Current Bordentown
JUNE 2020 FREE
Life is sweet at new candy shop
Inside this issue:
SIX09
Check out our new arts and culture publication COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Top 10 seniors reflect on 2020
Community support
BY SAM SCIARROTTA
After opening in January, the Candy Jar by 1892 Chocolates now offers curbside pickup BY LOIS LEVINE
Candy is a family affair for Jose Alban, his parents and his siblings. The Albans opened the Candy Jar by 1892 Chocolates in Bordentown this past January and so far, the shop is bringing a whole new kind of sweet to Bordentown residents—even in the middle of a global pandemic. And it all started with a chocolate bar. Originally, the Albans had been selling their signature 1892 Chocolate Bars to various businesses in New Jersey. “We started creating the chocolate bars about six years ago,” said Jose, whose family is from Ecuador. “My father, also named Jose, has always been a businessman, and taught us much about the business world and what it takes to be an entrepreneur. “We all agreed we wanted to come up with an excellent chocolate product to sell, and so we decided to research the history of cacao in Ecuador, looking for a specific type, taste and aroma of chocolate that would be just right for the market.” The Albans named the bar See CANDY, Page 5
Bordentown Township Police Department Lt. Nathan Roohr holds up a card from the Peter Muschal School student council. Along with the card and note of thanks, the students provided lunch for the officers May 22, 2020.
A lifetime of dedication Community celebrates long-time teacher’s retirement BY SAM SCIARROTTA
When Judy Pesce, Midge Rizzo and Anna Swiniuchowski learned that their friend and colleague Sally Craig was retiring, they knew they had to do something to celebrate. Craig, a Peter Muschal Elementary School teacher, is saying goodbye after spending 44 years in the Borden-
town Regional School District, effective June 30. Due to COVID-19, though, that celebration had to come with limited physical interaction. So they got creative. The trio put out a call for letters, notes and video messages for a scrapbook and group retirement video. “The number of children Miss Craig has taught over her career is in the thousands,” said Pesce, Rizzo and Swiniuchowski in an email. “She has had such a huge impact on countless people. She attended ‘her children’s’ high school graduations each
and every year and presented them with memories of their years in kindergarten with her.” By the end of May, Swiniuchowski said the group had received about 12 emails, six cards, four scrapbook pages and four videos. The response on social media, though, has been much larger, and the group hopes that will translate to more physical submissions. “Sally has read [the social media posts], but, of course, we would really like for Sally to have a tangible memory See CRAIG, Page 11
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As the 2019-2020 school year wraps up, Bordentown Regional High School seniors are looking ahead to college, their future plans and posthigh school life—and, as we do every year, the Current sent each of the Class of 2020’s Top 10 academic students a questionnaire about high school life and their post-BRHS plans. Virtually, of course. Two students, Rusheel Meka and Lauryn Murphy, we unable to get back to us. This year’s interview questions included the usual fare, like what college they plan to attend, BRHS extracurriculars and favorite quotes. The Class of 2020 was active in the Bordentown community. They participated activities like varsity sports, National Honor Society, Mock Trial, theater, STEM for Kids, math club and computer science club. They will attend colleges like Princeton University, the University of Toronto, Northwestern University, Rider University and the University of Tampa, where they will study musical theater, architecture, the sciences and engineering. And the students were able to decide all of this as their senior years—and lives—were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the above questions, each student was asked about their school experiences during isolation and how the virus affected their final semester of high school. To see their responses, turn to Page 6.
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