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JUNE 2026 FREE
Community activist receives Martin Luther King Jr. award By Lea KaHn
Lawrence sophomore Annabelle “Ellie” Hauger holds a softball during a breakout season in which she emerged as one of the Colonial Valley Conference’s top power hitters.
Hauger powers Lawrence lineup with breakout season By RiCH FisHer
Annabelle Hauger — who goes by Ellie — has adopted a simple mindset to help her become one of the Colonial Valley Conference’s most feared sluggers. “Let the pitchers come to me,” Hauger said. “I shouldn’t be scared; they should be the ones that’s scared.” If they’re not scared, they sure should be concerned. Batting cleanup in the middle of a powerful young batting order, Hauger has torn up CVC pitching in her sophomore season. Much of it
stems from being more selective at the plate. “Sometimes I do mess up a little bit but last year I was trying to swing at any pitch I could,” Hauger recalled. “This year I’m more like ‘I have time, they have to pitch to me.’ I’m way more confident in the box. Last year I was a little more timid against these pitchers. Now I’m trying to find my pitch and have confidence to hit it.” It seems to be working. As a freshman, Hauger hit a respectable .270 with six doubles, a triple and 13 RBI. As of May 18 this year, the outfielder led the CVC in home runs (7) and slugging percentage See Hauger, Page 8
The streets in the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood have been paved, and substandard housing has been replaced by townhouses in the Eggerts Crossing Village affordable housing development. Children who live in the neighborhood have made significant academic progress because of the help they have received through the Every Child Valued after-school program. But none of those achievements would have been possible without the vision and leadership of longtime community activist Fred Vereen Jr., who was honored for those efforts by the Every Child Valued program. Vereen, who is 92, received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Service to the Community at a special recognition ceremony on May 13. More than 200 people attended the event, which was held in the Lawrence High School cafeteria. The event also featured keynote speaker Lerone A. Martin, who discussed Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood and adolescent years as the future civil
rights leader struggled to find his footing. Martin is the director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University in California. Vereen noted that 10.7 million Africans – including his ancestors as well as Martin Luther King Jr.’s ancestors – survived the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to become slaves in the Americas. They were stowed in dark, filthy and stifling cargo holds. “We are here tonight because they endured (the trip) and the following years they had to live as slaves,” Vereen said. “So what is our challenge? Don’t be satisfied. We still have to fight to improve our situation. “There are many people responsible for us gathering in this room, and I stand here representing them. Many of them are gone. You won’t see their names in history books, but they are alive in me. Some day, you will read about them when I complete my book.” Vereen noted a timeline of how Eggerts Crossing was transformed from a predominantly Black neighborhood filled with substandard housing, pigpens, chicken coops See VEREEn, Page 6
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