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History takes center stage for America’s 250th
Discover the people, ington Crossing, Bordentown, Allentown and surrounding places and events communities were not bystanders to the Revolution. commemorating They were part of the ground the anniversary on which the future of the counBY BILL SANSERVINO
The Steinert softball team celebrates its fourth straight state championship. (Photo by Amanda Ruch.)
Selfless Spartans land in N.J. softball record book BY RICH FISHER
It’s hard to keep track of all the theories as to why Steinert’s softball team won its record-setting fourth straight NJSIAA Group III state championship. Talent, discipline, work ethic, teamwork. All that stuff was on display in a 6-2 win over North Hunterdon on June 10 at Newark’s Ivy Hill Park. But the thing most often heard after games was that the girls were playing for each other. It’s called selflessness, and Lindsey Siwczak may have been the shining example. With a .427 average, the junior left fielder was one
of three Spartans to hit over .400. The other two, Mia Pope and Bianca Walsh, hit in the glamour spots of leadoff and third in the lineup. Despite her numbers, Siwczak batted ninth. And didn’t care one bit. “I batted there my first two years and I think that worked well and that’s what was best for our team,” she said. “Having great batters behind me to move me on the basepaths I think that was the best spot for me.” Not a lot of .400 hitters would say that. Then again, they don’t play on a four-time state champion. See CHAMPS, Page 26
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Before there was a country, there was a road through New Jersey, a river crossing in the dark, a capital city waiting in fear, a battlefield outside Princeton and a network of farms, taverns, churches and meetinghouses where ordinary people were pulled into extraordinary events. Some 250 years later, those places are not just names in a history book. They are parks, libraries, museums, downtown streets, ballfields, old houses and river towns that still shape daily life in central New Jersey. America’s semiquincentennial — the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — will be marked nationally on July 4, 2026. But in this region, the anniversary is especially local. Trenton, Princeton, Wash-
try was marched over, fought for and, eventually, claimed. The events listed below run from July 1 through Dec. 31 and range from fireworks, concerts and public readings of the Declaration of Independence to museum exhibitions, walking tours, library programs, historic-house visits, living history events and family activities. Some are celebrations. Some are invitations to look more closely at complicated history. Many are both. Together, they offer a chance to revisit the Revolution not as something distant, but as something that happened here. The following events have been compiled from area municipalities, libraries, museums, historical organizations and regional America 250 programs. They are organized below by region and town, with listings arranged in chronological order within each section. See 250TH, Page 4
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