lambertville. www.musicmountaintheatre.org. So-

to keep hair on for up to six weeks, very much like superglue.

One afternoon as I went into the back of the salon to say hello to Joe and his client, I realized Joe was having a problem. While attaching the pre-glued hairpiece onto his client, Joe had incorrectly measured and had placed the hairpiece too low on his client’s forehead, about an inch above his eyebrow, and the glue had set. It wasn’t pretty as Joe’s client sat there patiently as Joe applied solvent to loosen the glue.

The hairpiece finally came off leaving a telltale almost bloody line on the forehead. I don’t know if Joe’s client booked a future appointment.

The Awakening. Janette, a young hairstylist who accompanied me to a funeral home, had never seen a dead person up close.

She had been to one funeral but managed to stay in the back of the mourners successfully avoiding a close encounter with the coffin.

It was an older woman who died of cancer, gave a valiant fight, but lost in the end. She was lying in the casket, and our job as professional stylists was to make her look presentable for the wake to take place that same evening.

Our curling irons, scissors, styling combs, and hair spray were all situated on a small table next to the casket as we started to style her hair.

Janette was a little anxious but relaxed as we began curling and styling our client’s hair, stepping

cially distanced seating at 35 percent capacity. Virtual viewing available for home audience. 8 p.m.

In Person: Socials

Friday with Friends, YWCA Princeton Area Newcomers, Pavilion, 59 Paul Robeson Place, Princeton. www.ywcaprinceton.org/ newcomers. Spring luncheon. Each person is required to bring her own food and drink, to wear a mask, and practice social distancing. Registration required to newcomersmembership@ywcaprinceton.org. Noon to 2 p.m.

Dancing

Virtual Folk Dance Party, Princeton Folk Dance. www.princetonfolkdance.org. Visit website for link to join. 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

For Seniors

FYI Seminar, Princeton Senior Resource Center. www.princetonsenior.org. Poor workstation setup, posture, and work habits can contribute to cumulative trauma and repetitive stress injuries (RSI). Learn what

back and looking at our work from various areas of the funeral home.

It was very quiet as we put finishing spray on the hair when a curling iron fell off the table onto the marble floor making a loud clatter. Janette looked as if she heard a gunshot, wide eyed and wanting to leave, which we did after gathering our tools and calming her down.

The family and funeral director were very pleased with our work.

The Curse. Maria, a welldressed professional woman of Italian descent, was convinced someone put a curse on her. Her life was not going well, and she was getting physical aliments in the form of aches and pains, and stomach issues. She was fearful she had the curse of the Evil Eye, the Malocchio.

Always wanting to help my clients, I told her I would ask a few of

you can do to proactively minimize your risk of these sometimes debilitating and painful injuries. With Sunita Mani, director of Princeton Medical Center Princeton Rehabilitation. Register. Free. 11:45 a.m.

Saturday March 13 In Person: Art Textured Waters: Paintings by Leni Paquet-Morante & Susan DeConcini, Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. www.artscouncilofprinceton.org. First day for exhibit featuring DeConcini’s watercolors and paper and PaquetMorante’s plein-air landscapes, both providing a contemplation of water as both a familiar subject and intriguing metaphor. On view through April 3. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Robbinsville-based hairstylist Robert Matuzsan, above, has compiled vignettes from his years on the job in ‘Marines Don’t Have Curlers. my Italian friends and clients and find out if anything could be done to help.

One of my clients knew of an older Italian woman in the Chambersburg section of town who might know how to lift the curse.

Maria was relieved when I gave her printed directions on how to rid herself of the Malocchio. It involved a glass of water, three drops of olive oil, and reciting a chant.

Maria never spoke of the curse again, and I didn’t ask.

‘Textured Waters,’ an exhibit opening at the Arts Council of Princeton on Saturday, March 13, features Susan DeConcini’s watercolors, left, and Leni Paquet-Morante’s plein-air landscapes, right.

In Person: On Stage The Diary of Anne Frank, Music Mountain Theater, 1483 State Route 179, Lambertville. www.musicmountaintheatre.org. Socially distanced seating at 35 percent capacity. Virtual viewing available for home audience. 3 p.m.

Continued on following page

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MARCH 10, 2021

GALLERY GOING: WISDOM OF TREES — ART & SCIENCE AT TULPEHAKING NATURE CENTER

W

by Dan Aubrey

ith some regional museums and exhibition space still closed and planning to reopen, we are continuing to remind readers of their important contributions by highlighting visual art works you can visit as soon as social distancing practices change and gallery doors open again.

That includes the Tulpehaking Nature Center, a county facility on the Abbott Marshlands in Hamilton, where regional naturalists Patricia Bender and Mary Allessio Leck saw their photographic mediation on trees, “Wisdom of Trees,” open in late February and close a few weeks later because of COVID-19.

With the nature center’s gallery closed until the pandemic passes, the exhibitors wait patiently until the exhibition can go on view. But in the meantime, they share some thoughts and images here.

Mary Leck

TREES, WITHOUT MY being aware of it, have long been a part of my experience. I wondered as a child whether the orange seed I’d swallowed, would grow inside me. Later, I had a favorite White Pine I climbed regularly to its very top.

The rings of branches were well spaced, perfect for arboreal exploration. We played cowboy and Indians in a pine woods … with real camp fires. In another nearby woods I searched for wild flowers, but knew paper birch, hemlock, beech, and maple trees. Later in other locations, I saw sequoias (CA), kauri trees (NZ), El Trule — a Montezuma cypress (Mexico), and Eucalyptus species (Australia). In a Honolulu (HI) park, there was an enormous tree with votive

candles at its base.

However, it was a sycamore at the Bordentown Beach that made me aware of tree bark growth. I photographed its particularly lovely bark and when I later looked at the photograph, I saw how the bark cracked into patches that peeled, revealing hidden colors and textures, and hinting how the tree accommodated its growth. I hadn’t been paying attention. When I really started looking, I soon realized that all trees do not all respond to growth stresses in the same way.

My photographs explore these differences. Bark is remarkable in its variety even on the same tree The colors, textures, and patterns of tree bark provide ample opportunities for observation and to ask questions about the physical forces involved and the significance of all that variability. [I wonder whether anyone ever hears the sounds of bark cracking.]

We can learn from trees, but to understand their wisdom we need to take time, to observe, and to reflect on what we see, to be receptive to the gifts nature provides. We need to wonder, too, about the intricacies of DNA and how trees will meet, for example, the challenges of climate change.

Patricia Bender

I HAVE ALWAYS loved trees. As a child, I loved them naively. They were big and beautiful. They were fun to climb, looking for the perfect spot to settle down and read a good book. They provided a cool and shaded spot during hot summer days. I gave them no thought. They were.

As I grew older, I loved them intellectually. I began to learn inter-

esting facts about them in biology and natural science classes. They appeared in great literature. I saw their miraculous beauty and complexity depicted in masterpieces of art. Still, I gave them little thought.

They were.

As an adult I have grown to love them passionately. They have provided me with solace and comfort during times of pain and loss. They speak to me of eternal truths on my walks through the woods. I lose my sense of self when I get lost looking up at the play of their leaves.

When I began to study photography, I found myself photographing trees obsessively. They are my favorite subject. I always see some-

Patricia Bender’s ‘Pods,’ taken at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, left, and Mary Leck’s ‘Red Maple Burls,’ taken at Roebling Park in Hamilton. thing new when I photograph a tree. They don’t move… all that much. They are constantly changing, eternally beautiful.

I pay great attention to trees these days. I give them lots of thought. They are.

It is my hope that this exhibition will excite this same love of trees in you: that you will think of them often, look at them closely, and be thankful for all they give us and our

planet.

I have chosen to title my images in this exhibition after the myriad lessons I have learned from trees over my many years of living among them.

Tulpehaking Nature Center, 157 Westcott Avenue, Hamilton, www.mercercountyparks.org/#!/ facilities/tulpehaking-nature-center. Check website for reopening updates.

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www.bcptheater.org. Grammy nominated comedian-turned-life coach Lisa Lampanelli performs her new collection of her most outrageous observations and real-life stories for a limited socially distanced audience. Register. $40. 2 and 8 p.m.

In Person: Outdoor Action

Visit from the Horse Doctor and Shoer, Howell Farm, 70 Woodens Lane, Hopewell, 609-7373299. www.howellfarm.org. Observe the spring visits from the farm’s veterinarian and dentist.

Visitors can listen to a horse’s heart through a stethoscope, watch an equine dentist at work, and learn about old and new veterinary instruments and techniques. The farrier will be shoeing, and the blacksmith working in

Rare book dealer Heather O’Donnell speaks on book collecting and community in a digital age through Friends of Princeton University Library on Sunday, March 14. the forge. Register. 10 a.m.

Maple Sugaring, Washington Crossing State Park, 335 Washington Crossing Pennington Road, Titusville, 609-737-0609.

Participatory demonstration in the procedures of home maple sugar production. Register. 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Film

Turning the Tide, South Brunswick Public Library. www.sbpl. info. 25-minute documentary showcases Secaucus Meadlowlands and Hamilton-Trenton Abbott Marshlands to better understand wetlands’ superpowers and how to spot these little gems in

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Opportunities For Foodies

your travels. Presented by South Brunswick Environmental Commission with special guests Dr. Mary Leck and Pat Coleman, Friends for the Abbott Marshlands for discussion following screening. Register. 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Saturday Night at the Movies: Served Like a Girl, Mercer County Library. www.mcl.org.

Borrow the featured title from the Hoopla catalog with a Mercer County Library card and watch it in the virtual company of your community. 8 p.m.

Benefit Galas

Rx:Laughter, West Windsor Arts Council. www.westwindsorarts. org. Virtual fundraising gala including comedy show headlined

by Tushar Singh, supported by Gilbert Lawand, Amy Shanker, and Corey Ryan Forrester. Silent art auction. Bistro boxes available in partnership with West Windsor Farmers Market. Register. $30 per individual; $50 per couple. 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Wellness

Simply Delicious: Nutrition for Life, Grounds For Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton. www. groundsforsculpture.org. Participants answer their own private nutrition assessment look at lifestyle, personal health, environment, habits and culture, and other factors that make up their individual lives. From there, Kendra Thatcher, DTR, will guide them through healthful and sustainable tweaks which are geared toward improving their daily relationship with food. Register. $35 includes online workshop and admission to GFS. 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Therapy Helps a Teenager Grow Up, American College of Orgonomy, 732-821-1146. www. adifferentkindofpsychiatry.com.

Free webinar presented by Edward Chastka, MD, hosted by Chris Burritt, DO. Register. 4 p.m.

History

Passing The Time With Major William Trent, William Trent House. www.williamtrenthouse. org. The Trent House Association presents the premiere of a video on the life of William Trent, Jr., who served with George Washington in the French and Indian War. Jason Cherry, Trent re-enactor from the Pittsburgh area and author of “Pittsburgh’s Lost Outpost: Captain Trent’s Fort,” describes his research on the Trent family and his upcoming biography of Trent’s youngest son. Via Zoom. Recommended $10 donation. 1 p.m.

Lectures

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Our City and Workplaces, Trenton Health Team. www.trentonhealthteam.org. “Am I What You’re Looking For?” with author and educator Edina Beal encourages participants to reflect on workplace practices through per-

West Windsor Arts Council holds its ‘Rx: Laughter’ virtual gala on Saturday, March 13, featuring comedy from Tushar Singh, Gilbert Lawand, Amy Shanker, and Corey Ryan Forrester. sonal and stories of women of color and to address the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Free discussion via Zoom. Register. 10 a.m.

Science Lectures

Science On Saturday Lecture Series, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. www.pppl.gov. Presentation by Kory Evans of Rice University on “Ecology and Evolution of Teleost Fishes.” Held via Zoom.

Register. 9:30 a.m.

Socials

Beth El Belts Movie Theme Songs, Beth El Synagogue of East Windsor, 609-443-4454. www.bethel.net. Join Beth El Synagogue for an evening of movie theme song “name that tune” with live music and prizes. Via Zoom.

7:30 p.m.

Sunday March 14 In Person: On Stage The Diary of Anne Frank, Music Mountain Theater, 1483 State Route 179, Lambertville. www. musicmountaintheatre.org. Socially distanced seating at 35 percent capacity. Virtual viewing available for home audience. 3 p.m.

In Person: Outdoor Action

Maple Sugaring, Washington Crossing State Park, 335 Washington Crossing Pennington Road, Titusville, 609-737-0609.

Participatory demonstration in the procedures of home maple sugar production. Register. 1:30 to 3 p.m.

Literati

Book Collecting and Community in a Digital Age: New Approaches, Friends of Princeton University Library. libcal.princeton.edu/ event/6958913. Rare book dealer Heather O’Donnell discusses new approaches to antiquarian book collecting and community made possible by the internet, looking beyond the online marketplaces themselves to the influence of social media and digital humanities initiatives like Princeton’s own Shakespeare & Company Project.

O’Donnell is founder of Honey & Wax Booksellers in Brooklyn, and her work is featured in the 2019 documentary “The Booksellers.”

Register. 3 p.m.

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Kids Stuff The Life of Albert Einstein, Historical Society of Princeton. www.princetonhistory.org. Celebrate Einstein’s birthday (and Pi Day) with an online interactive program by Historical Society educator Eve Mandel. Topics include Einstein’s family, pets, love of science and music, and efforts to promote social justice. Free via Zoom. Register. 3:14 p.m.

Lectures

The Whole Sky, Astrological Society of Princeton. www.aspnj. org. Gary Christen discusses spatial models of astrology that incorporate “The Whole Sky” and yield important insights not easily seen in ecliptic-based charts. Register. $20. 2 p.m.

“Playing on Air” Podcast Discussion, Princeton Public Library. www.princetonlibrary.org.

Actor and director Vivia Font leads a series highlighting great short theater from the “Playing On Air Podcast.” Discussion on “3:59am: A Drag Race for Two Actors.” Register. 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Israeli Elections 101, Jewish Center of Princeton. www.thejewishcenter.org. How Israel elects the knesset and chooses its prime minister, presented via Zoom with Q&A to follow by professor Jonathan Marc Gribetz of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton. Register for Zoom link. 7 p.m.

The Greater Lambertville Chamber of Commerce — formerly the Delaware River Towns Chamber of Commerce — presents Restaurant Month for the entirety of March. Visit www.lambertvillechamber.com/restaurant-month for a list of area restaurants with links to online menus.

Dine out or take out, enter to win one of two $100 gift certificates to Odette’s in New Hope. Post a photo of your meal on Instagram, tag the Lambertville area restaurant where you dined (or got take out), and add #DineInLambertvilleArea. Two posts will be chosen randomly on April 1. The photos must be from one of the restaurants listed on our site and taken between March 1 and 31.

Call for Teaching Artists The Arts Council of Princeton is currently accepting in-person applications for its spring and summer semesters, for both children’s and adult classes and camps.

If interested, complete and submit the proposal form online at www.artscouncilofprinceton.org/ artists/teaching-artists and include a website, Instagram page, or several images of your work. The Arts Council will reach out by email to those whose proposals are deemed a good fit.

Call for Donations In an effort to foster the joy of reading and in celebration of National Reading Month in March, Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker representing the 16th NJ Legislative District is launching a book drive now through the end of March to benefit the children enrolled in

the YMCA and YWCA day care and early education learning centers throughout the district.

Visit yougivegoods.com/district16-bookdrive, choose your preferred YM/YW facility, and go shopping for a book or books among a specially selected inventory. You will receive a tax receipt from our online partner YouGiveGoods. Donations help the YMCA and YWCA day care and learning centers provide their students with the tools and resources they need to succeed in life.

Call for Artists The New Jersey Watercolor Society (NJWCS) sponsors its fourth annual online exhibition for associate members. The show is open to all watercolor artists who are residents of New Jersey. Current associate members and artists working in water media who would like to become an associate member are welcome to participate.

Entries will be accepted through midnight April 30, 2021. Acceptance into the exhibit is not juried.

Each participant may submit one digital image of their painting to include in the show. The cost is $10 with membership dues of $35 paid for 2021. The prospectus and online entry form can be found at w w w . n j w c s . o r g / _ AssociateProspectus&Entry.htm.

For membership information visit www.njwcs.org/_Membership. htm.

Marie Natale will be the juror of awards. The show will open on Friday, May 7, at a virtual reception.

Cash awards will be presented at that time. Images for all entries will be posted on NJWCS’s webpage for one full year. Details for viewing the reception will be sent to all participants. For more information contact Jill Crouch at jillycrouch@ comcast.net.

Continued on following page

A Different Kind of Psychiatry Case Presentation Series Free Webinar

Therapy Helps a Teenager Grow Up Join the discussion.

PRESENTED BY Edward Chastka, M.D.

HOSTED BY Chris Burritt, D.O.

Saturday, March 13, 2021 | 4:00PM to 5:00PM (ET)

For more information and to register visit

adifferentkindofpsychiatry.com call (732) 821-1146 or email aco@orgonomy.org

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MARCH 10, 2021

get a taste of real community

eard obethe enerf the eson (and il his Colobetions ng to most

Continued from preceding page

For Seniors Spring Fundraising Series: The Science, the Sweets, and the Savories of Foods You Love, Princeton Senior Resource Center. www.princetonsenior.org.

Chef Adeena Sussman, author of Sababa, offers a cooking demonstration from Israel. Register. 1 p.m.

For almost 50 years, Whole Earth has been bringing the finest fresh, organic and natural foods to our community.

Stop in for taste of real, no-compromise freshness and quality!

Monday March 15

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World Music Irish Coffee-House Concert with “Uncle” Gerry Dignan, Voices Chorale NJ, 609-737-2976. www. voiceschoralenj.org. Musician, recording artist and song leader “Uncle” Gerry performs a range of Celtic music from ballads to fast Irish “mouth music.” Register. $15. 7:30 p.m.

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Lectures

Butterfly Gardening with Native Plants, Washington Crossing Audubon Society. www.washingtoncrossingaudubon.org.

Learn from agronomist, author and expert on the garden/insect interface, Jane Hurwitz, how to attract and support butterflies in your garden with native plants.

This talk will explore the relationship that butterflies have with specific native plants and suggests easy steps to protect these relationships in order to enhance your garden as well as our local ecosystem. Register by email to contact.wcas@gmail.com for Zoom access. Free. 8 p.m.

For Seniors Twentieth Century Irish Art in the National Gallery of Ireland, Princeton Senior Resource Center. princetonsenior.wufoo. com/forms/an-emerald-odyssey/.

Presentation on the gallery housing more than 16,300 works of art.

Register. $10. Noon.

Tuesday March 16 Art Floral Persuasion, West Windsor Arts Council. www.westwindsorarts.org. First day for members only juried exhibition featuring floral themes in various media. On view through May 14.

Dancing Virtual Folk Dance Party, Prince-

‘Uncle’ Gerry Dignan performs Celtic ballads and other Irish tunes in a virtual performance offered by Voices Chorale on Monday, March 15. ton Folk Dance. www.princetonfolkdance.org. Visit website for link to join. 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

History

The Irish in the Civil War, Mercer County Library. www.mcl.org.

During the American Civil War, some 150,000 Irish men fought in the Union Army and about 20,000 joined and fought with the Confederacy. Join historical reenactor and lecturer Michael Jesberger for a presentation on these “Sons of Erin” who played a major role in the American Civil War. Register for GoToMeeting link. 7 p.m.

MARCH 10, 2021

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PREV I E W

Statewide Theater Fest Goes Virtual

T

by Dan Aubrey Thursday, March 16 to 18.

he New Jersey Theatre Alliance has offered a spring festival of live performances, workshops, and readings throughout the state for 24 years.

However, this year’s festival will be held primarily online, due to the ongoing pandemic.

And while state theater lovers are waiting for the physical doors to open, this year’s festival featuring more than 60 events created by the Alliance’s 40 member theaters provides an opportunity to sample the state-produced theater in the comfort of one’s home.

And since most events are free or deeply discounted, it’s a bargain — but just note that registration is required.

Here are some of the highlights of the 2021 Stages Festival:

Theatre for Kids and Teens

Pushcart Players, a New Jersey professional touring children’s theater based in Verona, has teamed up with community partners to offer online events including “Tales from Around The World,” a storytelling event on Saturday, March 13, and Tuesday, April 6.

Vanguard Theater in Montclair will offer a streamed presentation of “Songs for a New World” featuring a cast of professionals and young performers, filmed in various locations, in April (date TBD).

Progressive Theater in Maplewood will offer a virtual production of “Musetta’s Stories and Melodies from Around the World.”

This “snug-able listening and visual experience” combines classical vocalist Dr. Lori Brown Mirabal’s enjoyment of teaching music to children with her imaginative stories and lovingly sung performances of original and global songs (TBD).

Passage Theatre in Trenton will offer an online presentation of the middle-grade play “Surely Goodness and Mercy,” which follows an odd but bright little boy who befriends the lunch lady at his school, leading them to learn about the strength hiding within themselves and what it means to truly care for another. The company has created a free study guide to go with the play. The performance can be viewed Tuesday through

When Women Lost the Vote, Pennington Public Library. www.penningtonlibrary.org. Presentation from the Museum of the American Revolution on the littleknown history of the nation’s first women voters. Q&A follows. Register for Zoom link. 7 p.m.

Lectures

Grand Homes & Gardens Distinguished Speakers Series, Morven Museum & Garden. www. morven.org. Lecture series with the theme “The Woman of the House.” LoriAnn Witte, director, speaks on Glebe House and Gertrude Jekyll’s garden. Virtual program with live Q&A. Register. $25. 6:30 p.m.

The Art of the Perfect Cup, Arts Council of Princeton & Small World Coffee. www.artscouncilofprinceton.org. Learn everything you need to know about coffee and brewing the perfect cup. Registration includes the virtual webinar, with the option to add a bag of Small World coffee and a handmade mug from the ACP Ceramics Studio. $25 to $60. 7 p.m.

Paper Mill Playhouse’s annual Rising Star Awards, a celebration of excellence in high school musical theatre, will close out the Stages Festival on June 7.

New Musicals

Hudson Theatre Works in Weehawken will present a digital production of a new musical comedy, “Elliot & Me,” based on the lives of songwriter Elliot Willensky and his younger brother Steven, April 1 through 4.

Skyline Theatre Company in Fair Lawn presents a world premiere reading of an original musical, “Saving Spencer,” about a young man’s memories on a quest to save his creativity.

Luna Stage in West Orange will present “We the People: Songs of Civics,” an online project composed of original songs, accompanying Schoolhouse Rock-esque music videos, and a built-in educational curriculum.

Atlantic City Theatre Company will pair theater professionals with Stockton University students in Pomona and Hammonton to create “Project Bifrost,” an evening of singing, dancing, and acting to raise awareness and funds for social causes on Saturday, May 29.

New Plays

Epic Actors Workshop in Old Bridge will produce two new play readings highlighting South Asian-American artists. “Our Voices,” presented on Saturday, March 27, focuses on youth caught between cultures and their parents, attempting to define their own place and space in a multiracial, multicultural society as immigrants. “The Waiting Room,” presented on Saturday, May 22, explores the idea of waiting rooms as temporary spaces, both internal and external.

Premiere Stages in Union will present a reading of “Year One,” a finalist for their annual playwriting prize, on Sunday, March 21.

Paterson Performing Arts Development Council will offer a reading and discussion of “For Colored Boyz On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown/When Freedom Ain’t Enuf,” a choreopoem inspired by the work of internationally known Trenton-born writer Ntozake Shange, on Monday, May 31.

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre in Summit will offer weekly “Meet the Artist” readings and discussions with playwrights on Wednesdays between May 5 and 26.

Jersey City Theatre Center will host weekly readings of new plays by emerging writers on Thursdays between May 6 and May 27, all with a theme of Healing.

Art House Productions will showcase work from its INKUBATOR cohort of emerging playwrights on Saturday, May 1.

Crossroads Theatre Company, New Brunswick, continuing its mission to support the work of new and emerging Black and Brown voices, will present the Genesis Play Festival, from April 14 through 17, in partnership with the New York City-based new urban arts development company Hi-Arts.

New Media

Luna Stage, West Orange, will offer a “play via text message” delivered directly to audience members’ phones. “#Rift: A Play Over text Message” explores the ideological divide in America through a story of two brothers.

Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken will debut the premiere of its first Podcast play — “The Playbill Gallery (a love story)” — written and performed by playwright-in-residence Joseph Gallo and featuring a sound score by resident designer Michael Blaskewicz. Currently available for listening, the bittersweet homage to a lifetime of theatergoing taps into the current longing that every theater-goer and every theater-maker is experiencing.

Community Discussions and Panels

Elizabeth Youth Theatre Ensemble will present “Walking the Beat: An Emergency Convening,” a screening and community discussion of a theater piece collaboratively created by teenagers and police officers, on Saturday, May 1.

McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton will offer weekly Fireside Chats during the month of May. Keeping social distance, artistic director Sarah Rasmussen invites guests from the McCarter community to join her on the front lawn for discussion about meeting this moment.

For Seniors

History

Elder Justice and Prevention Methods, Princeton Senior Resource Center. princetonsenior. wufoo.com/forms/elder-justicecall-to-action. Honor PSRC social workers David Roussell and Nicole Maccarone and join in celebrating World Social Work Day and find out how PSRC’s social work team can assist you and your family. Register. Free. 3 p.m.

Yes! The Suffragists Had Swag!, Princeton Public Library. www. princetonlibrary.org. Author Nancy Kennedy brings the suffrage story to life thorough storytelling and sharing artifacts from that time period. Register. 4 to 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday March 17 Classical Music Lecture Performance Series, Boheme Opera NJ, Monroe Township Library. www.monroetwplibrary.org. “More Than the Barber,” a presentation of Bel Canto selections from Rossini and Donizetti featuring international soprano Sungji Kim. Streamed online. Free. 1 p.m.

Chisa Hutchinson is the playwright behind ‘Surely Goodness and Mercy,’ presented

by Passage Theater from March 16 to 18.

Healing Voices: Caregivers’ Stories on Stage

McCarter Theatre Center and Two River Theater in Red Bank will offer performances in the Stages Festival as part of the Alliance’s program “Healing Voices: Caregivers Stories on Stage.” Weaving together stories of both professional and family caregivers as part of an original professional theater performance about the caregiving experience, each theater will create a professional presentation of the selected works, chosen from over 120 submissions. McCarter Theatre Center’s presentation will take place Friday, May 7. Two River Theater’s presentation will take place on a date to be determined.

The Alliance is working to make the above events accessible to people with disabilities and ask that those who require a specific accommodations, including ASL interpretation, open captioning, and audio description to contact Deonté Griffin-Quick at 973-2506661 ext. 3 or dgiffin-quick@njtheatrealliance.org at least two weeks prior.

The New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s Stages Festival is funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Bank of America, and The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey. Additional supporters include OceanFirst Foundation, the George A. Ohl, Jr Trust, New Jersey Historical Commission, and Fund for the New Jersey Blind.

For a full listing of events, program details, and registration information visit www. njtheatrealliance.org/stages.

Socials

Library Drawing Party, Mercer County Library. www.facebook. com/mclsnj. Follow along for a librarian-led drawing lesson, then share your finished work. For all ages. 7 p.m.

For Seniors

The Irish Emigration Museum, Princeton Senior Resource Center. princetonsenior.wufoo. com/forms/an-emerald-odyssey/.

Irish emigration talk focuses on the reasons people left Ireland and their achievements, with a special focus on the Irish who emigrated to the United States. Register. $10. Noon.

Chef and ‘Sababa’ cookbook author Adeena Sussman gives a cooking demonstration from Israel as part of Princeton Senior Resource Center’s spring fundraising series on Sunday, March 14.

12

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MARCH 10, 2021

Training Chefs and Concierges for Changing Times

O

by George Point

ne doesn’t need to be an expert to know the impact that COVID-19 is having on restaurants and hotels; shuttered eateries and empty parking lots offer ample evidence. Those businesses that continue to operate make do with limited capacity, takeout menus, and adaptive changes to their business models.

What may not be so obvious are the impacts, great and small, that COVID-19 is having on the training of future entrants into the culinary and hospitality industries. For a deeper dive into that subject I turned to two industry veterans and professors at the Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management (HRIM) program at Mercer County Community College, Douglas Fee and Frank Benowitz.

Chef Fee has served as coordinator of hospitality programs at MCCC for nearly 20 years. Chef Benowitz was one of the first graduates of the program 20 years ago.

Mercer’s HRIM program prepares students for employment in various entry-level management careers in the lodging and food service industries and includes an internship in a hotel, restaurant, or institutional food service facility.

Participants are a mix of full and part-time students, something that sets it apart from other programs, according to Fee. “That’s where we’re different from any other culinary school that I know of,” he says, noting that currently about 200 students are enrolled in culinary and pastry and management studies, plus a “sprinkling” of culinology (a blend of culinary arts and food science) students.

Interest in the program has grown along with the advent of the Food Network and the celebrity chef, Fee notes. “The Food Network made things a little crazy,” he says. “It also gave some people

some false expectations as to what our profession is really about. This is a challenging business, a tough business, and you have to be passionate about it. We’re fortunate to attract passionate students that love what they do.”

“Students are also attracted to the HRIM program because we’re a community college and offer the skills and knowledge they need at a value price,” Chef Benowitz adds.

“In my opinion our partnership for employment is as good or better than the CIA’s (Culinary Institute of America) or Johnson & Wales.

We have partners within and beyond the community, within the hotel and restaurant industry, grocery industry, that know that our

‘This is a challenging business, a tough business, and you have to be passionate about it. We’re fortunate to attract passionate students that love what they do.’ students are here and ready to go to work for them. Students leave here without of a huge amount of college debt, so they can better afford to take on an entry-level position and gain real-world industry experience.”

Like every other institution, the onset of COVID-19 presented existential challenges to the continuation of the HRIM program. “When COVID first happened last April, the college was highly proactive, Fee says. “They involved the greater college community and asked what needed to be done and the best way to do it.”

Fee notes that, unlike a course of

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study that’s primarily lecture based, hands-on, skills-based training presented a unique set of challenges. “For our specialty courses, the courses that take place in labs or kitchens, we had to stop what we were doing,” Fee says. “In some classes, like a restaurant production class, there’s no take-home lab. So we called a timeout and regrouped. We restarted our classes at the end of August, when all the procedures were in place here to keep everybody safe and it was okay to go ahead and complete those courses. The administration has been incredibly supportive.”

Remote learning tools have also become part of the instructional mix and have been a positive addition to the HRIM program, according to Fee. “We’re using the technology to our advantage,” he says.

“Where possible classes are offered both remotely and in-person, so students have a choice. Thanks to virtual learning, we have so much more accessibility to students in terms of the pre-prep for class. They’ve done their research at home so when they walk in the door, it’s like ‘Okay, it’s game time!’ and they can hit the ground running.”

One impact of COVID-19 that has not affected the HRIM program as much as other courses of study is implementing best practices to help prevent the spread of the virus.

“Because of the nature of our business, there hasn’t been a huge change from a sanitation standpoint,” Fee says. “I’ve been teaching sanitation for well over 25 years; the main difference now is that we wear a mask and a face shield.”

Indeed, observing students and their instructor in the kitchen with their multiple layers of PPE reminded me more of recent visits to the dentist’s office than to a restaurant kitchen, a comforting sight.

In addition, Fee noted that the college has also put institutionwide procedures in place to guard the heath of the faculty, students, and staff who do spend time on campus. “We have a symptom tracker that must be completed online by everyone who is attending an on-site class,” he explains. “It’s been highly effective. I have a son that’s immune compromised, and I feel very comfortable coming in and meeting with my class every day.”

The symptom tracker rule applies to journalists as well. The night before my on-campus interview with chefs Fee and Benowitz, I dutifully completed an online form detailing the time, date, and purpose of my visit, current state of my health, and other pertinent information. Shortly after submitting the form, I received an email clearing me to visit the campus.

“In our classes we required the use of gloves even before COVID, and during this very contagious virus we’re constantly emphasizing the importance of sanitation and good food-handling practices,” Benowitz says. “It’s really driven home the importance of the practices we’ve been teaching all these years.”

So, what is Fee’s and Benowitz’ take on the current state of the industry?

“Restaurants are being economically crushed,” Fee says. “The survivors that are still operating are those few that have a good cash reserve, or who have really been thinking outside the box in terms of how they do business.”

“A lot of establishments have taken out PPA (Payroll Protection Act) loans, and New Jersey has re-

cently increased permissible indoor dining capacity, but still that’s only a third of capacity, and that’s only the people who are comfortable enough to dine out,” Benowitz adds. “The takeout business has increased extraordinarily compared to what it was pre-COVID, but the average consumer doesn’t realize that takeout containers and boxes of gloves have tripled in price.”

Speaking of takeout, what about the impacts of COVID-19 on employment opportunities, and the disproportional effect of different segments of the market — takeout, fine dining, hotels?

“In a fine dining establishment, the dining experience is as much a part of the equation as the food, so they’re in a much tougher position than an establishment at a lower price-point whose primary revenue stream was takeout pre-COVID,” says Benowitz.

Hasn’t COVID impacted job placement opportunities for HRIM

‘The people who are going to survive are the people who can offer a reason for people to come out and dine with them, who can take it to the next level and get the ball rolling to get people in.’ students?

“To an extent it does,” Fee admits. “Pre-COVID, we had more people contacting us to hire students than we had students in the program. The hotel industry has really been slammed, so for us the hotel industry is a dry market right now, and because hotels have let people go, and they’re going to hire them back before they hire someone new.

“But I think that’s going to result in a weeding out process among our students,” continues Fee. “The people on the fence who see it as just another job will be gone; the people that are passionate about what they want to do and hang in there will be in prime shape to get ahead in their field and do phenomenally well when the industry bounces back.”

“Pre-COVID there were more

Frank Benowitz, left, and Douglas Fee have helped the hospitality program at Mercer County College thrive despite the ongoing pandemic. job opportunities, but if a student wants part-time work they can find it, even during COVID,” says Benowitz. “With so many full-time employees staying home on unemployment, there’s demand for people to fill those positions, at least temporarily.”

Fee and Benowitz addressed the ways that the challenges presented by the current emphasis on takeout are being addressed by the HRIM curriculum and by commercial food establishments.

“Today we’re conducting a menu class,” Fee says. “Each student’s assignment is to design a menu, from which we then create a single menu that they will actually have to produce. One of the considerations is that it’s going to be a takeout meal, so how do you design that? It’s a whole other layer to consider. How do we present it for takeout? Will it fit into a takeout container?

“One of the required classes for our pastry and baking students is Experimental Kitchen, learning the science behind food preparation,” Fee continues. “As their final project they’re given a topic, say, Thai food or American regional cuisine.

They have to come up with a product that they have to freeze and then reconstitute. So they have to experience the ‘gold standard’ of preparing the meal and then reconstituting the meal, how to make it shelf-stable, and how the science affects the final project. That’s training we offer that restaurateurs may not have had to consider previously.”

“Another consideration is whether the items on a takeout menu will re-heat well and reliably in customers’ homes,” says Benowitz. “And how far a restaurant is willing to go to ensure they’ve had a good experience. Are you willing to follow up with customers, get their feedback, and thank them for their business? That’s what can set you apart right now.”

On the topic of maintaining touch-points with customers, isn’t COVID accelerating a trend away from personal service, the human

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Beyond the Menu: How Three Area Eateries are Coping with COVID

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hree very different area establishments have taken different routes to weathering the pandemic by going beyond offering their preCOVID menu to go: Kristine’s, 51 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. www.kristinesprinceton.com A welcome addition to Princeton’s downtown dining scene, Kristine’s has proven to be a hit with locals and out-of-towners alike, thanks in no small measure to a well-chosen menu and wine list, and to the charm and culinary skills of French-trained Chef Nicolas Démurgé.

In addition to limited indoor seating, sheltered and heated patio dining, and curbside pickup of Kristine’s regular menu, chef Démurgé has launched a weekly family meal special. Available on Wednesday through Sunday for takeout only, the special serves four generously and includes an entrée and choice of four sides. Selections vary week-to-week and are selected with foolproof re-heating at home in mind.

Price of the special varies according to entrée; Chef’s Beef Bourguignon was a recent example, a delicious value at $79 plus tax and a modest service charge.

Join Kristine’s email list to find out about upcoming family meal specials, and about Kristine’s Wine Club, coming soon.

Aunt Chubby’s Luncheonette, 1 Railroad Place, Hopewell. www. chubbysluncheonette.com Situated across from Hopewell’s historic train station, cozy, friendly, sensitively restored Aunt Chubby’s is the luncheonette everyone wishes they had in their home town.

Run by Lyn Farrugia and Michelle Hamilton, Aunt Chubby’s has gone beyond its breakfast and lunch selections, currently offering chicken or veggie enchiladas with green or mole salsa for pickup on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The touch? More folks are using the web to make and manage reservations, the use of contactless payment, keyless entry, self check-in and check-out at hotels, etc?

“I had to go to Rhode Island recently,” Fee says, “And I stayed at a Hilton there. There’s a seal on your door when you come in, there’s a QR (Quick Response) code that you scan that informs you how they prepared the room, that everything has been sanitized. The remote for the TV is in a sealed plastic bag, and there are sanitizer wipes everywhere.”

Both Fee and Benowitz agree that one lesson learned from dealing with the pandemic is that the human touch needs to be a bigger component of post-COVID business models.

“The people who are going to survive are the people who can offer a reason for people to come out and dine with them, who can take it to the next level and get the ball rolling to get people in,” Fee says.

“By catering to specific niches for example, like focusing more on plant-based items.”

“We’ve taken the importance of being in a social situation with others for granted,” Benowitz adds.

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WWW.CARNEVALEPLAZA.COM Instead Carson pivoted and He was pleasantly surprised to find that Chubby’s had gone the extra started making mixes for people mile to ensure his comfort. “They who wanted to bake at home. “We offered a seat cushion, a fleece started with pancake mix, then blanket, and a hot water bottle! A scone mix, then moved on to toasty warm hand warmer certainly brownies and donuts,” she says. did enhance the dining experience. “The donuts are very popular at the shop, so people wanted to make Just the idea of it...ahhh!”

LiLLiPiES Bakery, 301 North them at home.”

Home baking kits and other Harrison Street, Princeton. www. tasty offerings soon followed, as lillipies.com Jen Carson, former instructor at well as The LiLLiPiES Cookbook the MCCC culinary program, and a selection of products from loaward-winning baker, and founder cal producers like Griggstown of LiLLiPiES Bakery, a popular Farm and First Field. Online ordersmall-batch bakery located in the ing from the website enables cusPrinceton Shopping Center spe- tomers to shop 24/7 for next-day cializing in artisan breads and pickup curbside or at the shop’s sweets, will always remember the door. LiLLiPiES also ships “care packages” and gifts, which have day that COVID hit.

“COVID impacted us on Pi Day proven to be popular at Christmas 2020, the day we decided to launch and Valentine’s Day, Carson notes.

— George Point our cookbook,” Carson recalls.

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ries jubilee table-side.”

Benowitz’ comment begs the $64,000 question: Just how far is the industry from a return to a semblance of normalcy?

“The COVID situation is going to be in people’s memories for a little bit,” says Benowitz, “But I tell students that Americans tend to have shorter memories than they might think. A year post-COVID we’ll still remember it, but not with the same intensity.

“Will people continue to use Zoom more often than they did before? Of course, but I think that by holiday time at the end of this year, definitely in 2022, you’re going to see parties starting again. I believe there’s going to be a huge boom in 2022. The hotel industry will be coming back, and once the man-

Student Xadea Green of East Windsor wears a face shield, mask, and gloves as she prepares sandwiches in the teaching kitchen at MCCC. dates on eateries are lifted there’s going to be a huge increase in business. Restaurants must be prepared if they’re to succeed.”

For more information on MCCC’s Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management Program, visit www.mccc.edu/hrim, email feed@mccc.edu, or call 609-5703447.

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U.S. 1

MARCH 10, 2021

Life in the Fast Lane Rutgers Scientists Develop New Rapid COVID Tests

Scientists at Rutgers University have announced the develop-

ment of a new PCR-based rapid test for three quickly spreading variants of COVID-19 first identified in Great Britain, South Africa, and Brazil.

The researchers are not seeking a patent for their work and instead have published instructions for creating and running the test online due to a belief in the importance of widely available testing.

The test uses “sloppy molecular beacon probes,” which are specific, sensitive DNA sequences used to detect frequent mutations in organisms. Results from the test are available within one hour.

The researchers expect to improve on the test so that it can distinguish among the three variants and be adapted to test for additional variants that may emerge.

Researchers who worked on the test include David Alland, Padmapriya Banada, Soumitesh Chakravorty, Raquel Green and Sukalyani Banik. Rutgers scientists had previously developed a saliva-collection test for COVID that is now widely used.

“This rapid test was developed and tested over a few weeks in a crash program to respond to a serious public health need,” said Alland, director of the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Public

Perfect Company Continued from page 5

There is the game, and there is gaming the game. The game is to spot opportunity before others spot it. Gaming the game is employing technology to spot crowd behavior before others do — or employing massively expensive technologies not available to others. (See the film “The Hummingbird Project” for a dramatic treatment.) Many of the most successful hedge funds game the game: They hardly care about the business, and they don’t hire business analysts or MBAs. They quantify sentiment by screening messages in chat rooms and mentions in the press. They were surprised by GameStop, but they will not be surprised again because they will defensively monitor the new behavior.

The people who game the game are very smart and have virtually unlimited resources. They are hard to beat at speculation. At the end of the night, they will take your money. The small investors in GameStop who believe that the market has been democratized are like the young men on the barricades in “Les Misérables”: They are surrounded, and they don’t know it.

“Can you hear the people buy?

Buying the stocks of angry men? It is the buying of the people who will not be slaves again!” Would that it were true.

Strategies for the Age of Speculation. Consider selling a stock if you would not buy it today. If you don’t have the confidence to buy your investment today, you are speculating that someone else is willing to pay a higher price than you are. You have no confidence in the investment, though you may have a “feeling” that you can recoup some loss or eke out a higher gain. Sell today, and put your mon-

Edited by Sara Hastings Health Research Institute and professor and chief of infectious disease at Rutgers NJMS, in a statement.

“Despite our hurry to get the test completed, it performed extremely well with clinical samples in our initial studies. We are very pleased with these results and we hope that this test will help in the control of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic.”

Expansion Princeton Junior School, 3270 Lawrenceville Road, Princeton 08540. 609-9248126. Silvana Clark, head of school. www.princetonjuniorschool.org.

With the acquisition of a neighboring property, Princeton Junior School has expanded its campus and made plans to add a sixth grade class.

The private co-educational school, which currently serves ages two through grade five, was founded in a church basement in 1983 and ultimately settled on seven acres of a former tomato farm in Lawrence Township. The property was shared with a family who owned the remaining three acres for the past 28 years, and the school was given first right of refusal when the family opted to sell its property in early 2020.

The purchase was made possible by a donation from Steve Ginzbarg, a friend of Head of School

ey into an investment you believe in.

I speculated in NTES because it’s a game company that hedge funds were buying for value. Net­ Ease is a Chinese company with a $75 billion market cap. I don’t trust Chinese companies, and I don’t know much about games, so I sold NTES for a 24 percent gain. NTES was pure speculation for me.

On the other hand, I have a 373 percent gain in NDCVF, which makes chips for the Internet of Things. NDCVF has a $3.7 billion market cap with room to grow. It will go up and down, but I think NDCVF will continue to grow and could be acquired by a larger company.

C

onsider buying Puts on SPACs. Owning a SPAC is like the first days of a romance: You hardly know each other, and anything is possible. Then one day, the SPAC does its deal and romance flies out the window. You’re the proud owner of an overpriced dog-walking service. In the case of a SPAC called Churchill Capital IV (CCIV), shares dropped 25 percent after its merger with Lucid Motors was announced. A handful of SPACs have skyrocketed, but, with so many vying for deals, the later deals are likely to be weak.

Consider buying long-term Puts on over-valued companies. As Isaac Newton discovered, you cannot calculate “the madness of people,” so it is good to buy longer term puts out-of-the-money that are relatively cheap. You will lose on most of these, but, when you win they are great paydays. At about $100 billion each, SNAP and UBER are good candidates.

If you have a company or an idea, consider selling shares or raising money now. The time to sell is when people are buying. When winter comes (think 2009), no one

Silvana Nazzaro Clark. A theater set to occupy an existing barn on the property as part of a new performing arts center will be named for Ginzbarg’s late mother.

“The timing and generosity of this gift aligned perfectly with our vision to optimize the childhood experience, rooted in the school’s mission and history,” Princeton Junior School board president Rob Robertson said in a statement. “We have been poised to expand the facilities for the past several years.

This generous gift from the Ginzbarg family has allowed us to do that, without having to compromise the aesthetic of the PJS learning oasis.”

Other additions to the campus include a new sports pavilion being installed this spring, a STEM shop, and possible future plans for an atrium swimming pool.

Additionally, the school’s current fifth graders will become its first class of sixth graders in fall, 2021.

Partnership Princeton Identity, 300 Horizon Drive #308, Hamilton 08691. 609-256-6994. Bobby Varma, CEO. www.princetonidentiy.com.

Princeton Identity, Hamiltonbased specialists in biometric technology, has partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Future Trend LLC to launch a touchless time and attendance access and tracking system.

invests. The best companies and the most brilliant ideas sell at remarkable discounts. You have reached rock bottom when you find companies selling for a discount to their liquidation value — that is, you can buy stock for less than their cash per share. When buyers are paying a multiple of sales — as they are today — sell, sell, sell!

If you have a really great private company, arrange for SPACs to bid for your business. For the right idea, story, or growth path, public valuations can be monstrously higher than private equity.

QuantumScape Corporation (QS), a pre-revenue battery company, is now valued at $21 billion.

Even dog-walking apps are worth over a billion dollars. Imagine the

Consider selling a stock if you would not buy it today. If you don’t have the confidence to buy your investment today, you are speculating that someone else is willing to pay a higher price than you are. price your company could command.

Become a disrupter. Add a potentially disruptive feature to your business, or use your small public stock like a SPAC. In an extreme example, flooring distributor Tesoro Enterprises merged with mobile wallet company Humbl (symbol: HUMBL), and increased the market cap to $5.4 billion.

Look for special situations. Curiously, one of the biggest returns since March, 2020, is from a prosaic retailer called Kirkland’s (KIRK). I had recommended Kirk-

The system combines Princeton Identity’s Access200 products, which have iris readers and temperature sensors, with Future Trend’s Obo Milenio software, which offers reports on time, attendance, payroll, and other employee data from a centralized human resources platform.

In a statement, Princeton Identity CEO Bobby Varma called it “an evolution of our portfolio for the modern workplace.”

“The collaboration with Future Trend leverages biometric technology to create a seamless experience for employees as they navigate their day-to-day activities, while allowing companies to capture critical HR data,” she said.

“It’s part of our vision to expand the role of biometrics beyond access control into broader customized solutions for employees, visitors and other stakeholders across all industries.”

New in Town

G

row America Builders, a construction firm focused on the cannabis industry, has announced the start of work on the Lawrence location of Zen Leaf dispensary.

The dispensary, located in the Route 1 strip mall that formerly housed Toys R Us, is expected to open in early spring. The 4,000-square-foot space at 3256 Brunswick Pike will undergo a full interior and exterior renovation.

Zen Leaf has operations in nine states, including a second New Jer-

land’s in 2019, and then sold out at a loss when it tanked. However, in March, 2020, you could have bought KIRK for 56 cents; it sold for $28 as of March 1 — an increase of 4,900 percent. Sales are down, and the company still loses money, but their online business was up 35 percent in the fourth quarter, which is probably driving the price.

It’s impossible to know exactly what is going at a company, but you can check on the behavior of insiders toward the company. In the case of KIRK, directors were buying the stock: www.nasdaq.com/marketactivity/stocks/kirk/insider-activity.

Sometimes you can spot a situation that looks promising. You’ll never get the full story, but I had a positive trade with KSPN, a company that serves as an on-ramp for e-commerce. The company sold its FYE stores at the beginning of the pandemic, changed its name to Kaspien, and focused on helping manufacturers sell their wares online. Since the entire world was transitioning to online sales, KSPN seemed like a better bet than Amazon (AMZN), which is already in the public eye. KSPN had a market cap of about $8 million when I bought it at $6; the stock touched $52 briefly, and I sold at $32 for a 433 percent gain.

I

f there is a lesson here, it is that, in the Age of Speculation, a historically good management can sometimes make a hard turn and create outsized gains. Since all the facts are never at hand — if they were, others would be bidding up the price — you have to buy multiple tickets to get one good rocket ride, but that more than pays for the duds.

Know when you are investing and when you are speculating.

Some companies will probably continue to grow. TREX, for in-

sey location in Elizabeth.

For more information visit www.zenleafdispensaries.com.

Deaths Helen Del Margio, 90, on March 6. The Pennington resident worked as a flight attendant, dance instructor, and photographer’s model before becoming coordinator of alumni affairs at The College of New Jersey.

Suzanne E. Dustin, 61, on March 3. She had a long career in real estate, most recently as manager of the Hopewell office of Berkshire Hathaway.

Henry W. Ryan Jr., 71, on March 5. He was a leader in the Mercerville Fire Company for more than 50 years and served as its last volunteer chief.

Antonio Stancati, 79, on March 6. He operated Antonion’s Custom Tailors and Dry Cleaning in Lawrenceville from 1989 to 2016.

Leonard Brigman on March 4.

He worked at DeLaval Turbine and Princeton Plasma Physics Lab and retired from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Andrew Liput, 92, on March 2.

He was a master draftsman and journeyman welder at General Motors in Ewing for more than 35 years.

Carmine Armenti, 80, on March 1. He worked for City Service Oil Company and as a real estate agent for Doolen Realty and Gloria Nilson.

stance, continues to gain in popularity, and, as lumber prices soar, TREX products are more competitive.

I am surprised by how few people in New Jersey, where Universal Display (OLED) is headquartered in Ewing, have heard of the company; I think OLED will continue to grow into lighting, TVs, and phones.

NDCVF will continue to sell chips for the Internet of Things.

ZBRA, a computer ID and printer company, will keep growing. AlphaMax (MAX) is a publisher and customer acquisition service in the insurance space that was self-funded and profitable years before its public offering. These are relevant companies that do a great job in their industries.

Finally, consider the trajectory of a true disrupter, Amazon (AMZN). During the period from 1998 to 2003 Amazon shot up and fell back to earth. The pattern is common for exciting stocks: after the public offering, buyers pile in, reality sets in, and the price dives.

Then the company deploys cash and starts to grow. That is the moment to buy: when everyone else has left the scene, and the company is building the business. You could have bought Amazon at $6 in 2001.

You did, right?

Then examine Amazon’s price from 1998 to today. The disastrous decline of 2000 is barely a blip. If you plan to live another 20 years, consider buying companies that are true disrupters — or wait for the bubble to burst, and buy them when no one else will.

Send feedback to gpaul@perfectcompany.com. Investment recommendations are solely those of the columnist, and are presented for discussion purposes. Investors are advised to conduct their own research and that past stock performance is no guarantee of future price.

MARCH 10, 2021

U.S. 1

15

U.S. 1 Classifieds How to order

COMMERCIAL SPACE

music services

men seeking women

HOW TO RESPOND

Fax or E-Mail: That’s all it takes to order a U.S. 1 Classified. Fax your ad to 609-844-0180 or E-Mail class@princetoninfo.com. We will confirm your insertion and the price. It won’t be much: Our classifieds are just 50 cents a word, with a $7 minimum. Repeats in succeeding issues are just 40 cents per word, and if your ad runs for 16 consecutive issues, it’s only 30 cents per word.

Questions? Call us at 609-396-1511 ext. 105.

COMMERCIAL WAREHOUSE FOR LEASE: Mercer County, Ewing, NJ. 17,000 SF Warehouse, 5 tailgates/1 oversized drive-in. 609-883-7900 / 201488-4000

Brass Instrument Teacher: Professional musician, University of the Arts graduate. Instruction on Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Baritone/Euphonium, Improvisation/Music Theory. 609-2408290. Frank.rein@yahoo.com

youthful spirit and an active lifestyle. I try to have a positive attitude, a humble spirit, and accept others for who they are. I tend to be liberal in many ways, but try to look at any situation individually. I have a wide range of interests from music (classical to soft rock), to hiking and going to the beach. I like to read but can also enjoy a good show on t.v. I love all animals and have a cat and dog. I spend my summers in the mountains of N.H. and my winters in N.J., with occasional trips down south to catch some surf and sun. I’m hoping to find a kind, outgoing woman to share friendship, good times, and eventually more with. Someone who likes to travel (once the Covid ends), sit at the shore holding hands at sunset sharing some wine, a hike in the woods, or a sail on the lake in the summer. I am a non-smoker. If this sounds interesting, please get in touch and lets see where it goes. Box #240814

How to Respond: Place your note in an envelope, write the box number on the envelope, and mail it with $1 cash to U.S. 1 at the address below.

OFFICE RENTALS 1 day/month/year or longer. Princeton Route 1. Flexible office space to support your business. Private or virtual offices, conference rooms, high speed internet, friendly staffed reception. Easy access 24/7. Ample parking. Call Mayette 609-514-5100. www.princeton-office.com.

Professional office space, 1500 sq/ ft located in Montgomery Knoll office park on Rte 206 in Skillman. Five private offices, reception area, 2 baths and a kitchenette. Ample parking in quiet setting 4 miles from downtown Princeton.

Call Meadow Run Properties at 908281-5374.

Tired of working from home? Two small offices for sublet: One is 250 sq/ ft and one is 500 sq/ft. Quiet setting in Montgomery Knoll office park on Rte 206 in Skillman with ample parking. Call Meadow Run Properties at 908-2815374.

RETAIL SPACE Princeton, NJ Central Business District Retail/Service Business Stores for Lease - Weinberg Management, Broker - For Confidential Conversation Text: 609-731-1630 Email: WMC@collegetown.com

Mercer County, Ewing, NJ 14,000 SF (11,000 SF Ofc/3,000 SF Whse) FREE RENT 201-488-4000/609-8837900.

BUSINESS SERVICES Professional Ghostwriter: Press releases that grab editors’ attention and robust website content that rises above the run of the mill. Have your business history written to preserve the story behind your success. E. E. Whiting Literary Services. 609-462-5734 eewhiting@live.com

PERSONAL SERVICES Professional Ghostwriter. Capture family stories or business histories for posterity. Writing your own memoir? Let me bring your memories alive. Memorialize special events with reminiscences of family and friends printed for all to share. Obituaries and eulogies are sensitively created. E. E. Whiting Literary Services. 609-462-5734 eewhiting@ live.com

TRANSPORTATION A Personal Driver seeking to transport commuters, shopping trips, etc.

Modern, attractive car. References provided. Less than commercial taxi services. E-mail to gvprinter@gmail.com or call 609-331-3370.

classified by e-mail class@princetoninfo.com

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS I Buy Guitars and All Musical Instruments in Any Condition: Call Rob at 609577-3337.

WANTED TO BUY Cash paid for SELMER Saxophones and other vintage models.

609-581-8290, E-mail: lenny3619@ gmail.com Cash paid for World War II military items. 609-581-8290 or e-mail lenny3619@optonline.net.

Wanted: Baseball, football, basketball, hockey. Cards, autographs, photos, memorabilia. Highest cash prices paid! Licensed corporation, will travel. 4thelovofcards, 908-596-0976. allstar115@verizon.net.

Singles Exchange MEN SEEKING WOMEN Elderly gentleman seeks a woman who is more concerned about the suffering occurring around the world than she is about hedonistic pleasures. Box 240346.

Hi! I’m a 65 year old educated, attractive, semi-retired male with a

Professional seeks a woman from 40-55 years old. I enjoy family, I like to go to movies, go to the beach, festivals, and sometimes dine out and travel.

Please send phone, email to set up meeting. Box 240245.

men seeking men A very attractive, clean, healthy, fit, athletic, young 61 Bi- white male.

Looking to meet same discreet, sensual white or Latin male. For discreet concerns, please respond with day time phone number for contact. Box #240815

women seeking men Do you want a companion? Are you looking for someone to be compatible with? I may be the one. Be between the ages of 80 to 86. I’m 5’2”, light brown hair, slim, non-smoker, social drinker, must love animals. Box #240826

HOW TO ORDER Singles By Mail: To place your free ad in this section mail it to U.S. 1, 15 Princess Road, Suite K, Lawrenceville 08648, fax it to 609-844-0180, or E-mail it to class­@princetoninfo.com. Be sure to include a physical address to which we can send responses.

Employment Exchange HELP WANTED Help Wanted: Individual to transport senior citizen for general errands, one time only. Must have own transportation and insurance and be willing and able to assist with lifting, loading, and other miscellaneous tasks related to errands.

Must wear mask! Willing to pay well; expect to provide at least 5-6 hours of assistance. Please call 609-323-7257, no texting!

JOBS WANTED Job Hunters: If you are looking for a full-time position, we will run a reasonably worded classified ad for you at no charge. We reserve the right to edit the ads and to limit the number of times they run. Mail or Fax your ad to U.S. 1 Jobs Wanted, 15 Princess Road, Suite K, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Fax to 609844-0180. E-mail to class@princetoninfo.com. You must include your name, address, and phone number (for our records only).

Summer Fiction All Year Long Short Stories & Poems from the readers of U.S. 1

U .S. 1 Newspaper extends its annual invitation to all writers and poets to present original short fiction, short plays, or poetry.

This is an opportunity to have your work published in hard-copy form and to be recognized in public for your effort.

To participate, submit your previously unpublished short story, play, or poem as soon as possible. Please: No more than two stories or five poems per writer.

Work will be considered for publication on a rolling basis.

Please submit work by e-mail to fiction@princetoninfo.com.

Authors retain all rights.

Preference will be given to central New Jersey writers whose work addresses a theme or place relevant to the greater Princeton business community. Submissions from children are not encouraged.

Questions?

E-mail fiction@princetoninfo.com or call 609-452-7000.

Important: Be sure to include a brief biographical summary with your submission, along with your name, address, and daytime phone number.

16

U.S. 1

MARCH 10, 2021

SPACE FOR LEASE RETAIL • OFFICE • MEDICAL

MANORS CORNER SHOPPING CENTER

• Individual roof mounted central A/C units with gas fired hot air heating & separately metered utilities • Tenants include Investors Bank, Udo’s Bagels, MASA 8 Sushi, Farmers Insurance & more • 139 on-site parking spaces available with handicap accessibility • Minutes from Routes 1, 206 & Interstate 295 • Close proximity to hotels, restaurants, banking, shopping & entertainment

160 Lawrenceville-Pennington Rd. Lawrenceville, NJ • Mercer County

SPACE AVAILABLE:

1009 & 1910 sf (+/-)

Retail • Office • Medical

PRINCESS ROAD OFFICE PARK

• Private bathroom, kitchenette & separate utilities for each suite • High-speed internet access available • 336 Parking spaces available with handicap accessibility • Two building complex totaling 47,094 sf (+/-) • On-site Day Care • 9 Acres of professionally landscaped & managed medical/office • Close proximity to hotels & restaurants in the Princeton & Trenton areas

4 Princess Rd. Lawrenceville, NJ • Mercer County

SPACE AVAILABLE:

Office • Medical

MONTGOMERY PROFESSIONAL CENTER

1625, 2072, 2973 sf (+/-)

• Built to suit tenant spaces • Pre-built dental space available • Private entrance, bathroom, kitchenette & separate utilities for each suite • High-speed internet access available • 1/2 Mile from Princeton Airport & Route 206 • 210 Parking spaces with handicap accessibility • Close proximity to restaurants, banking, shopping, entertainment, hotels & more • On-site Montessori Day Care

Route 518 & Vreeland Dr. Skillman, NJ • Somerset County

SPACE AVAILABLE:

Office • Medical

741, 1250 up to 3418 sf (+/-)

908.874.8686 • LarkenAssociates.com IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY • BROKERS PROTECTED No warranty or representation, express or implied, is made to the accuracy of the information contained herein & same is submitted subject to errors, omissions, change of price, rental or other conditions, withdrawal without notice & to any special listing conditions, imposed by our principals & clients.