The Messenger-Press THE MESSENGER-PRESS
AU G U S T 2026 F R E E
Sweet new chapter
Lasting notes Composer Andrew Rudin finds harmony in Allentown
Bruno’s One Sweet Ride begins a new chapter inside Village Pharmacy
By R.H. Schmitt, Jr.
One approaches through the side door of a historic home on Main Street with a certain restraint, as one might at the entryway of a sacred place. Inside the 1840 house lives Andrew Rudin, an 87-year-old composer and pioneer of electronic music whose career has stretched from experiments with Robert Moog’s early synthesizer to music used by legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The well-kept home sits quietly in Allentown’s Historic Village, not far from Conine’s Millpond and the Old Mill. It’s a casual stroll to Heritage Park or up South Main Street to the high school. Rudin has lived in Allentown since 1992, after a career at the forefront of electronic and avant-garde music. He worked with synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog, saw his music used by Fellini and taught generations of young composers at institutions including the University of See RUDIN, Page 8
By Bill Sanservino
Young cast members step into the world of “Newsies Jr.” during an Aug. 5 dress rehearsal at Allentown High School, where the production brought together theater, teamwork and a story built around the power of the press.(Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
Extra! Extra! ‘Newsies Jr.’ puts local news center stage By Jenna Rittman
When young performers took the stage for “Newsies Jr.” this summer, they carried a piece of their own community with them: The Messenger-Press. Copies of the local newspaper were featured in the production, an especially fitting choice for a musical in which newspapers, the people who sell them and the
power of the press are central to the story. The play was hosted by the Cornerstone Community Arts Project in collaboration with The Songbird’s Gift. Both nonprofit organizations aim to engage young people in music and the performing arts and help them pursue their artistic passions. CCAP hosts summer music and theater arts camps for rising
second-graders through rising fifth-graders in its Rising Stars program and rising fifth-graders through rising ninth-graders in its Broadway Bound program. The Broadway Bound group, consisting of 27 kids, spent three weeks preparing for “Newsies Jr.” “It takes a lot of trust and teamwork,” Kara Unger, the lead of See NEWSIES, Page 14
For nearly 30 years, generations of Allentown customers have walked into Bruno’s One Sweet Ride for homemade chocolates, old-fashioned candy and the kind of small-town conversation that comes with both. Soon, they will be making that stop somewhere new. Heather Saracen, who runs the candy side of Bruno’s, is moving her chocolates from the longtime shop at 19 S. Main St. into Village Pharmacy at 1278 Yardville-Allentown Road after a rent increase made it impossible for the business to remain in its current space. The change is significant, but Saracen does not see it as an ending. “This is not the end,” she said. “It’s just a new start for something that’s going to be even better.” Village Pharmacy’s owners See BRUNO’S, Page 4
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EVENTS continued from Page 1 and staff stepped forward and offered Saracen space to sell her chocolates inside the store, giving a nearly 30-yearold Allentown business a way to remain connected to the community that helped build it. Saracen expects her products to begin appearing there around the end of September or beginning of October, after she has had time to pack up the Main Street shop, reorganize the business and prepare inventory. “They have welcomed me in with open arms,” Saracen said. “They’re very excited. We’re all very excited about it. It’ll be different, but it will still be home for us.” Mayor Thomas Fritts, who worked behind the scenes to help Saracen find a new home, said the partnership provides opportunities for both businesses. “We are thrilled to see Heather Bruno’s new partnership,” Fritts said in a statement. “While I do not get entangled in private landlord-tenant issues, my energy remains focused on keeping businesses open and facilitating growth. I see a resilient community of entrepreneurs who care deeply about Allentown, and I promise that if there is a way to support your business, we will find it.” For Saracen, the move is about more
Heather Saracen, owner of Bruno’s One Sweet Ridem third from left, pictured with Allentown Pharmacy cktk than finding shelf space for chocolate. It is about staying connected to a town that has been part of her life and business for nearly three decades. “This community is my heart and
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soul,” she said. “The people in this community have supported my business for almost 30 years. They have been wonderful to me.” September would have marked the
business’s 30th year, making the timing of the move especially significant for Saracen. When she announced that the Main Street store would be closing, she said the response was overwhelming. Customers shared the news online, tagged media outlets and reached out to tell her what the shop had meant to them. That reaction reflected the long relationship between Bruno’s and Allentown. Saracen moved to the borough in 1994 after she and her then-husband came to town while considering the purchase of a chiropractic practice. She quickly fell in love with Allentown. One of her earliest memories of the town came during the Christmas season, when she saw people dressed in Victorian clothing singing carols while children filled the downtown streets. “I’m like, this is where we have to move,” she recalled. The candy shop followed soon afterward. Saracen had long wanted to open one because of childhood memories of Sundays spent with her grandmother. After church, if Saracen had behaved, her grandmother would take her to a candy store and let her pick something out. “I just always wanted to make those See BRUNO’S, Page 6
The Messenger-Press We are a newsroom of your neighbors. The Messenger-Press is for local people, by local people. As part of the community, The Messenger-Press does more than just report the news—it connects businesses with their customers, organizations with their members and neighbors with one another. Our staff sets out to make our town a closer place by giving readers a reliable source to turn to when they want to know what’s going on in their neighborhood.
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BRUNO’S continued from Page 4 memories for other people,” Saracen said. Saracen did not come to the business with formal training as a chocolatier. She began making candy for family and friends and taught herself the craft over time. As people repeatedly encouraged her to turn it into a business, the idea began to seem less like a someday plan and more like something she could actually build. She called her father, Jim Bruno, and told him they should give it a try. Her father, who owned a contracting business, became her partner. “My dad was always up for an adventure,” she said. Bruno’s began as a traditional candy store, but it did not stay that way for long. Kids who frequented the shop created a suggestion box and began asking Saracen and her father to sell skateboards. The pair listened. They brought in skateboards and quickly sold out. Eventually they added a game room for local kids, and as skateboarding trends changed, the business expanded into bicycles. For a time, the candy store and bike shop operated in separate locations. They eventually moved into the same
building, creating the unusual combination that became Bruno’s One Sweet Ride: bicycle sales and repairs on one side and homemade chocolates and old-fashioned candy on the other. Saracen handled the candy business while her father became the bike expert. “He could build anything, fix anything,” she said. Jim Bruno also became a familiar figure around Allentown. Saracen said people jokingly called him the “Mayor of Allentown” because he seemed to know everyone and was constantly stopping to talk with people. That community streak extended beyond the shop. Bruno was a drummer, and Saracen recalled that he would bring bands to the family’s backyard for free community concerts. Neighbors would arrive with lawn chairs and coolers while the family served hamburgers and hot dogs. Although he did not live in the borough, he spent so much time at the business and in the community that many customers assumed he did. “People would come in just to chit-chat with him,” Saracen said. Her father died about five years ago. Saracen tried running the bicycle side herself for about a year before realizing her talents were in chocolate, not bicy-
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cles. She eventually sold the bike operation to the shop’s mechanic, Chris, allowing the business her father helped build to continue. The two sides remained under the same roof, but they are now heading to separate locations. The bike shop is moving to 1905 Route 33, Unit 8, in the Concord Square Shopping Plaza. Saracen will concentrate on the chocolates. Although the physical setup inside Village Pharmacy will be different from the Main Street shop, customers should recognize the products. Saracen plans to continue offering truffles, chocolate-covered pretzels, Oreos, graham crackers, butter creams, butter crunch, bark, jumbo peanut butter cups and other homemade chocolates. Some of Bruno’s old-fashioned candy will also make the move. Custom orders will continue as well, including party trays, favors, dipped fruit and chocolates that can be customized with logos for businesses, organizations and special events. “All the same stuff everybody’s familiar with,” Saracen said. Customers will be able to purchase packaged chocolates at Village Pharmacy, place custom orders and pick those orders up at the pharmacy. Saracen also plans to offer local delivery and online ordering. That will require a change in the way she has traditionally done business. For years, Bruno’s website was largely geared toward holiday and corporate orders because everyday customers simply walked through the door on Main Street. Saracen is now expanding the site to include more of the products customers would normally have purchased in person. She expects the updated site at brunosonesweetride.com to be fully stocked with products by the end of September. “I’m more of a walk-in, my customers-deal-with-me kind of person,” she said. “So I never used it all that much except around the holidays.” Saracen also intends to spend time at Village Pharmacy so longtime customers will have opportunities to see her, particularly during the busier holiday season. That personal connection is one of the things she expects to miss most about having her own storefront. “I’ve been very lucky,” she said. “I spent the last 29 and a half years getting to know my customers, calling them my friends, and it’s been amazing.” That connection extends beyond the customers who have visited Bruno’s over the years. Saracen has been heavily involved
in the Allentown business community since the 1990s. She has served multiple terms as president and vice president of the Allentown Business Association and for more than 20 years helped coordinate community events, including the spring stroll and fall festival. Bruno’s also has served as an incubator of sorts for other local businesses. Saracen said she has allowed entrepreneurs to operate from her store while they tested whether their concepts could succeed in town, including clothing businesses, a bakery and specialty food sellers. “Anybody that basically has needed a hand, we’ve tried to open up our doors to them and give them a platform to test the waters,” she said. Now another small business is doing something similar for her. Saracen sees the partnership with Village Pharmacy as more than a temporary solution. Customers coming in for prescriptions may discover Bruno’s chocolates, while Bruno’s customers may discover an independently owned pharmacy they had not previously used. “She’s a small-business owner,” Saracen said of the pharmacy. “She’s not a CVS or a Walgreens. She’s a small-business owner trudging along like the rest of us. And maybe this helps us both.” Saracen has not ruled out eventually opening another dedicated Bruno’s candy shop in downtown Allentown. She remains interested in finding a small, affordable space where the business could operate in the future. Even if that happens, she said she could envision maintaining the Village Pharmacy relationship. For now, her focus is on completing the transition and making sure customers know that the chocolates they have purchased for birthdays, holidays, parties and everyday treats are not disappearing. “I just wholeheartedly believe that good is going to come from this,” Saracen said. She also wants customers to remember the businesses that are helping keep both parts of Bruno’s One Sweet Ride going. “Support Village Pharmacy, support me,” she said. “I think it can be a beautiful relationship, whether I find another spot or not.” After nearly three decades of changes, from candy to skateboards to bicycles and now to a new home inside another local business, Saracen is ready to see where the next chapter takes Bruno’s. “This is not the end,” she said. “It’s just a new start for something that’s going to be even better.”
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August 2026 | The Messenger-Press7
RUDIN continued from Page 1 Pennsylvania and the Juilliard School. Now, from his Main Street home, Rudin is looking back on that career and confronting a question that has become increasingly important to him: What happens to his music after he is gone? Rudin understands that, despite earning international recognition at a young age, he is not what the average music enthusiast might consider a household name. “I do not write my compositions with a particular audience in mind,” he said. “I write music that I would want to hear.” Rudin (pronounced Ru-deen) hails from the small town of New Gulf, Texas, not unlike Allentown, he insists, and began his unlikely journey as so many revolutionary and misunderstood talented kids do: trapped in worlds that are too small to hold the mind-bending beauty that they are destined to share with an arguably intellectually lazy world. “I was lucky in some ways,” he said with some slight hesitation. “I was a gifted kid who became aware of the gift, a little unsure of what to do with it, perhaps, or where it might take me. But with enough sense to realize that the talent is a gift that must be worked at. And so I did. I kept working at it, kept developing it, and eventually, once I found the
Composer Andrew Rudin has lived in Allentown since 1992. right place, the right composers to study with, I was able to take advantage of it. The result was that it brought me international recognition at a young age.” The young Rudin originally traveled to the East Coast to the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate Department of Music in Philadelphia from the University of Texas before he had formally finished his undergraduate degree. His
8 The Messenger-Press | August 2026
parents eventually made him go back to finish the B.A., but it was at Penn where he truly began to flourish and make important strides in his musical and academic career. Ironically, perhaps, the ultimate modernist composer-in-the-making, whose influences included leading modernist musical lights such as American composers George Rochberg, Ralph Shapey and Kent Kennan, German luminary Karlheinz Stockhausen and Austrian Paul Amadeus Pisk, was initially unsure where to go to hone his unusual talent, art and craft. Rudin found that the music he yearned to compose was not yet welcomed at home in Texas. A professor there suggested he reach out to Penn, and so began the trek eastward and the journey into modern 12-tone electronic composition. The composer has lived in the Historic Village of Allentown since 1992, when he moved in with his life partner, the late Tom Quenan. “I fell in love with the person who lived in this house,” Rudin said. “We spent 20 years here together and when he passed, I found that he had left it to me.” Rudin said that he enjoys living in Allentown and its small-town rhythms. Rudin is well known for working
with Robert Moog, the creator of the Moog synthesizer, on the composition “Il Giuoco” while still studying for a graduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania. “Il Giuoco,” the celebrated Rudin composition that represented the United States in the 5th Paris Biennale, was the first large-scale project for Moog, who would go on to work with the Beatles (“Here Comes the Sun”) and early fusion jazz-rockers Emerson, Lake & Palmer, among many other major names in the experimental rock scene. The musicians in the fusion rock scene generally used the Minimoog synthesizer. The composer remembers Robert Moog and their dynamic time together in 1966 well, saying, “Bob and I embarked on a rather challenging endeavor. He was kind of unassuming and seemed surprised that people wanted to use his invention to make new forms of music and even more so that I wanted this large, room-sized synthesizer to create my compositions at the University of Pennsylvania.” After working and studying tirelessly for some 10 years in the field of creating electronic music, Rudin wanted more. “I wanted to do something new,” he See RUDIN, Page 10
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BRUNO’S continued from Page 8 said. “This,” he said, holding a copy of “Tragoedia,” his first LP album recorded in 1968 by Nonesuch Records, “is what changed my life.” “Tragoedia” consists of four movements for an electronic synthesizer. “The idea that I was 26 and I had no real reputation at that point. And yet they [Nonesuch] gave me an entire LP, no questions asked and paid me a handsome fee to make a piece while trusting that they would get something worthwhile for it.” He spent years teaching younger music hopefuls at the University of Pennsylvania and the Juilliard School in New York, among other influential music colleges. It was then that the album was released, and a student of Rudin’s mentioned that “Tragoedia” had received a positive review in High Fidelity Magazine by respected music critic Albert Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle. Frankenstein wrote, “This is the single best electronic piece I have ever heard. With Andrew Rudin electronic music finally comes of age.” Rudin, too, at 26, had come of age, although the composer still insists his first composition working with the syn-
thesizer is better than “Tragoedia.” “I’m at a point in my life where I’m wondering, ‘What did I write all these works for?’” Rudin muses at 87. “They don’t seem to have any life of their own. So, I’m wondering once I’m gone in the next couple of years, what will become of this stuff? You know? Will it have any ongoing life?” The composer leaned forward to make the point. “Who wrote the opera Carmen? It was a young Frenchman, Georges Bizet, who died in his thirties thinking that it was a failure because it flopped at the box office, the critics of the time hated it. Of course, we know that Carmen ranked as one of the top three operas ever written. There’s a saying: the ABCs of opera: Aida, La Bohème, Carmen. Verdi is Aida, Puccini is La Bohème, and Bizet is Carmen. And this man died thinking he was not a success.” He fixes me with a keen look, eyebrows arched. “Look, you don’t know what will happen.” Rudin’s interest in theatrical music, his website recounts, “resulted in ballets for the Pennsylvania Ballet, Murray Louis Dance Theatre Workshop, Louis Falco, Jeff Duncan, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, and four collaborations
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with Alwin Nikolas, as well as incidental music for Tennessee Williams’ Outcry and numerous scores for PBS Television. In 1972, his opera, The Innocent, was produced in Philadelphia by Tito Capobianco. [Rudin’s] orchestral and chamber music has been performed throughout the United States by such artists such as pianists Lydia Artymiw, Beth Levin, Steve Beck and Marcantonio Barone, violinists Diane Monroe and Miranda Cuckson,” among many other classical and modernist musicians of every stripe: percussionists, violists, flutists, clarinetists and more, who have “brought him renewed recognition.” Notably, Rudin is the recipient of an Artistic Fellowship from Yaddo, the artists colony in Saratoga Springs, New York, as well as fellowships from the “MacDowell Colony, Ucross Foundation, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts,” among numerous others. Much attention, even the quietly modest maestro admits, has been given to the use of his work in the famous, or infamous, absurdist 1969 film Fellini Satyricon by legendary Italian director Federico Fellini. If the reader is not familiar with the film, think of something akin to a surrealist fever dream: hallucinatory, discon-
nected episodes that take the viewer into lands of vivid nightmare and garish and grotesque imagery that blend the distant ancient past and the postmodern present. Rudin discovered via a long-distance phone call from a film studio in Italy that Fellini wanted to use some of his work in the new, experimental film he was making. Rudin said that, at the time, he only really revered two major directors, Stanley Kubrick because of his 1968 science fiction masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and Fellini because of his film “La Dolce Vita” (1960), but more especially “8 ½” (1963). “I was thrilled,” Rudin said. “That summer I even went to Italy and to Rome. I eventually got to meet with someone from his production company. But it was unclear what was going to happen. I never signed anything giving permission for them to use my work. Time went by and I didn’t hear anything. So I figured, ‘Oh well, I guess it fell through.’ But then a friend told me they had seen a screening of Fellini Satyricon and apparently I had a film credit. ‘Wonderful!’ But then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, where’s my paycheck?’” Rudin never did get his commission for the use of his music by Fellini. “I tell people that I occupy a niche in
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Andrew Rudin works with a Moog synthesizer early in his career, when he was helping explore the possibilities of electronic music. the world of music,” Rudin says in reflection. “Not only a niche, but I think, a niche within a niche, within a niche, within a niche. In other words, I have become increasingly out of the mainstream, the further I went and the more my reputation grew, but it also means that there are very few people who are interested in what I do. “There is a small, devoted public that are interested in what modern composers are doing, but most people in America don’t care about classical music in general, much less the more esoteric types of classical music created by living modern composers who are looking to extend the tradition. Consider that most people have never heard of [Igor] Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring.’” I protest that it is almost unthinkable, but Rudin holds forth to make his point. “Stravinsky wrote ‘The Rite of Spring’ in 1913 — well, to me, that’s ancient history, but many people consider it a modern composition. If you went out on the street right now and asked people to hum the opening notes of ‘The Rite of Spring,’ most people would look at you like you were crazy,” Rudin said. “It was created after what people think of as being after the composition of classical music,” he said. “If I tell people that I am involved with classical music, they think, ‘Oh, Beethoven and Mozart!’ No, no, we left that behind hundreds of years ago. Of course they’re wonderful, of course we’re all influenced by those great figures. But if I look back at the composers who were influential to me, I think of the 20th century, and it would have been the French composer [Olivier] Messiaen (1908-1992) and the Polish composer [Witold] Lutoslawski.”
Rudin confessed, however, that when he taught at the Juilliard School in New York City, the great Polish composer arrived as a guest instructor and he was not familiar with any of his work. “But now I hold him in the same esteem as Stravinsky. Now I feel like an idiot — as if I sat next to Beethoven and said, ‘Oh, you write music?’” he laughed. Rudin said he became entranced with Lutoslawski’s work after hearing a particular, exquisite chord whose composition, origin and placement he still cannot quite identify. “Once I heard a particularly popular work of his, and I was about halfway through the first movement and everything stopped for a moment where there was one beautiful chord in the orchestra,” he said. “Every time I hear that chord, I think, ‘My God, what makes that so beautiful?’ Is it the pitches? Is it a particular instrument? Is it the way it’s played? I couldn’t understand why it struck me so profoundly, so I went out and bought the score because I wanted to see what was going on there. “I still can’t fully answer the question. But it came to the point that I could not find a work by him [Lutoslawski] that I didn’t think was terrific. I mean Bach wrote 250 church cantatas and you can reach into any of them at random and not find a dud. How does someone possess that level of talent? So, I feel so incredibly humbled even being in the same field of calling myself a composer next to someone of that accomplishment. It’s just phenomenal. But that’s not really the point. The point is that I write the music that I want to hear. If it pleases me, I have to be satisfied with it and anything else is gravy.”
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August 2026 | The Messenger-Press11
Redbird Robotics reaches world stage By Victoria Domen
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Every year, 93,000 high school students on 3,724 teams across 35 countries participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). In the competition, students work together to develop strategies to design, build, program and test industrial-sized robots that compete in games against other schools. During the 2026 season, Redbird Robotics spent months preparing for this year’s challenge, called “Rebuilt.” The game required robots to complete different tasks on a large field while working alongside two partner teams during a match. Every three-on-three robotics match moves quickly, and strategies constantly change. Teams must build robots that are not only effective but also reliable under pressure. The season officially began in January, when teams across the world were shown the new game for the first time. From that moment, Redbird Robotics had only two and a half months to plan, build and test a fully functional competition robot. Students worked after school and on weekends, spending long hours designing parts, assembling mechanisms, wiring electron-
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12 The Messenger-Press | August 2026
ics and writing code to control the robot. Once the robot was completed, Redbird Robotics traveled to its first competition at Seneca High School in Tabernacle. Overcoming mechanism issues, the team shifted to playing defense and upsetting high-scoring teams. Studying game strategy and reviewing hours of footage from previous events paid off. Redbird Robotics used its superior drivetrain and driving skills to be everywhere at once. Team members knew exactly where they needed to be and what they needed to be doing throughout each match, at times taking on two robots at once. Their defensive play was highlighted on various robotics podcasts and became a standard for how to play defense. The effort paid off with a ninth-place finish out of 32 teams at the event. Leading up to the team’s second event in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, other teams were already making adjustments to their own robots based on Redbird Robotics’ performance at Seneca. The defensive play continued, resulting in a 14th-place finish after a day and a half of competition. Additionally, the team won the Industrial Design Award. The honor was especially rewarding because the students are the ones who create the CAD, or computer-aided design, make the parts, assemble and wire the robot, and program it. For the district championship event, hosted at Lehigh University, only the top 66 of 143 teams from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware qualified. Although Redbird Robotics entered ranked 53rd, that only fueled the students’ determination to fix the robot’s mechanism issues. They redesigned, built, assembled and programmed new mechanisms during the two weeks between the Bensalem event and the district championship. Every team resource was utilized, including one student crocheting a net to add to the robot that could expand to hold more game pieces. With the improved robot, Redbird Robotics added scoring capability and the ability to shoot game pieces 40 feet across the field to prevent opponents from picking them up and scoring. After two and a half days of competition, the team moved from 53rd to 32nd. That still was not enough to qualify for the World Championship. The team needed to place 21st or higher, with only the playoffs and awards remaining. That did not discourage the students, who discussed strategy late into the night, considering the strengths of the other teams and the best way to approach and market themselves for playoff selection. During the playoffs, three robots form an alliance. There are eight alliances, with Alliance 1 being the strongest and Alliance 8 the lowest seeded.
Redbird Robotics had its work cut out for it after being picked for the sixth alliance. Its path to Worlds required the team to make it all the way to the final match. The team’s prospects improved when it won the Creativity Award. Redbird Robotics had built a collaborative data analytics platform that allows teams to plan their strategy for upcoming matches. This season, Redbird Robotics worked with 10 different teams, collaborating and sharing data to earn the award. The celebration was short-lived because the team still had work to do. All six robots in the top two alliances would eventually be heading to the World Championship. For Alliances 3, 4 and 5, two of the three robots would also be heading there. Redbird Robotics never gave up and played every match with everything it had. Defeating alliance after alliance, the team continued progressing through the playoffs. The students were overjoyed when they reached the final match. They had overcome major obstacles during the season and never gave up on one another. The top alliance, which included the 23rd-ranked robot in the world, was the final obstacle. Redbird Robotics lost the championship match 293-291, just two points shy of winning, but the finish was enough to move the team into 19th place and secure its eighth consecutive ticket to the World Championship. Redbird Robotics joined 599 other FRC teams for a weeklong competition to determine the world champion at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. Before any match was played, the competition had already started. The team was busy getting 13 other teams, including eight it had never met before, to join its collaborative data analytics system. This allowed students more time to participate in workshops, visit teams from around the world and see the impact of STEM and robotics in the workforce, while also giving teams a competitive edge. One of the data analytics partners, Explorer Robotics from Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, lost by 11 points in a 616-605 match, preventing the team from advancing to the final match between the six best robots in the world. It was rewarding for Redbird Robotics to see Explorer Robotics succeed, especially because that team helped promote Redbird Robotics’ style of play and contributed to the worldwide recognition it received.
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Messenger-Press reporter Jenna Rittman interviews cast members of ‘Newsies Jr.’
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14 The Messenger-Press | August 2026
NEWSIES continued from Page 1 the play, said. “We have a very kind staff.” That teamwork reflects one of the central messages of “Newsies Jr.” itself. The musical is a youth adaptation of Disney’s “Newsies” and is inspired by the real-life newsboys’ strike of 1899 in New York City. It follows Jack Kelly and a group of young newspaper sellers who make their living selling papers on the streets. When powerful newspaper publishers increase what the newsies must pay for the papers they sell, the young workers organize and strike for better treatment. The conflict is rooted in an actual labor dispute. In 1899, young newspaper sellers organized against Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal after the publishers continued charging the newsboys an increased wholesale price for their papers. Many of the newsies came from poor and working-class families, and some were homeless, but describing the story simply as one about homeless newsboys misses much of its larger message. At its heart, “Newsies” is about young workers discovering that they have more power together than they do individually. Their fight introduces young performers and audiences to themes of workers’ rights, fairness, solidarity and the importance of standing up for yourself and others. It is also a story about the power of newspapers. The newsies depend on newspapers to make a living, but the publishers who control those newspapers also wield enormous economic and social influence. At the same time, journalism becomes a way for the newsies’ story to reach a larger audience and draw attention to their cause.
That makes the use of The Messenger-Press in the local production especially appropriate. Rather than carrying a fictional newspaper, the young performers were able to use a newspaper that serves their own community. The Messenger-Press is delivered to approximately 8,000 households in Allentown, Millstone and Upper Freehold, reporting the news and telling the stories of the communities in which many of the performers and their families live. The paper’s Associate Publisher, Thomas Fritts, also visited the performers on the day of the production to talk about the newspaper and its role in the community. He then answered questions from the young performers about journalism and community newspapers. More than a century separates the world depicted in “Newsies Jr.” from today’s community newspapers, but the production offered a reminder of something that has not changed: Newspapers connect people to what is happening around them and give communities a way to tell their stories. For the young cast, the production combined that message with weeks of rehearsals, music, acting and collaboration before the performers finally took the stage. And in a musical about young people finding their voices and newspapers helping those voices reach a wider audience, having The Messenger-Press become part of the show brought that message particularly close to home. The historical additions are accurate to the 1899 strike: the newsboys organized against Pulitzer’s *World* and Hearst’s *Journal* over wholesale pricing, and the dispute became a significant example of young workers acting collectively.
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Pictured abovem cast members rehearse for “Newsies Jr.” during a dress rehearsal Wednesday, Aug. 5, at the Fitz Performing Arts Center at Allentown High School. The production was presented by the Cornerstone Community Arts Project in collaboration with The Songbird’s Gift.
August 2026 | The Messenger-Press15
The game’s afoot: Allentown at war, 1774-1783 By R.H. Schmitt Jr.
(Part III of Allentow ’s important and historic role in America’s fight for independence) Religion played an important role in Allen’s Town and Upper Freehold as the colonies moved toward revolution. In and around Allen’s Town, Hightstown, Millstone, Imlaystown, Crosswicks, Bordentown and Philadelphia lived a large population of prosperous, hard-working Quakers. The Quakers, or Society of Friends, opposed war, and from 1774 to 1778 the religious pacifists held conventions and issued statements directed at both British forces and their increasingly rebellious colonial neighbors. Their position was clear: They would do no violence to another living soul. By the summer of 1776, however, as the colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, the Quaker community found itself at a difficult crossroads. Five New Jersey representatives signed the Declaration of Independence: Richard Stockton, a prominent lawyer who was eventually captured and tor-
tured by the British; John Witherspoon, a minister and president of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University; Francis Hopkinson, a respected judge; John Hart, a farmer whose property was destroyed by British soldiers; and Abraham Clark, a lawyer known as a friend of common, less-affluent colonists. Although the Quakers did not condone violence, even for the sake of establishing a new, united nation out of 13 separate colonies, they also did not relish being harassed, taxed into poverty or, worse, forced to take up arms by the ever-encroaching, ever-emboldened British occupiers. In fact, there were some well-known Quakers, the author, inventor and rebel philosopher Thomas Paine being one, who actively supported the growing revolution. The first pastor of the Imlaystown Baptist Church, then called Upper Freehold Church and located where the “Old Yellow Meeting House” now stands, was the Rev. David Jones. Jones was born in Delaware in 1736, became a Baptist in 1758 and studied for the ministry with the Rev. Isaac Eaton in New Jersey and, specifically, with the Rev. Abel Morgan of Mid-
dletown. Jones preached occasionally at Freehold, Cranbury and Crosswicks. He was one of the constituent members of the Imlaystown church and was ordained as its first pastor in 1766. In 1772, Jones went on a gospel mission to the Shawnee and Delaware Indians, an expedition he deemed successful, and he returned to the Imlaystown church, remaining until the American revolt was fully ignited. The good reverend was unapologetically patriotic and was so hated by the Tories of Monmouth that he fled Imlaystown in fear for his life and became pastor of the Great Valley Baptist Church in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1775. According to his biography, Jones preached a sermon titled “Defensive War is a Just Cause, Sinless,” before Lt. Col. William Dewees’ Continental Regiment in Pennsylvania during the celebration of the Continental Fast. The sermon was printed and widely distributed throughout the colonies. In 1776, Jones was made chaplain to a Pennsylvania regiment under St. Clair at Ticonderoga, where a battle was imminent. He served in two campaigns under
General Gates. He was with Wayne at the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown. Chaplain Jones was at Whitemarsh and Valley Forge, with Continental Gen. Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778, and in significant campaigns through the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, after which he returned home to his farm and church. He was so active that British Gen. William Howe once offered a reward for him. Seasoned British soldiers marched to Great Valley to arrest him but failed. During this time, Imlaystown’s Jones, seeing a British trooper dismount and enter a house for refreshment, also noticed that the trooper’s pistols remained in the holsters of his saddle. Jones snuck up to the officer’s charge, stole the pistols, stormed the house and took the trooper prisoner. He forced the humiliated British officer to go with him to Wayne’s camp. Wayne reportedly “roared with laughter at the idea of his chaplain capturing a British dragoon.” According to historian John Fabiano and co-authors Ann Garrison, Alice Wycoff and others, another often over-
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looked but notable Allen’s Town patriot of the pulpit was the Rev. Charles McKnight, who arrived in Allentown in 1740. “At the age of 27, came to New Jersey from Northern Ireland, (Scotch Irish) where, beginning in 1744, he served several Presbyterian parishes including Cranbury and Allen’s Town. There was a contest between the two congregations for his residence which was ended in 1756 by Rev. McKnight taking sole charge of the Presbyterian Church at Allentown.” Fabiano and his co-authors write in their abbreviated history, *Allen’s Town, New Jersey: A Crossroads of the American Revolution, 1775-1783*, that in 1756, anti-British fervor was growing stronger in the Allen’s Town area. Mindful of Presbyterian parishioners of the church who were either unready or yet unwilling to challenge the colonial “status quo,” or those few who might still remain loyal to the crown, McKnight attempted to walk the middle path within his church. “Dissent and strife,” the Allentown historians say, “over his ‘neutral course’, however, was taking its toll. Finally, he was forced to resign in 1766 after church officers stormed his house like a riotous mob forbidding him to say prayers for the King of England.” Fabiano and company note that for
eight years after McKnight’s dismissal, the church had no settled pastor. Several others traveled to the small but prosperous village to give sermons at different times, although communion was usually conducted under the authority of the Rev. William Tennent, who traveled from the Free Hill Church at Freehold. The Rev. Charles McKnight became a fervent revolutionary, was heroically wounded at the Battle of Princeton and eventually lost his life in the struggle for independence.
A turning point: The Battle of Trenton In the frigid, snowbound winter of 1776, Gen. George Washington found himself in precarious straits, leading his discouraged, scarcely equipped, hungry, freezing colonial troops in a retreat across New Jersey to Pennsylvania from New York City, then under the control of the British, as was much of New Jersey and Rhode Island. The Continental Congress in Philadelphia became increasingly concerned that the Patriot capital would soon fall to the British as well. Washington, with Gen. Nathaniel Greene prepared to command the left flank, encamped near McConkey’s Ferry on the Pennsylvania side of the
ice-choked, swollen Delaware, awaiting reinforcements. Meanwhile, Gen. John Sullivan was racing down from New England with an additional 2,000 troops to assist in Washington’s daring plan to surprise the Hessians and British occupying Trenton. It was on this blisteringly cold Christmas night that Washington received a small package sent by messenger from Thomas Paine in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Inside the parcel, the commander of the Colonial forces found a pamphlet titled *The Crisis*, written by Paine to bolster the fading, downtrodden Patriots. It begins, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this Crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman….” Washington read the small but uplifting
treatise aloud to his troops as the storm of ice, wind, snow and freezing rain further delayed the dangerous crossing. The Durham boats crossed back and forth through the wicked current until finally, a little after 4 a.m., the exhausted army was ready to move. The Patriots marched through woodlands, fields and country roads heavy with snow and ice. In a bold turn of events, the Americans surprised the Hessians and British at 8 a.m. and took Trenton back. Thus, Washington once again found himself very close, a mere 10 miles, to the strategic crossroads that was Allen’s Town. On Jan. 2 and 3, the Americans again crossed the Delaware and again defeated the British, who had sent for reinforcements and, Washington suspected, were re-forming for a counterattack. This second Battle of Trenton See WAR, Page 18
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WAR continued from Page 17 briefly interrupted the army’s advance on Princeton and Cornwallis and is also sometimes referred to as the “Battle of Assunpink Creek.” The Continental Army faced some 8,000 British and Hessian troops under General Cornwallis. The Continentals repelled Cornwallis’ attacks along Assunpink Creek until nightfall. As an early winter indigo dusk fell over the land, Cornwallis famously boasted that he would “bag the fox in the morning.”
Victory at Princeton
Washington had his troops light campfires in Trenton and then stealthily led them out of the city and around Cornwallis’ rear guard in an overnight gambit. The feint worked, and the Continental Army arrived in Princeton, with the help of Upper Freehold’s now-legendary guide and farm-girl soldier, Jinny Jackson, in prime position to potentially outfox the confident Cornwallis. On Jan. 3, 1777, the battle began with a sudden clash when American Gen. Hugh Mercer’s vanguard unexpectedly met the British 17th Foot Brigade, operating under the command of Lt. Col. Charles Mawhood. It was in this initial skirmish that the heroic Mercer was fatally bludgeoned
and bayoneted no fewer than seven times, although he languished in agony in the Thomas Clark House for nine days before finally succumbing to his grievous wounds. After Mercer’s horse was shot out from under him, the rebel commander found himself surrounded by British soldiers who ordered him to surrender. Mercer refused to yield and charged into the fray that would be his brutal undoing. After some initial confusion and the start of a retreat among the Continental ranks, the fallen general’s men rallied while, in short order, Washington charged to the front lines and met the surprised British regulars head-on in the open field, forcing their immediate retreat. The Americans chased Cornwallis’ running regulars into the town of Princeton proper and onto the lawns of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, and there discovered some 200 British sheltering in Princeton’s Nassau Hall, which Alexander Hamilton promptly shelled with ready artillery. Legend has it that one of Hamilton’s cannonballs rammed through a large portrait of King George II as it tore through the walls of the hallowed main structure. All 200 British were reportedly captured by Hamilton and taken as prisoners of war.
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A moral victory at Monmouth Courthouse The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near the village of Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough and Manalapan, New Jersey, on June 28, 1778, during the American fight for independence. It pitted Washington’s army against the British, commanded by Gen. Sir Henry Clinton. It was the last battle of the “Philadelphia campaign,” begun the previous year, during which the British had inflicted two major defeats on Washington and occupied Philadelphia. Washington had spent the winter at Valley Forge rebuilding his army and defending his position against political enemies who favored his replacement as commander in chief. In February 1778, the French-American “Treaty of Alliance” swung the strategic balance in favor of the Americans, forcing the British to abandon hopes of an outright military victory and adopt a defensive strategy. Clinton was then ordered to evacuate Philadelphia and consolidate his army. The Continental Army stalked the British as they marched across New Jersey to Sandy Hook. Once there, Clinton hoped, the Royal Navy would ferry them to New York.
Washington’s war council urged caution, but the Continental commander understood that he could not allow the British to withdraw unscathed now that he had some advantage. Washington placed roughly a third of his army under the command of Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, hoping to send a stinging lash to his foes without entering yet another large skirmish. Things did not go as planned, however, and the row went sour for Lee and his troops when he ordered a poorly planned attack on an entrenched British covering party at Briar Hill, just off Freehold. A counterattack by the main British rear guard, consisting of the First Division commanded by Cornwallis, forced Lee to retreat until Washington arrived with the main body. Clinton then fell back when he found Washington in an advantageous defensive position and resumed the march to Sandy Hook. Clinton had previously divided his army into two divisions for the march from Philadelphia. Most of the combat troops were concentrated in the first division, while the second comprised most of the heavy transport of a 1,500-wagon baggage train. The British were harassed by increasingly strong American forces as they traversed New Jersey, and by June 27, 1778, Lee’s vanguard was within
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reached Monmouth Court House early that morning, and by 10 a.m. the entire column had concentrated there. It was clear to Clinton that Washington’s forces were gathering in numbers, and the British were exhausted after their 67-mile march from Philadelphia. Monmouth Court House offered a good defensive position, and it is possible that Clinton saw an opportunity for the battle he desired. He deployed his army to cover all approaches and decided to rest his troops for the next two nights. The bulk of his force, the first division, was deployed on the Allentown road, covering the second division in the village itself. The revolution had precipitated a vicious civil war in Monmouth County that did credit to neither side and would continue after the armies had departed. It was fought between Patriots, who sided with the rebellion, and Loyalists, who remained loyal to Great Britain and even formed units, such as the Queen’s American Rangers, which fought alongside the British Army. The two sides also fought each other in the local political arena, and it is estimated that 50% of Monmouth County families suffered significant harm to person or property during the war. By spring 1778, the formerly Loyalist Monmouth Court House had come under Patriot control. Clinton’s orders against pillaging were ignored by the rank and file and went unenforced by the officers. British and Hessian soldiers acting out of frustration and anger, and Loyalists acting out of vengeance, committed numerous acts of vandalism, looting and arson. By the time Clinton resumed the march on June 28, several of Allen’s Town’s buildings and homes had been damaged or destroyed, all of them Patriot-owned.
The end of war. The start of a new nation Cornwallis unceremoniously and without honor surrendered after the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia. The U.S. Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787, and ratified on June 21, 1788, after New Hampshire became the ninth state. On March 4, 1789, the new federal government of the United States of America began operations, freed of its former shackles to Great Britain. On Feb. 4, 1789, His Excellency General George Washington was elected president of the new democratic republic by a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. At his insistence that the president of the United States should be a servant of the people, he would be the last to bear the title of Excellency. John Adams, our second president, happily agreed that “Mister President” was sufficient.
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striking distance. When the British left Monmouth Court House the next day, Lee attempted his failed strike. Outnumbered, Lee was forced to retreat. Although clumsy, the fierce skirmish had drawn the enemy out into an open field of combat and gave Washington enough time to deploy the main body of his army. Infantry clashes morphed into a two-hour artillery duel, during which Clinton began to fall back. The conflict finally ended when a Continental brigade established artillery on a hill overlooking the British lines. Seizing the moment, Washington launched two small guerrilla-style attacks on Clinton’s infantry as they withdrew, inflicting heavy casualties on the British in his second go. Once again, darkness swept across the bloody field and brought the still-undecided battle to a halt. The two armies settled down within 1 mile of each other. The British slipped away unnoticed during the night to link up with the baggage train. The rest of the march to Sandy Hook was completed without further incident, and Clinton’s army was ferried to New York in early July. On June 15, the British began to withdraw from Philadelphia, crossing the Delaware River into New Jersey. The last troops crossed three days later and camped at Haddonfield. Gen. Clinton, who had not yet decided on the exact route to New York, approximately 90 miles away, divided his army into two divisions and set out for Allentown, some 40 miles to the northeast. He accompanied the first division, which comprised some 10,000 troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Charles Lord Cornwallis. The second division, commanded by Lt. Gen. Wilhelm von Knyphausen, comprised just over 9,000 personnel, of whom more than 7,500 were combatants. This division contained the bulk of the slow-moving, heavy and therefore vulnerable transport of the 1,500-wagon baggage train. (Fabiano et al.) Due to a brutal July heat wave, the entire march was conducted in short segments, which further slowed progress as troops suffered from heatstroke. The frequent sniping and skirmishing of Maxwell’s Continentals and Dickinson’s militia, and their attempts to obstruct and hinder the British by blocking roads, destroying bridges and spoiling wells, did not materially impede progress. Nonetheless, on June 24, the first division arrived at Allentown while the second reached Imlaystown, 4 miles (6 kilometers) to the east.[42] Clinton decided to head for Sandy Hook. The next day, June 26, the British suffered almost 40 casualties in near-constant skirmishing in which one unit came close to being overrun. Knyphausen
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SPORTS Redbirds field hockey hoping for another big year By Rich FIsher
More than likely, field hockey teams in the Colonial Valley Conference are figuring this may be the year to get Allentown High. Coach Kayla Peterson likes it that way. “I’ve found in my years of playing or coaching, that sometimes after you have some big (personnel) losses, you kind come in with everyone having lower expectations,” the former Redbird and TCNJ standout said. “Everyone is saying it’s a rebuilding year or whatever, but sometimes with lower expectations you can really surprise people.” Especially when enjoying the winning tradition Allentown has established. Peterson took over a successful program in 2024 and kept it humming. The Redbirds proceeded to win the first two CVC Tournaments after it morphed from the Mercer County Tournament. They reached the NJSIAA South Jersey Group II final last year and the South Jersey Group II semifinals in ’24.
Graduation hit hard as Allentown lost 10 seniors, and only three players return who scored goals last year. Goalie Annalie Simonds knows it will be a challenge but feels that the Allentown legacy, along with strong coaching, will prevent a falloff. “Our success with the CVC title came down to everyone working together towards the same goal,” the junior said. “This season, with fewer returning starters, we have work to do to build our team culture. “But the spirit of Allentown field hockey remains the same. Coach Peterson is a huge part of that. She prepares us to play hard and together as a unit. The whole coaching staff -- coach Peterson, coach Koz (Tess Kozlowski), and coach (Beth) Rehmann - are so supportive and provide continuous feedback that makes us a better unit and individual players. We are a contender for the CVC again this year. We all share that goal.” Simonds is a major reason for that optimism.
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A big question mark last year was who would replace goalie Kylie Elefante, now playing for Princeton University. Simonds watched and learned from the older keeper and stepped in as a sophomore to allow just 2.8 goals per game while averaging 8.8 saves. She recorded five shutouts and made 26 saves against Group I champion Shore Regional. “Ana is an incredible goalie,” Peterson said. “She’s just so hard working, she never lets the pressure get to her. I’ve coached her since she was in sixth grade in softball. Even as a softball player, she always rose to the occasion and I think that’s really what happened last year. “She had a couple tough games -- we play some really hard teams now -- but as a sophomore she was able to really become that leader in the backfield. She’s told me that she is focusing a little more on field hockey, so I’m really excited to see how she comes up this year.” Simonds began playing goal with Allentown’s Scarlets Field Hockey program in sixth grade. After attending a Scarlets summer clinic, “I ultimately knew that I wanted to be in the cage. The idea of wearing gear and being in charge of the field sounded so cool, and I have loved it ever since.” There is even better news for Allentown where the goalie situation is concerned, as junior McKenna Dansberry is also talented and should see time, according to her coach. Having them both compete in practice is an added plus. “She’s a tall girl and I love a tall goalie but she’s also super hard working, and she and Ana get along so well,” Peterson said. “Just watching them work together and push each other it’s so nice to have two really strong goalies. That doesn’t happen too often. They make each other better every single day. I know I can trust McKenna in there as much as I can trust Ana.” Simonds has no problem throwing praise at her practice partner. “McKenna is a strong goalie, we push each other to be better,” Simonds said. “She has taught me how to better slide tackle and how to be vocal in the circle. I have full faith in McKenna, which allows me to give everything I have because I know our team is in good hands.” Peterson is of the mindset that if she has someone who can prevent balls from finding the back of the net, she’s at the perfect starting point. It helps that several other key performers return in the back. “As sophomores they were not necessar-
Returning goalie Annalie Simonds is one reasons Allentown is optimistic about another big season. ily starters, but they got a chance to learn from a strong senior class,” Peterson said. “I’m expecting them to step up in quite a big way.” Those juniors include Katie Haddock, who worked her way up as the year progressed and made a mark late in the season, and Sophia Reiner, who played defense and may move up to defensive midfield due to her quickness. Two other juniors who did not amass much time last year but show potential are Olivia Lauristen and Blaise Jarzyk. One senior being counted on is Ellie DelGandio, who worked her way up to a starting spot last season and became a big defensive contributor. “Our defensive unit works well together,” Simonds said. “We trust each other, pick each other up, and have a good rhythm. I finished last season with 150 saves, and my defense was a huge part of that success. This year, it will be critical for us to play together at a high level.” Simonds will have to be a leader in the back. She seems to have figured out the formula. “Leadership, to me, is picking people up, giving 100 percent in everything I do, and finding ways to be positive,” Simonds said. “This season is no different. I have been doing this my whole Allentown High School career, and I will continue to be a vocal and uplifting leader on and off the field.” Peterson also wants a field player to fill that leadership gap left by the graduated Victoria Stawaris and defensive-center Avery Gower. “We had an insanely good senior class last
HAPPENING What’s Happening is a selection of events taking place this month in our area. For even more events, go online to our website, communitynews.org/events. Details below were believed to be accurate at time of publication. We always recommend that you confirm all necessary details when planning to attend an event.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Monmouth ACTS in My Community, Allentown Library, Allentown. 10 a.m.. Co-sponsored by the Monmouth County Division of Social Services. monmouthcountylib.org. Open Schooling — Riders and Drivers, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. 6 p.m. Riders and drivers can take part in an open schooling session in the indoor arena. Online registration is required. horseparkofnewjersey.com. Puzzle Drop-In, Allentown Library, Allentown. 6 p.m.. Collaborate and solve a puzzle. Weekly on Tuesdays. monmouthcountylib.org.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Families share stories, sing songs and make memories. monmouthcountylib. org. Afternoon Art: School Bus, Allentown Library, Allentown. 4:15-4:45 p.m.. Children ages 3 and older can make an after-school craft with a parent or caregiver. monmouthcountylib.org. Live Music, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Working Dog hosts Thirsty Thursday with live music and $2 off wines by the glass. workingdogwinerynj.com. Environmental Commission, Allentown Borough Hall, Allentown. 7 p.m. The commission meets to discuss local environmental issues, sustainability and related borough matters. allentownboronj. com. Township Committee Meeting, Upper Freehold Township Municipal Building, Upper Freehold. 7 p.m. The governing body meets for ordinances, resolutions, municipal business and public comment. uftnj.com.
Millstone Township Committee, Municipal Meeting Room, 215 Millstone Road, Millstone. 8 p.m. The township committee conducts municipal business and receives public comment. millstonenj.gov.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Fishing 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Fishing, Manasquan Reservoir, Howell. 8 a.m.-noon. Learn how to rig, bait, cast and fish during a beginner program. Bait and tackle are provided; a fishing license is required for ages 16-69. monmouthcountyparks.com. Baby Storytime, Allentown Library, Allentown. 10:15-10:45 a.m.. Program for ages 6-24 months with a parent or caregiver. Families share stories, sing songs and make memories. monmouthcountylib.org. Family Storytime, Allentown Library, Allentown. 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.. All ages are welcome with a parent or caregiver.
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year,” the coach said. “Victoria did so well commanding backfield and Avery Gower was the key to our whole team, so it’s really gonna be seeing who steps up as the leader. We should have some good freshmen coming in and they’ll hopefully take them under their wing and help them out.” The major questions are on offense, as the graduated players accounted for 95 of the 104 goals Allentown scored last year. Sophomore Susannah Morino is the leading returning scorer with six goals, while junior Addison Meyers had two goals and sophomore Kyla Mitchell scored one. Morino knew how to rise to the occasion as she had a goal or assist in three CVCT games and three state games. “Susannah Morino stepped up last year at the end of the season and scored in a lot of big games,” Peterson said. “Our first game against Notre Dame she scored the game-winner (in a 5-4 victory), which was huge for her as a freshman. She’s a hustler, she doesn’t think too much she just goes out there and plays. “Kyla Mitchell should be another good midfielder or forward. Addie Meyers has been stepping up a lot in the off-season. She’s been getting the girls together to work out. I’ve seen a lot of good stuff with her.” After that, Peterson will look for some other young returnees, along with 23 freshmen, to fill in the blanks.
“Having 23 freshmen coming out rarely happens,” Peterson said. “But when you have a successful team more girls want to come out. They see the team culture and I think I’ve helped continue a great team culture and that helps a lot. It kind of steps up better expectations early on. Our goal is always going to be to win.” Graduating a bevy of girls will not change that thought process. “The loss of those 10 players was critical to the team but the good news is we have strong returning upperclassmen and a lot of underclassmen who are eager to contribute,” Simonds said Peterson said the Redbirds’ goal is to maintain their CVCT trophy and make another strong run in the states. Allentown will lean on its defense to keep the scores low while the offense figures things out. “That’s my hope,” the coach said. “I know I can teach some girls to score some goals. That, to me, is an easier spot. I can push the girls to really put the pressure on other people’s defense. “To have a defensive unit coming back that knows each other and works well together, that’s something that can usually take a little time to build. Coming in straight away with that ,I feel pretty comfortable. The rest is just gonna work itself out.” And working itself out is what usually happens in a winning program like Allentown.
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Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Vogel, Red Bank. 7:30 p.m. The swing-revival band performs at The Vogel at Count Basie Center for the Arts. thebasie.org.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
Climb Time at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, Long Branch. 3-6 p.m. Try the Park System’s portable climbing wall. Participants must be at least 42 inches tall. monmouthcountyparks.com. The Front Bottoms, Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park. 4:30-10 p.m. The Front Bottoms bring Champagne Jam 2026 to the Stone Pony Summer Stage. stoneponyonline.com. First Friday Art and Sound, Press Plaza, Asbury Park. 5-8 p.m. Downtown Asbury Park hosts a First Friday event with art, music and community activity. asburyparkchamber.com. Farm to Table Dinner, Laurita Winery, New Egypt. 6:30-9:30 p.m. Laurita hosts
See EVENTS, Page 22
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ford, Historic Walnford, Upper Freehold. 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. See the 19th-century gristmill in action during short demonstrations. monmouthcountyparks.com. Billy Joel Tribute by Wade Preston, Laurita Winery, New Egypt. 7-9 p.m. Wade Preston performs a Billy Joel tribute show at the winery. lauritawinery. com. Social Distortion, Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park. 6-10:30 p.m. Social Distortion performs with Descendents and The Chats. stoneponyonline.com. The E Street Shuffle, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. 8 p.m. The Asbury Park-based Springsteen tribute band performs at SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 the Wonder Bar. wonderbarasburypark. Kickball with Community Leaders and com. First Responders, Heritage Park, Allentown. 11 a.m. The Allentown Police De- SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 BBQ and Craft Beer Festival, Monpartment, local governing body and Union A.M.E. Church come together for mouth Park, Oceanport. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. a friendly community kickball event. al- Monmouth Park continues its Labor Day weekend barbecue and craft beer festilentownboronj.com. BBQ and Craft Beer Festival, Mon- val. monmouthpark.com. Live Music and Food Truck, Working mouth Park, Oceanport. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monmouth Park hosts a Labor Day week- Dog Winery, Robbinsville. Noon-5 p.m. end festival with barbecue, craft beer, Working Dog hosts live music and a food live music and family activities. mon- truck at the winery. workingdogwinerynj. com. mouthpark.com. Mill Demonstration at Historic WalnCookstove Demonstration at Historic Longstreet Farm, Historic Longstreet ford, Historic Walnford, Upper Freehold. Farm, Holmdel. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. See what 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Historic is cooking on the woodstove and learn Walnford offers another afternoon of how recipes, cooking techniques and gristmill demonstrations. monmouthkitchens have changed since the 1890s. countyparks.com. Music on the Porch, Historic Walnmonmouthcountyparks.com. Live Music and Food Truck, Working ford, Upper Freehold. 1-3 p.m. An acousDog Winery, Robbinsville. Noon-5 p.m. tic duo performs on the porch during an Working Dog hosts a weekend afternoon afternoon visit to the historic site. monwith food truck service and live music. mouthcountyparks.com. Old Mervs, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. 7 workingdogwinerynj.com. Live Music: Sean Cox, Screamin’ Hill p.m. Old Mervs performs at the Wonder Beer Farm, Cream Ridge. 1-5 p.m. Sean Bar. wonderbarasburypark.com. Cox performs at the farm brewery. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 screaminhill.com. BBQ and Craft Beer Festival, MonMill Demonstration at Historic Waln-
EVENTS continued from Page 21 a farm-to-table dinner at the winery. lauritawinery.com. Free Music B-I-N-G-O, Laurita Winery, New Egypt. 7-9 p.m. Laurita hosts a music bingo night with songs, trivia and prizes. lauritawinery.com. Take It Or Leave It, Asbury Park Brewery, Asbury Park. 7-10 p.m. The band performs at Asbury Park Brewery. asburyparkbrewery.com. Cosmic Jerry Band, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. 7 p.m. Cosmic Jerry Band performs a night of Grateful Dead family music at the Wonder Bar. wonderbarasburypark.com.
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mouth Park, Oceanport. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monmouth Park closes its Labor Day weekend festival with barbecue, craft beer and racing-season activities. monmouthpark.com. Customer Appreciation Day, Laurita Winery, New Egypt. 1-5 p.m. Laurita marks Labor Day with live music by Medicine Man, wine specials and holiday-weekend food offerings. lauritawinery.com.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
Casual Birder at Huber Woods Park, Huber Woods Park, Middletown. 9 a.m. Join a Park System naturalist for a laidback morning bird walk through the park. A limited number of binoculars are available to borrow. monmouthcountyparks. com. Borough Council, Allentown Borough Hall, Allentown. 6:30 p.m. The borough council meets for municipal business, ordinances, resolutions and public comment. allentownboronj.com. Open Schooling — Riders and Drivers, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. 6 p.m. Riders and drivers can take part in an open schooling session in the indoor arena. horseparkofnewjersey. com. Puzzle Drop-In, Allentown Library, Allentown. 6 p.m.. Collaborate and solve a puzzle. Weekly on Tuesdays. monmouthcountylib.org.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
Awesome Autumn Amble at Huber Woods Park, Huber Woods Park, Middletown. 10 a.m. Explore the trails with a Park System naturalist and discuss seasonal plant and animal life. monmouthcountyparks.com. Senior Chair Yoga, Allentown. 10:30 a.m. Allentown’s senior chair yoga program offers a gentle exercise session. allentownboronj.com. Millstone Planning Board, Municipal Meeting Room, 215 Millstone Road, Millstone. 7:30 p.m. The board considers planning, subdivision, site plan and related land-use matters. millstonenj.gov.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
Yosi: DinoKids Rock Concert, Allentown Library, Allentown. 11-11:45 a.m.. All ages are welcome with a parent or caregiver for a DinoKids rock concert with Yosi. monmouthcountylib.org. Afternoon Art: Apple Tree, Allentown Library, Allentown. 4:15-4:45 p.m.. Children ages 3 and older can make an after-school craft with a parent or caregiver. monmouthcountylib.org. Live Music, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Working Dog hosts Thirsty Thursday with live music and wine specials. workingdogwinerynj. com. Planning Board Meeting, Upper Freehold Township Municipal Building, Upper Freehold. 7 p.m. The board meets to re-
view planning, zoning and development matters. uftnj.com. Creative Writer’s Workshop, Allentown Library, Allentown. 7-8:45 p.m. Writers share work and receive constructive feedback in a collaborative setting led by local author Michael Pedowitz. Registration is requested but not required. allentownboronj.com. The Weight Band, The Vogel, Red Bank. 7:30 p.m. The Weight Band performs at The Vogel at Count Basie Center for the Arts. thebasie.org.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
9/11 Day of Remembrance Procession and Service, Allentown. 7 p.m. The annual community gathering honors and remembers the victims and heroes of Sept. 11. allentownboronj.com. Bayshore Companion Dog Club, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. Check website for time. The dog club opens a three-day event at the Horse Park. horseparkofnewjersey.com. Country Line Dancing, Laurita Winery, New Egypt. 7-11 p.m. Laurita hosts an evening of country line dancing at the winery. lauritawinery.com. Strangers Stopping Strangers, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. 7 p.m. The band celebrates the music of the Grateful Dead at the Wonder Bar. wonderbarasburypark.com.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Allentown Farmers Market, Allentown Presbyterian Church parking lot, Allentown. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The market features fresh local produce, baked goods, artisan crafts, food trucks, coffee and family activities including the Lil Sprouts Play Patch. allentownboronj.com. Jigsaw Puzzle Swap, Thompson Park Theatre Barn, Lincroft. 10-11 a.m. Bring used puzzles and swap them for newto-you puzzles. Complete puzzles in good condition are requested. monmouthcountyparks.com. Open Shoot Archery, Thompson Park Activity Barn, Lincroft. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Improve archery skills during an open shoot. Equipment is provided; this is not a beginner instructional program. monmouthcountyparks.com. Food Trucktemberfest, Monmouth Park, Oceanport. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monmouth Park hosts its final food-truck festival of the season with live racing atmosphere. monmouthpark.com. National Newfoundland Rescue Giant Breed Event, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. National Newfoundland Rescue hosts a giant-breed dog event with rescue groups, vendors and food trucks on site. workingdogwinerynj.com. Potato Harvest at Historic Longstreet Farm, Historic Longstreet Farm, Holmdel. Noon-2 p.m. Learn how potatoes were grown and harvested at the end of the 19th century and help dig potatoes.
monmouthcountyparks.com. Allentown Porchfest, Historic porches along Main Street, Allentown. Noon-4 p.m. TAVI presents the inaugural Porchfest as part of America’s 250th birthday celebrations. Local musicians perform and artists exhibit on porches along Main Street. princetonol.com. Live Music and Food Truck, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. Noon-5 p.m. Working Dog hosts weekend live music and a food truck at the winery. workingdogwinerynj.com. Grape Stomping Festival, Laurita Winery, New Egypt. Noon-7 p.m. Laurita hosts a grape-stomping festival at the winery. lauritawinery.com. Mill Demonstration at Historic Walnford, Historic Walnford, Upper Freehold. 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. See the 19th-century gristmill in action during short demonstrations. monmouthcountyparks.com. Piano Ballads from the Turn of the Century, Historic Longstreet Farm, Holmdel. 1-3 p.m. Hear popular turn-ofthe-century ballads in the farmhouse. monmouthcountyparks.com. Live Music: AudioPilot Duo, Screamin’ Hill Beer Farm, Cream Ridge. 2-6 p.m. AudioPilot Duo performs at the farm brewery. screaminhill.com. Princeton Dog Training Club, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. Check website for time. The dog training club begins a two-day event at the Horse Park. horseparkofnewjersey.com. The Piano Lesson, Two River Theater, Red Bank. 7:30 p.m. Two River Theater opens its season with August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, running through Oct. 4. tworivertheater.org. Steel Beans, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. 7 p.m. Steel Beans performs at the Wonder Bar. wonderbarasburypark.com. Kim Waters, The Vogel, Red Bank. 7:30 p.m. Saxophonist Kim Waters performs at The Vogel. thebasie.org.
for time. The church hosts a community-wide picnic open to area residents and families. allentownboronj.com. Potato Harvest at Historic Longstreet Farm, Historic Longstreet Farm, Holmdel. Noon-2 p.m. Families can help bring in the potato crop and learn about late19th-century farming. monmouthcountyparks.com. Bonsai Day at Deep Cut Gardens, Deep Cut Gardens, Middletown. Noon-4 p.m. The Park System and Deep Cut Bonsai Society present demonstrations and displays with experts available to answer questions. monmouthcountyparks.com. Live Music and Food Truck, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. Noon-5 p.m. Working Dog hosts live music and a food truck at the winery. workingdogwinerynj. com. Mill Demonstration at Historic Walnford, Historic Walnford, Upper Freehold. 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Historic Walnford offers another afternoon of gristmill demonstrations. monmouthcountyparks.com. Blacksmith Demonstration at Historic Longstreet Farm, Historic Longstreet Farm, Holmdel. 1-3 p.m. Visit the blacksmith shop and learn about the history behind the forge. monmouthcountyparks.com. Open Mic Poetry, Thompson Park Theatre Barn, Lincroft. 3-4:30 p.m. Participants may read original work or favorite poems during a family-oriented poetry program. monmouthcountyparks.com. Princeton Dog Training Club, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. Check website for time. The dog training club continues its weekend event at the Horse Park. horseparkofnewjersey.com. The Piano Lesson, Two River Theater, Red Bank. 2 p.m. Two River Theater continues August Wilson’s drama. tworivertheater.org.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
Stay N’ Play, Allentown Library, Allentown. 2-3 p.m.. Drop-in, child-led proAllentown Presbyterian Church Com- gram for ages 6 months-4 years with a munity-Wide Picnic, Allentown Presby- parent or caregiver. Learn, grow and be terian Church, Allentown. Check website curious; stay for the full hour or just a lit-
tle bit. monmouthcountylib.org. Planning Board, Allentown Borough Hall, Allentown. 7 p.m. The board meets to handle planning and land-use business. allentownboronj.com. Parks and Public Spaces Committee, Allentown Borough Hall, Allentown. 7 p.m. The committee meets to discuss parks, public spaces and related local issues. allentownboronj.com.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
Thomas Jefferson’s Complicated Quaker Relationships: Work & Slavery, Allentown Library, Allentown. 6:30 p.m.. Sue Kozel, a local historian, presents a hybrid program exploring Jefferson’s vision of liberty, equality and individual rights, the experiences of the people he enslaved and the role Quakers played in supporting his household. Registration required. monmouthcountylib.org. Puzzle Drop-In, Allentown Library, Allentown. 6 p.m.. Collaborate and solve a puzzle. Weekly on Tuesdays. monmouthcountylib.org. Chris Knight, The Vogel, Red Bank. 7:30 p.m. Singer-songwriter Chris Knight performs at The Vogel. thebasie.org.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
Awesome Autumn Amble at Clayton Park, Clayton Park, Upper Freehold. 10 a.m. Explore the trails with a Park System naturalist and discuss seasonal
plant and animal life. monmouthcountyparks.com. Millstone Township Committee, Municipal Meeting Room, 215 Millstone Road, Millstone. 8 p.m. The township committee conducts municipal business and receives public comment. millstonenj.gov.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Baby Storytime, Allentown Library, Allentown. 10:15-10:45 a.m.. Program for ages 6-24 months with a parent or caregiver. Families share stories, sing songs and make memories. monmouthcountylib.org. Family Storytime, Allentown Library, Allentown. 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.. All ages are welcome with a parent or caregiver. Families share stories, sing songs and make memories. monmouthcountylib. org. Afternoon Art: Sunflowers, Allentown Library, Allentown. 4:15-4:45 p.m.. Children ages 3 and older can make an after-school craft with a parent or caregiver. monmouthcountylib.org. Live Music, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Working Dog hosts Thirsty Thursday with live music and wine specials. workingdogwinerynj. com. Parents of Neurodivergent Kiddos Support Group, Allentown Library, AllenSee EVENTS, Page 24
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Annual A nnual Enrollment Enrollment Period Period (Oct (Oct 15 15 - Dec Dec 7) 7) iinfo@brylinins.com nfo@brylinins.c com 609 609-259-3311 6 09-2 259 59-3 3311 311 37 P 37 Pondview ond dviiew D Drive, rive, Allentown, NJ 08501 Are yo yyou u agein ageing i g in in iin?? Alr Already l eady lr d on a plan and need to dy compare? We W ’ e here to help ’r l yo lp yyou u every r step of th ry tthe e wa w y y! We’re way! Brylin Employee Benefits, LLC is not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or the Federal Medicare program. A licensed insurance agent may contact you. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, your v, 1-800-MEDICARE, or y v our local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all available options.
August 2026 | The Messenger-Press23
EVENTS continued from Page 23 town. 6:30 p.m.. Support group for parents of neurodivergent children. Registration required. monmouthcountylib. org. Historic Preservation Commission, Allentown Borough Hall, Allentown. 7 p.m. The commission meets to discuss historic preservation matters in the borough. allentownboronj.com. Millstone Township Historic Preservation Commission, Virtual meeting, Millstone. 7 p.m. The commission meets via Zoom for public historical commission business. millstonenj.gov. Nature Lecture: Travel to the Galapagos Islands, Bayshore Waterfront Park Activity Center, Port Monmouth. 7-8 p.m. A Park System naturalist discusses the sights, sounds and biodiversity of the Galapagos Islands. monmouthcountyparks.com.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
Farm, Holmdel. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. See what is cooking on the woodstove and learn about 1890s cooking techniques. monmouthcountyparks.com. National Standardbred Show, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. Check website for time. The National Standardbred Show continues at the Horse Park. horseparkofnewjersey.com. Live Music, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. 1-5 p.m. Working Dog hosts weekend live music at the winery. workingdogwinerynj.com. Live Music: Williamsboy, Screamin’ Hill Beer Farm, Cream Ridge. 1-5 p.m. Williamsboy performs at the farm brewery. screaminhill.com. Mill Demonstration at Historic Walnford, Historic Walnford, Upper Freehold. 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. See the 19th-century gristmill in action during short demonstrations. monmouthcountyparks.com. Accordion Melodies of the 1890s, Historic Longstreet Farm, Holmdel. 1-3 p.m. Hear melodies of the 1890s played on accordion during a visit to the farm. monmouthcountyparks.com. Sea.Hear.Now 2026, Asbury Park waterfront, Asbury Park. Noon. The music, art and surf festival includes Mumford & Sons, The Offspring, Chaka Khan and more. seahearnowfestival.com. Lez Zeppelin, The Vogel, Red Bank. 8 p.m. The Led Zeppelin tribute band performs at The Vogel. thebasie.org. Tangiers Blues Band and Ocean Ave Stompers, Stone Pony, Asbury Park. 10:30 p.m. Sea.Hear.Now presents a late-night Stone Pony show. stoneponyonline.com. Makua, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. 10:30 p.m. Sea.Hear.Now presents Makua at the Wonder Bar. wonderbarasburypark. com.
National Standardbred Show, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. Check website for time. The Horse Park hosts a weekend National Standardbred Show. horseparkofnewjersey.com. Open House Square Dance, Thompson Park Activity Barn, Lincroft. 7-9 p.m. The Middletown Ramblers host a free, family-friendly evening for ages 14 and older. monmouthcountyparks.com. Sea.Hear.Now presents Kickoff on Cookman, Downtown Asbury Park, Asbury Park. 5-9 p.m. Asbury Park hosts a Sea.Hear.Now kickoff event downtown. seahearnowfestival.com. The Offspring, Stone Pony, Asbury Park. 7:30 p.m. Sea.Hear.Now presents The Offspring at the Stone Pony. stoneponyonline.com. There Goes the Neighborhood, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. 7:30 p.m. Sea.Hear. Now presents There Goes the Neighborhood at the Wonder Bar. wonderbaras- SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 Millstone Day 2026, Millstone Townburypark.com. Total Mass Retain, The Vogel, Red ship, Millstone. Check website for time. Bank. 7:30 p.m. Total Mass Retain per- Millstone Township Recreation presents a community fall festival with local venforms at The Vogel. thebasie.org. dors, food trucks and family activities. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 millstonerec.org. Preserving the Harvest at Historic Allentown United Methodist Church Community Flea Market, Allentown Longstreet Farm, Historic Longstreet United Methodist Church, Allentown. Farm, Holmdel. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. See Check website for time. The church 19th-century techniques for food preshosts a community flea market. allen- ervation, including salting, pickling, drying and jelling. monmouthcountyparks. townboronj.com. Deep Cut Gardens Fall Native Plant com. La Dolce Vita, Laurita Winery, New Exchange, Deep Cut Gardens, Middletown. Plant intake 8:30-10 a.m.; swap Egypt. Noon-7 p.m. Laurita hosts an Ital10 a.m. Bring established native plants ian-themed winery festival with food, in labeled containers to exchange. mon- wine and entertainment. lauritawinery. com. mouthcountyparks.com. Live Music, Working Dog Winery, Wind and Sea Festival, Bayshore Waterfront Park, Port Monmouth. 11 a.m.-5 Robbinsville. 1-5 p.m. Working Dog p.m. The family-friendly festival cele- hosts Sunday live music at the winery. brates all things water-related along the workingdogwinerynj.com. Live Music: Sandy Roads Band, bayshore. monmouthcountyparks.com. Cookstove Demonstration at Historic Screamin’ Hill Beer Farm, Cream Ridge. Longstreet Farm, Historic Longstreet Noon-4 p.m. Sandy Roads Band per-
24 The Messenger-Press | August 2026
forms at the farm brewery. screaminhill. com. National Standardbred Show, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. Check website for time. The National Standardbred Show closes its weekend at the Horse Park. horseparkofnewjersey.com. Mill Demonstration at Historic Walnford, Historic Walnford, Upper Freehold. 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Historic Walnford offers another afternoon of gristmill demonstrations. monmouthcountyparks.com. Sea.Hear.Now 2026, Asbury Park waterfront, Asbury Park. Noon. The music, art and surf festival continues with The Strokes, Goo Goo Dolls and more. seahearnowfestival.com.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Stay N’ Play, Allentown Library, Allentown. 2-3 p.m.. Drop-in, child-led program for ages 6 months-4 years with a parent or caregiver. Learn, grow and be curious; stay for the full hour or just a little bit. monmouthcountylib.org. Zoning Board Meeting, Upper Freehold Township Municipal Building, Upper Freehold. 7 p.m. The board meets to consider zoning applications, variances and related land-use matters. uftnj.com.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
Casual Birder at Hartshorne Woods Park, Hartshorne Woods Park, Highlands. 9 a.m. Join a Park System naturalist for a morning bird walk beginning at the Rocky Point parking lot. monmouthcountyparks.com. Borough Council, Allentown Borough Hall, Allentown. 6:30 p.m. The borough council meets for municipal business, ordinances, resolutions and public comment. allentownboronj.com. Planning Board Meeting, Upper Freehold Township Municipal Building, Upper Freehold. 7 p.m. The board meets to review planning, zoning and development matters. uftnj.com. Open Schooling — Riders and Drivers, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. 6 p.m. Riders and drivers can take part in an open schooling session in the indoor arena. horseparkofnewjersey. com. Puzzle Drop-In, Allentown Library, Allentown. 6 p.m.. Collaborate and solve a puzzle. Weekly on Tuesdays. monmouthcountylib.org.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Senior Chair Yoga, Allentown. 10:30 a.m. Allentown’s senior chair yoga program offers a gentle exercise session. allentownboronj.com. Eek-O-Fabulous Costume Swap DropOff, Huber Woods Environmental Center, Middletown, and Thompson Park Visitor Center, Lincroft. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Drop off gently used costumes in advance of the Park System’s October costume swap.
monmouthcountyparks.com. Millstone Zoning Board of Adjustment, Municipal Meeting Room, 215 Millstone Road, Millstone. 7:30 p.m. The board considers variance applications and other zoning matters. millstonenj.gov.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Baby Storytime, Allentown Library, Allentown. 10:15-10:45 a.m.. Program for ages 6-24 months with a parent or caregiver. Families share stories, sing songs and make memories. monmouthcountylib.org. Family Storytime, Allentown Library, Allentown. 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.. All ages are welcome with a parent or caregiver. Families share stories, sing songs and make memories. monmouthcountylib. org. Afternoon Art: Scarecrow Puppet, Allentown Library, Allentown. 4:15-4:45 p.m.. Children ages 3 and older can make an after-school craft with a parent or caregiver. monmouthcountylib.org. Live Music, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Working Dog hosts Thirsty Thursday with live music and wine specials. workingdogwinerynj. com. Large Freestanding Wooden Scarecrow, Working Dog Winery, Robbinsville. 6-8 p.m. Participants create a 2-foot wooden scarecrow with paint, florals, ribbons, twine and other embellishments. workingdogwinerynj.com. Shade Tree Commission, Allentown Borough Hall, Allentown. 7 p.m. The commission meets to discuss shade tree and streetscape matters. allentownboronj.com. Laurita Jr. Idol Tryouts, Laurita Winery, New Egypt. 7-9 p.m. Laurita hosts tryouts for its Junior Idol competition. lauritawinery.com.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
Kricket Comedy, Laurita Winery, New Egypt. 7:30 p.m. Kricket Comedy returns to Laurita Winery for a ticketed comedy night. lauritawinery.com. Steven Page, The Vogel, Red Bank. 7:30 p.m. Steven Page performs at The Vogel. thebasie.org. Mushmouth, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. 8 p.m. Mushmouth performs at the Wonder Bar. wonderbarasburypark.com.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
Historic Allentown 5K Walk/Run and 1-Mile Fun Run, Allentown. 7:30 a.m. The seventh annual race brings runners, walkers and the community together in Allentown. allentownboronj.com. ESDCTA Horse Trials, Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The Horse Park hosts the first day of the ESDCTA Horse Trials. horseparkofnewjersey.com. Allentown Farmers Market, Allentown Presbyterian Church parking lot, Allen-
See EVENTS, Page 26
SPRINGSIDE New beginnings, LOFTS & endless possibilities SPRINGSIDE lead our ongoing mission to deliver a dynamic, rigorous and relevant academic SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER program. Additionally, Stone Bridge Middle School welcomes a new vice principal, Matt Nemeth, who is ready to support our middle schoolers during As the final days of summer give way these critical, formative years. to September, there is a familiar, vibrant New beginnings also push us to energy returning to the UFRSD. The refine how we operate daily to ensure start of a new school year is a unique safety, efficiency and growth. At Newell milestone in our community, a collective Elementary School, families will fresh slate that invites us all to imagine experience a newly redesigned morning what is possible. drop-off and afternoon pickup procedure. For the UFRSD, the 2026-2027 school While adjusting to new traffic patterns year represents a season of profound requires patience, this update is a vital opportunity, marked by strategic new step toward maximizing growth, enhanced student safety and learning environments streamlining the school and a renewed day. commitment to our ‘A new We are also launching students. beginning the statewide internetA new beginning enabled devices policy is not just a date on is not just a across the district. This the calendar; it is date on the will require a “bell-to-bell” an opportunity for device ban throughout everyone, students, calendar; it is the school day in all parents, educators and an opportunity of our schools. This community members policy is thoughtfully alike, to reset, refocus for everyone.’ designed to help create a and reach higher. distraction-free learning To remind us as we go environment where facethrough the year, we are focusing on the Power of Yet for the 2026- to-face connection thrives. With these changes come new 2027 school year. responsibilities and distinct challenges Borrowing from the growth mindset for everyone. However, we approach philosophy of Carol Dweck, this simple word, “yet,” transforms how we approach these as opportunities that will only make us better, safer and more successful. difficulty. When a student faces a Yet, even as we embrace this wave of complex math problem, a new musical positive change and new opportunities, instrument or a demanding athletic skill our community can rest assured that our and says, “I can’t do this,” the magic lies core foundation remains unshakable. in adding that one small word: “I can’t Amid new faces, new policies and new do this yet.” The Power of Yet reminds us all that learning is a journey, mistakes procedures, UFRSD remains constant and steadfast in our fundamental quest: are proof of progress, and intelligence to create an exceptional education and a and ability can be developed through next-level experience for our kids. Our dedication and hard work. We want every child in UFRSD to understand that dedication to the entire community and to fostering a safe, inclusive and hightheir potential is not fixed; it is an open achieving environment is unwavering. horizon. Thank you for your continued trust, This year, our community will see fresh faces and new structures designed support and partnership. Together, let us step into the 2026-2027 school year to elevate our schools. We are thrilled with optimism, curiosity and a belief in to welcome a talented cohort of new everything we have not accomplished ... staff members across all buildings, each yet. bringing diverse expertise and passion Welcome back! to our classrooms. Joining our central office leadership is our new assistant superintendent for curriculum and Mark Guterl is superintendet of the Upper instruction, Dr. Trish Bogusz, who will Freehold Regional School Disrrict,
Mark Guterl
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The community offers two distinct living options – Springside Lofts and Springside Lofts 55+ – both thoughtfully designed for lowmaintenance living in Robbinsville, NJ. Enjoy a prime location near top-rated schools, dining, shopping, recreation, and cultural attractions with an easy commute. Just 8 miles for Princeton Junction and Hamilton train stations and 11 miles from downtown Princeton. • 1-2 bedrooms, 1-2 baths, some with dens • Spacious layouts from 849 to 1,454 sq.ft • Private balconies or patios • Elevator building for easy access
The purpose of this advertisement is to solicit non-binding reservations. The non-binding reservation is not a contract and may be cancelled by the prospective purchaser at any time. Any money paid to the developer shall be refunded to the prospective purchaser upon request and cancellation of the non-binding reservation. The actual sales price for each specific Home will be based upon a number of factors including, but not limited to, the location and dimensions of the Home, and the specific choices made by each purchaser for interior finishes. Illustration is an artist rendering. ©2026 Sharbell Gordon LLC. Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity.
August 2026 | The Messenger-Press25
EVENTS continued from Page 24 town. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The market features fresh local produce, baked goods, artisan crafts, food trucks, coffee and family activities. allentownboronj.com. Mill Demonstration at Historic Walnford, Historic Walnford, Upper Freehold. 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. See the 19th-century gristmill in action during short demonstrations. monmouthcountyparks.com. Live Music, Working Dog Winery, Rob-
binsville. 1-5 p.m. Working Dog hosts weekend live music at the winery. workingdogwinerynj.com. Live Music: Tommy Gannon Trio, Screamin’ Hill Beer Farm, Cream Ridge. 1-5 p.m. Tommy Gannon Trio performs at the farm brewery. screaminhill.com. Everyone Has a Story, Thompson Park Theatre Barn, Lincroft. 6-8 p.m. Storytellers share life experiences through a variety of prompts, with audience members invited to share as time allows.
CLASSIFIED
Booking a classified ad has never been easier! Call us at 609-396-1511 ext. 132. CRANBURY BROOK COMMUNITY YARD SALE Saturday, September 26, 8am-2pm. Rain Date: Sunday, September 27, 8am-2pm. Over 25 homes participating. CRANBURY BROOK DEVELOPMENT 100 Middlesex Blvd. Plainsboro, NJ 08536
Items Wanted HAPPY HEROES used books looking to buy old Mysteries, Science Fiction, kids series books ( old Hardy boys - Nancy Drew -etc WITH DUSTJACKETS in good shape), Dell Mapbacks - PULPS magazines D&D items non-sports cards, good conditioned pre 1975 paperbacks old COLLIER’S magazine. Call 609-619-3480 or email happyheroes@gmail.com. Wanted: Baseball, football, basketball, hockey. Cards, autographs, photos, memorabilia. Highest cash prices paid! Licensed corporation, will travel. 4thelovofcards, 908-596-0976 allstar115@verizon.net.
Professional services Guitar and Drum lessons. Call Jane 609 510-1400. LEGAL SERVICES Wills, Power of Attorney, Real Estate, Federal and NJ Taxes, Education Law. House calls available. Bruce Cooke, Esq. 609-799-4674, 609-721-4358.
Home ServiceS
p.m. Sugardragon performs with food monmouthcountyparks.com. Dramarama, Wonder Bar, Asbury Park. truck Cassidy’s Kitchen at the farm 7 p.m. Dramarama performs at the Won- brewery. screaminhill.com. Mill Demonstration at Historic Walnder Bar. wonderbarasburypark.com. ford, Historic Walnford, Upper Freehold. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Historic ESDCTA Horse Trials, Horse Park of Walnford offers another afternoon of New Jersey, Upper Freehold. 8 a.m.-5 gristmill demonstrations. monmouthp.m. The ESDCTA Horse Trials continue countyparks.com. Live Music, Working Dog Winery, at the Horse Park. horseparkofnewjerRobbinsville. 1-5 p.m. Working Dog sey.com. Vines of Life Walk, Laurita Winery, New hosts Sunday live music at the winery. Egypt. 10 a.m. The annual event includes workingdogwinerynj.com. Free Music B-I-N-G-O, Laurita Winery, a walk, wine and cheese tasting, commemorative glass, T-shirt and live mu- New Egypt. 3-5 p.m. Laurita hosts a free music bingo session with DJ Trina. laurisic. lauritawinery.com. Harvest Home Festival, Historic Long- tawinery.com. street Farm, Holmdel. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The old-fashioned fair recalls the 1890s with MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 Stay N’ Play, Allentown Library, Allengames and live entertainment. montown. 2-3 p.m.. Drop-in, child-led promouthcountyparks.com. Live Music: Sugardragon, Screamin’ gram for ages 6 months-4 years with a Hill Beer Farm, Cream Ridge. Noon-4 parent or caregiver. Learn, grow and be
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Booking a classified ad has never been easier! Call us at 609-396-1511 ext. 132.
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