2-20 TD

DOWNTOWNER TRENTON’S CITY PAPER

FEBRUARY 2020 |

COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG

HERE TO STAY

Wells Fargo gives historic mural a downtown home, page 15.

TWW dives into 2020, page 3; Quilters stitch stories, 6; I Am Trenton builds for future, 8

1179 NEWARK, NJ

up FRONT Dudamel residency continues supporting Trenton students

P

rinceton University Concerts recently announced the launch of the Neighborhood Project.

Created to maintain the impact of internationally known conductor Gustavo Dudamel’s 2018-2019 Princeton University Concert residency, the project is designed to connect Princeton University Concert musicians with neighboring and less affluent communities.

Dudamel’s residency included personal interaction with Trenton music students and his leading a free concert at the Trenton War Memorial.

A collaboration involving the PUC and Trenton Arts at Princeton, with support from the Gustavo Dudamel Foundation, the Neighborhood Project provides interested students rehearsal, concert, and backstage access to artists in the university’s concert series.

It also arranges for select PUC performers to visit Trenton Central High School, present informal performances, play alongside students during ensemble rehearsals, and engage in a Q&A.

The Dudamel Foundation funds will also directly support two specific project components: the Trenton Youth Orchestra, a member group of Trenton Arts at Princeton, and the new Trenton Arts Fellowship that enables Princeton students to pursue Trenton Public Schools arts service projects.

Currently funded for its first five years, the project will seek contributions from regional philanthropists and community members to continue beyond that.

Trenton charter school receives $180,000 grant

F

oundation Academies received an $180,000 grant from the Arts & Letters Foundation to expand its K-12 strings orchestra program over the next three years.

The project includes introducing string instruction to more students and equipping every student with a take-home instrument.

The New York City-based Arts & Letters Foundation supports organizations dedicated to empowering individuals through music and enriching the communities around them.

The project reflects studies that show that an arts curriculum enhanc-

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Foundation Academies says in a statement that its “strings program goes well beyond traditional band and chorus to include group instruction, private training, formal school and community performances, and acclaimed partnerships with professional musicians such as the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and Grammy Award Winners Wyclef Jean, Raul Malo, and Angela Brown. Participation in the strings program is required for all students in fourth through tenth grade, with the option to continue through the twelfth grade.”

Founded in 2007, Foundation Academies calls itself the largest and highest-ranking K-12 public charter school in Trenton and serves 1,000 students across two campuses. www.foundationacademies.org

Trenton groups receive area impact grants

T

he Princeton Area Community Foundation, in partnership with The Burke Foundation, awarded more than $600,000 to 16 local nonprofits working to address critical needs in the community.

Grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 were given for both special project and operation support in the areas of art education, behavioral health, career development and literacy, community and economic development, Community Development and Education, Food Insecurity, Nonprofit Capacity Building, Social, Health and

Phone: (609) 396-1511 Fax: (609) 844-0180 Website: communitynews.org METRO Editor Dan Aubrey Senior Assistant Editor Sara Hastings Calendar Editor Christina Giannantonio CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ilene Dube

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2Trenton Downtowner February 2020

Artworks Trenton: $25,000 to connect community, culture and creativity through the arts.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mercer County: $42,270 to expand sitebased mentoring programs that pair Hightstown High School student-mentors with children from local elementary schools.

Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County: $50,000 for its Read for Success program and to provide 550 students, ages 3-11, with a structured, computer-based reading and tutoring program. The Trenton school district has agreed to provide access to the program for city students.

Greater Trenton: $50,000 to advance Trenton economic development and revitalization projects by working with private, public and nonprofit entities throughout the region.

Passage Theatre Company: $50,000 to create and produce socially relevant new plays and arts programming that reflects the community Thomas Edison State University Foundation: $47,500 to support the New Jersey Cultural Competency & English Language Learners Institute & Mentoring Program, a 10-year professional development program to improve teachers’ interaction with and instruction of English Language Learners.

See UP FRONT, Page 4

downtowner Production Manager Stacey Micallef (Ext. 131)

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Homelessness Services, and Youth Development The awards to Trenton organizations are as follows:

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E-mail to tfritts@communitynews.org or call (609) 396-1511, Ext. 110.

Trenton Water Works dives into 2020

By Dan Aubrey

the state of the CITY

T

he Trenton Water Works moved into 2020 with the start of its Lead Service Line Replacement Program, an appointment of a new acting director, and a controversy.

On January 9 Mayor W. Reed Gusciora — accompanied by city councilman Joe Harrison, then-chief engineer David Smith, and community members — announced the launch of a TWW’s program to remove household pipe fixtures created prior to 1986, when the Safe Drinking Water Act banned lead in plumbing fixtures and pipes.

Stressing that there is no lead in TWW-generated water as well as no state violations regarding water regulations in 2019, Gusiciora said the project is addressing 1,000 homes whose owners registered when the program was announced in 2018.

Homes were selected on a “first come, first served” basis with more than 7,000 home owners registered.

The replacement project uses State of New Jersey and loan funding to remediate the pipes for a flat fee of $1,000. Actual costs range between $2,000 and $5,000.

According to TWW materials, the program that will eventually replace

Mayor Reed Gusciora and TWW director David Smith at the groundbreaking for the Lead Service Line Replacement Program.

Trenton’s 37,000 lead pipes is part of a larger six-year, $405 million capital plan involving several projects, including upgrades to the water-filtration plant and water-distribution system, decentralized water storage, in-house engineering, control technology, improved security, facilities upgrades, and heavy equipment and fleet-vehicle replacements.

The following day Gusciora announced that Smith had been appointed and approved by council to serve as TWW’s acting director.

Smith replaced former DEP assistant commissioner and environ-

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mental law attorney Steve Picco, who assumed the position after acting director Shing-Fu Hsueh left in September, 2019. Hsueh is an environmental engineer, former official for the New Jersey DEP, and former mayor of West Windsor.

Rejected by council to continue as acting director, Picco continues as a TWW consultant to engage with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

TWW chief engineer since June of 2019, Smith has a degree in bioenvironmental engineering from Rutgers University and 20 years of experience

as a project or engineering manager for water systems in the tri-state area.

In 2019 Picco and Smith continued the work established by Hsueh to address and eliminate copper and lead DEP violations and to address a decade of problems that began during the previous city administrations.

On January 13 the TWW was back in the news when one of its employees was put on leave and, according to the Trentonian newspaper, was “suspected of pilfering thousands of dollars of materials.”

When the paper pressed for more information, a city representative refused to answer questions and said the personnel matter had been referred to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

While no further details were known at press time, the situation echoes past TWW personnel problems including the arrest of Mayor Tony Mack’s halfbrother, Stanley “Muscles” Davis. He was a TWW supervisor who pleaded guilty to official misconduct for using city equipment and billing the city for private side jobs.

The TWW refers to itself as among the largest publicly owned urban water utilities in the United States and supplies an average of 27 million gallons of Delaware River-sourced drinking water per day to 63,000 metered customers. It services more than 200,000 people in Trenton and parts of Hamilton, Ewing, Lawrence, and Hopewell townships.

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UP FRONT, continued from page 2

Trenton Circus Squad: $50,000 to support project that uses circus arts and community service to help students learn cooperation and achievement.

Funding also went to the following organizations headquartered elsewhere but providing services to Trenton: Lawrenceville Job-Training Partnership: $10,000, to support its CookWell culinary-training program for individuals recently released from prison. Trenton partners include Arm In Arm, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, Mercer County Community College, First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, and local restaurants.

Meals on Wheels of Mercer County, Ewing: $40,000 to support a Subsidized Meal Program for homebound community members.

Womanspace, Lawrenceville: $50,000 to prevent abuse, protect families, and change lives through empowerment by providing a safety net of supportive services.

The Princeton Area Community Foundation was established in 1991 to promote philanthropy and builds community across Mercer County and central New Jersey. www.pacf.org

Trenton Health Team awards CYO of Mercer County

T

he Trenton Health Team recently recognized the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) of Mercer County with an excellence award for dramatic progress in youth health and wellness efforts supported by Trinity Health’s Transforming Communities Initiative.

CYO is the only recipient of an excellence award among nearly 10 local early education centers participating in the THT program. The award included a $250 gift certificate for educational supplies.

The award is part of the THT’s Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI), a multi-year population health effort funded by Trinity Health to address policy, systems, and environmental change and promote healthy behaviors among populations living in low-income communities. Trenton is one of eight communities selected nationally to lead this effort.

THT has been working with the CYO on South Broad Street since February, 2018, to develop policies focused on health, exercise, and good nutrition among children, their families, and CYO teachers and staff.

With TCI support CYO was able to create a wellness council including teachers, program directors, food services, a board member, parents, and

Trenton Health Team presents an excellence award and gift certificate to the Catholic Youth Organization of Mercer County for youth health and wellness efforts. Pictured are CYO’s John Soss, left, Katherine Soss Prihoda of Rutgers School of Nursing-Camden, THT’s Matthew Broad, THT/ TCI’s Elena Cromeyer, Mary Jo Abbondanza of St. Francis Medical Center, CYO’s Debra Grier, and Monica Carmichael from the Trenton Office of Early Childhood Education. community health and service partners; replace old mats serving as protective barriers for those exercising/ playing sports in the gym; implement a healthy vending machine policy; develop a school garden; host health and wellness activities for staff, students, and parents; to negotiate with CYO food vendors to provide healthier and more culturally appropriate options; and establish a partnership with Rut-

gers School of Nursing-Camden, with nursing students receiving hands-on experience leading educational activities and administering health physicals to preschool students.

The Catholic Youth Organization of Mercer County is a community organization that provides affordable, quality, educational and recreational services at several locations throughout Greater Trenton.

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Quilters stitch stories and culture at Ellarslie

By Ilene Dube

Q

uilts —- with their colors, patterns, and innovations -— are art that provide comfort and warmth. They also tell stories: of the people who made them and the people who used them. Even the fabric — its dyes, its weave, its patterns — has stories to tell.

That is something near the heart of “If These Quilts Could Talk,” an exhibition of locally produced AfricanAmerican quilts at the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie now on view Holding ‘Midnight Star’ by Linda Salley of the Friendly Quilters are Carol through April 19.

Take, for example, Juandamarie Gi- Hill, left, of the Trenton Museum Society, Mada Galloway-Coles of the kandi’s family quilt. Made in the “Sun- Sankofa Stitchers, and Linda McRae and Diane Ciccone of TMS. bonnet Sam” pattern — the male version of Sunbonnet Sue — it depicts a where Gikandi was born, bringing were paid by the weight, and so they’d boy in overalls seen from behind peer- the Sunbonnet Sam quilt with her. “It leave sticks in to weigh more.”

The quilt is one of the exhibiing through a fence. The circa-1940s is one of my most treasured possesquilt was made by the Princeton resi- sions,” says Gikandi, who inherited ton’s many created by the Princeton Sankofa Stitchers, of which Gikandi is dent’s Great Aunt Mittie, who lived to the heirloom.

Although about 80 years old, the president, and the Bucks County-area be 104.

Gikandi’s grandmother — Great quilt, made from leftover garments Friendly Quilters.

Although she has thought about Aunt Mittie’s sister — was born in and love, is stuffed with cotton. Not Arkansas in 1910 and subsequently batting; but real cotton bolls, lumps quilting since childhood, Gikandi, who learned to sew from her grandmother brought to Massachusetts as a live- and all.

“My family picked cotton,” says Gi- and mother, a financial aid administrain domestic in the 1930s. When she reached age 65 and became eligible kandi, who retired from teaching so- tor who raised five children, only took to collect social security, Gikandi’s cial studies at Princeton High School up the practice about 10 years ago. At grandmother traveled to Arkansas to in 2010. “The family owned lots of that time she had enrolled her 12-yearMercer County bring back her birth certificate. She land. My grandmother sharecropped old daughter — now a Kenya-based OfficetoofMedford, Economic Developmentand told stories of picking cotton. You journalist for Public Radio Internareturned Massachusetts,

tional — in a quilting class and got hooked, teaching herself from books and patterns. In that time span she has completed about 70 quilts, many given as gifts to friends and family members. “I expect them to be snuggled under and used,” Gikandi says.

Each of her six children went to college with a quilt, each got another quilt when they graduated, and her oldest daughter got a star quilt when she completed her Ph.D. “When you give a gift of a quilt it lasts forever,” Gikandi says.

With her husband, Simon Gikandi, a Kenyan literature professor, postcolonial scholar, and Princeton University chair of English, she has traveled to Ghana and taken batik and other textile workshops. These weave their way into her quilts, along with her collection of African fabrics. She describes her style as modern traditionalism.

Princeton Sankofa Stitchers Modern Quilt Guild was formed in 2015 by a group of African American women — Gikandi, Mada Cole-Galloway, and Paulette File — who began getting together to quilt and share information about the craft, toting sewing machines on carts to monthly meetings.

Members of the group chose the name Sankofa Stitchers to reflect the guild’s identity as a group that works with African and African-American

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fabrics, designs, and cultural experiences. “Sankofa” is translated as “look, seek, and take,” used by the Akan people of Ghana to represent the idea of reaching back to the past to acquire knowledge that has been lost in order to make progress in the present. Sankofa is represented visually either by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth, or with a stylized heart shape.

Sankofa Stitchers believe learning from the past serves as a guide in planning and securing a strong future. The group’s motto is “Each one, teach one.” Initially the group met in the home of its founding president, but as its membership grew the group moved its meetings to Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton; one of the members, Jane Wyche, is the minister of the church, and two other members attend the church. Wyche, who has face and “if it’s darker than your skin it been quilting since she was four years means you work outside in the fields; if old, does what she can to meet the de- it’s lighter you work inside the house.”

Paulette File, a retired stay-at-home mand for new quilts among the babies mother who volunteers for Arm in born into her congregation.

In 2018 the group helped start a Arm, a nonprofit support organizaGirl Scout troop near Shiloh Baptist tion, has sewn since childhood but Church, teaching the Scouts to sew, “thought of quilting as something cook, and make small quilted objects old ladies do.” She met Gikandi in a to donate to community organizations. stained glass class at Princeton Adult Sankofa members sewed flannel baby School and has been a quilter ever since. blankets and Gail Mitchell, a baby quilts for loretired educator cal charities and ‘If These Quilts Could and poet — her made wash-clothbook “Makers Talk,’ an exhibition based personal and Keepers” has hygiene kits for of locally produced just been pubWomanspace.

by MoonEach meeting African-American quilts, lished stone Publishing includes a showin Philadelphia is on view at Ellarslie. and-tell of a re— is known locently completed cally for her quilt work.

Gikandi tribute to Princeton’s Witherspoondescribes herself as a “quilter stalker,” Jackson neighborhood that hangs perhaunting such places as Jo-Ann’s Fabmanently at the Arts Council of Princerics to find quilters who are reflecting the African-American cultural experi- ton’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts.

Her quilt “Tribute to President ence.

Obama” grew out of her experience atFor the exhibition, Mada Coletending the Democratic National ConGalloway, retired from teaching at vention and includes the signatures of Lawrence Township Middle School, Senator Corey Booker and other New created “Morse Code Ubuntu Hidden Jersey politicians.

Messages.”

Gikandi either hand or machine piecUbuntu is a Southern African term describing a philosophy that refers to es her quilts and sends it out to a “long acting in ways that benefit the com- armer” to professionally do the quilting munity. Such acts could be as simple with a special long-arm machine. “They as helping a stranger in need, or much are artisans in their own right,” she more complex ways of relating with says. “A quilt (top piece, batting, and others. Cole-Galloway first learned of backing) is not a quilt until it is quilted. the term when she heard Archbishop Quilting enhances the pattern.”

“Ode to Gee’s Bend with a Little Desmond Tutu use it. “He explained how we as humans need to treat each Bit of Mother” is Gikandi’s tribute to other with respect,” she says. “So I the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, decided to take Morse Code to create whose tradition that goes back to the messages related to Ubuntu: spirit, 19th century when African-American humanity, respect. We are all depen- women pieced together strips of cloth to keep their families warm in undent on each other.”

Ora Brown, a retired labor and de- heated living spaces that lacked runlivery nurse, started quilting three ning water, telephones, and electricity. years ago when she was recruited to They developed a distinctive style, the group. Her quilt, “Brown Bags,” noted for improvisation and geometric refers to the practice during slavery of simplicity, and have been exhibited at holding a paper bag up to a person’s the Whitney Museum of Art and the

‘Morse Code Ubuntu Hidden Messages’ by Mada Cole-Galloway, left, and Juandamarie Gikandi’s ‘Ode to Gee’s Bend ll with a Little Bit of Mother.’

Philadelphia Museum of Art, among other major museums.

Gikandi’s eye can also be seen in her home, furnished with African antiques and African and African-American art, including prints from Jacob Lawrence’s Great Migration series to the Obama “Hope” poster. “I see these as bookend opportunities for AfricanAmericans,” she says of the works.

Gikandi has worked with other guilds, such as Sisters in Stitches Joined by the Cloth, has collaborated with refugee artisans to produce a community quilt, and attends quilting retreats. She even secured a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to create an archive of African-American quilts at www.njdigitalhighway. org. At this stage in her life, Gikandi says, she enjoys the community in quilting, adding that her quilting groups are a kind of family.

“Sometimes I wake up and want to sew,” she says. “I dream patterns and fabric, and go into my space” — she has a quilting studio with numerous shelves filled with African textiles organized by colors — “and take scraps of fabric and play. From the ‘crumbs’ I make a larger fabric, or I take big

pieces and cut it up into smaller pieces to be sewn together. It’s my creative outlet, very therapeutic and Zen-like.

This is my writing, I write with my fabric to tell my story.”

If These Quilts Could Talk, Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Cadwalader Park. Through April 19. Free.

609-989-3632. www.ellarslie.org.

The project also includes a series of programs, all starting at 1:30 p.m.: Sunday, Februar y 2: Underground Railroad Quilts lecture by Cassandra Stancil Gunkel.

Saturday, Februar y 8: Improvisational Quilting workshop led by Rose Miller.

Sunday, Februar y 16: Quilt Arts and Culture lecture by Gail Mitchell.

Saturday, March 7: Adinkra Stamping workshop by Cassandra Stancil Gunkel.

Sunday, March 29: Improvisational Quilting workshop by Mada Cole-Galloway and Juandamaire Gikandi Saturday, April 19: Closing reception with quilters talk and community quilt unveiling.

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The I Am Trenton Foundation is busy building Trenton’s future

By Dan Aubrey

T

he I Am Trenton Community Foundation recently awarded more than $40,000 in grants to support eight community and economic development projects in the Old Trenton neighborhood, bordered

by North Broad Street, Perry Street, Route 1, and East State Street.

Established by Isles and administered through IAT Foundation, the grant program is funded by the New Jersey Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program.

The small grants — usually under $2,000 — are designed to make Old Trenton “a safe, active, and vibrant community, with a particular focus on reclaiming underused buildings and spaces, and supporting the arts as an agent of social change,” according to press materials.

In addition to a 2007 Old Trenton Neighborhood plan, Isles also spearhead the 2016 plan that designated the area bordering the D&R Canal and the Assunpink Creek as the Creek 2 Canal Creative District.

With grant eligibility focused on providing benefits to that district, the current recipients and projects include: Aerosol Illusions: Roberto Clemente Park Heritage Murals to “celebrate Puerto Rican heritage and contributions to the Old Trenton Neighborhood.”

Bike Arts: Bicycle Par(t)king’s creation of 10 fully custom Art Racks installed to secure bicycles utilizing leftover parking meter poles and recycled bicycle parts.

Lora Productions: Image and sound to support professional artist development voice and music events that also serve as educational training.

Orchid House Cafe’s Community Kitchen to provide culinary start-ups risk-free access to equipment, marketing tools, and professional environments needed to make and sell products.

Puerto Rican Parade of Trenton to engage Puerto Rican community members in the creation of a parade float.

Trenton Community A-Team to support staffing and activation of its studio and create a more welcoming gateway to the Creek 2 Canal revitalization area.

Trenton Free Public Librar y to support its Trenton Makes Space for Art Makers project that involves a new adult art club for library patrons and the expansion of the library art gallery.

The Become Factor y to pilot a digital arts incubator with access to

I Am Trenton Foundation past president Kelly Ingram, left, and board member Jon Carl Lewis. equipment, professional development out and administer neighborhood-speopportunities, events, and marketing cific grants in Trenton’s West Ward to enable Old District artists to reach and North Clinton Avenue areas.

In return the grantees “have turned a broader market. overgrown lots into community hubs, “I Am Trenton is a collective,” says taught robotics, collected stories, IAT’s Kelly Ingram about the organi- made films, danced, done yoga, gotzation. “It’s a team effort,” says the ten kids into college, and installed group’s past president and one of its bike pumps around the city,” says the founding members.

IAT website.

Ingram, a Trenton resident and Coordinators say the results embusiness owner, body the comserves in part as munity spirit that the institutional makes Trenton ‘We know Trenton memory and better every day. has challenges, but works closely Yet, as Lewis with fellow board says, “Outside of we also know the member Jon Carl our grantees, a Lewis. resourcefulness and casual Trenton The two are would accomplishments of our resident in Pat’s Diner in think of the billTrenton and talkboard campaign fellow Trentonians who ing over coffee first and then ask about the organimake the impossible questions about zation’s history, what I Am Trenreal every day.’ impact, and futon does.” ture.

Lewis is talking “We’re all the organization strong individuals and quirky in our campaign to highlight dedicated indiown way and bring individual talents viduals who make Trenton a positive that compensate for the strengths community. The first billboard project and weaknesses of each other,” says filled the public’s eye in 2008.

Ingram about the nonprofit organizaAs Ingram notes about the project, tion’s volunteer board members.

“We know Trenton has challenges, Ingram says they keep themselves but we also know the resourcefulness focused on a common goal spelled out and accomplishments of our fellow on the group’s website: “To provide Trentonians who make the impossible opportunities to all Trentonians to be real every day. We’re proud to stand actively engaged in shaping the future with them and say, ‘Yes. We are Trenof our city.” ton.’”

With a “small is beautiful” philosoIngram says the billboard project’s phy and a network of roots in the com- fundraising and planning are labor inmunity, over the past nine years I Am tensive. “They take a lot of energy. We Trenton (IAT) coordinators say the arrange for local photographers and organization has given out more than do all the production and put up the $80,000 to 100-plus community-driven billboard. That’s the work of an adverprojects in Trenton from its general tising team.” fund and partnered with others to give Yet despite the success of the proj-

8Trenton Downtowner February 2020

ect, Ingram prefers to see beyond the billboards and says people outside or even inside the city often miss the positive efforts of the people in the community.

As evidence she points to young entrepreneurs including photographer and educator Bentrice Jusu’s work with city youth, Elijah Dixon opening up a business and starting a collective on East Hanover Street, and Wills Kinsley’s various bicycle-related projects.

All have received IAT grants generally ranging from $500 to $1,500.

“I Am Trenton has eyes on the ground,” says Lewis. “We see projects that are happening in places that state workers are told not to go. We work with everyone from what people consider more troubled neighborhoods or add to organizations like the Catholic Youth Organization.

“We’re not funding the projects that have a lot of money coming in. We’re funding small projects that wouldn’t happen. One of the strengths is that our board is diverse enough and connected enough that we have our ears to ground and bring ideas to the table.”

Ingram says one of the community development initiatives IAT started was having workshops where they invited potential applicants to share ideas to improve the community.

“They turned (the workshop) into a session of community problem solving. Before we gave out money people were pulling together resources to make their neighborhood better.”

That IAT money comes in several different forms. One is the basic IAT city wide grants. Applications are released in June, due in July, and announced in August.

The others include managing small grants for East Trenton Collaborative and Isles’ Old Trenton Neighborhood and Creek to Canal arts district project. Both groups receive New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit funds to support communitybased nonprofit revitalization plans or projects.

Ingram credits former vice president and past treasurer Iana Dikidjieva for IAT’s involvement with those two other projects. Dikidjieva saw IAT had already developed a fair and equitable grant review practice that could be used rather than duplicated by other groups. IAT was then involved in a pilot project that now continues. “It is a great example of community growing,” says Ingram.

Outside the subcontracted grants, IAT’s current general budget hovers at $20,000. While small in comparison to other foundations, it shows continued efforts to surmount one of Trenton’s major obstacles: a diminished business community and limited funding sources.

See I AM TRENTON, Page 13

HEALTH

HEADLINES FEBRUARY 2020

@capitalhealthnj

B I - M O N T H LY N E WS F R O M C A P I TA L H E A LT H

LAWRENCE OB/GYN ASSOCIATES JOINS CAPITAL HEALTH MEDICAL GROUP Regional OB/GYN Practice Adds to Growing Team of Women’s Health Specialists Beginning February 1, 2020, Lawrence OB/GYN Associates, a comprehensive women’s health practice with locations in Mercer, Burlington, and Bucks counties, will officially join Capital Health Medical Group’s growing network of specialty care providers. The practice name will change to Capital Health – Lawrence OB/GYN Associates, but it will continue to be the same trusted provider of obstetric and gynecologic care that has served women in the region for more than 30 years.

The team of board certified physicians, nurse practitioners, and certified midwives that will be part of the new Capital Health – Lawrence OB/GYN Associates includes DRS. KIRA PRZYBYLKO, STEVEN SUSSMAN, DANIEL SMALL, AUDREY TASHJIAN, WILLIAM STANELL, KAREN LEEDOM, SAPNA BALWANI, PAUL LOEB, and GWEN GRANT; nurse practitioner JANET BUDZYNSKI; and certified midwives LEANNE MICCIO, CHRISTINE BEAGHLEY, KITAN ELLERSON, CELINA HICKSON, ELIZABETH SANDIFER and LYNN SHINN. Their offices will continue to be located at 123 Franklin Corner Road, Suite 214, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648; 1401 WhitehorseMercerville Road, Suite 212, Hamilton, NJ 08619; 909 Floral Vale Boulevard, Yardley, PA 19067; and 163 Route 130, Bordentown, NJ 08505.

“With the addition of Capital Health - Lawrence OB/GYN Associates, as well as our recent acquisition of Capital Health – Women’s Specialists of Bucks County, our goal is to make access to women’s health services in our region more

convenient than ever,” said Al Maghazehe, president and CEO of Capital Health. “More importantly, the expertise they add to Capital Health Medical Group will provide care through every stage of a woman’s life, from adolescence, through child-bearing years, and beyond.”

“Capital Health has an incredible reputation in our community when it comes to providing the highest level women’s services—from being the only Regional Perinatal Center, including Level III neonatal intensive care for the most at-risk deliveries, to offering robotic-assisted surgery using the da Vinci surgical system,” said Dr. Kira Przybylko, lead physician at Capital Health – Lawrence OB/GYN Associates. “While Lawrence OB/GYN has been providing services at Capital Health for quite some time, it’s exciting to officially join other physicians in the Capital Health Medical Group to be able to connect our patients with the growing number of women’s health services available here in their community.”

Capital Health – Lawrence OB/GYN Associates provides a full range of services for women, including annual health exams, prenatal care, genetic screening, open and minimally invasive/robotic-assisted surgery (using the da Vinci surgical system), and minor surgical services. The office accepts most insurances.

Call 609.896.1400 to schedule an appointment or visit capitalhealth.org/lawrenceobgyn to learn more.

Health Headlines by Capital Health | Trenton Downtowner 9

Urologist Specializing in Minimally Invasive, Robotic-Assisted Procedures Joins Capital Health DR. ERIC MAYER, a board certified urologist specializing in minimally invasive urologic procedures using the da Vinci surgical system, has joined Capital Health as director of Urologic Robotic Surgery. With experience in treating all forms of urologic conditions, including kidney stones, urinary tract infections, overactive bladder, incontinence, sexual dysfunction and men’s health issues like erectile dysfunction and low testosterone, Dr. Mayer specializes in robotic-assisted surgery for bladder, prostate and kidney cancers.

Dr. Mayer joins Dr. Brad Rogers at Capital Health – Urology Specialists, located at Two Capital Way, Suite 407, Pennington, NJ 08534. They also see patients at Capital Health’s multispecialty office at 1050 Stony Hill Road, Yardley, PA 19067, “As the first surgeon in Pennsylvania to perform a roboticassisted laparoscopic prostatectomy using the da Vinci surgical system, Dr. Mayer is an important addition to our team,” said Dr. Rogers, director of Urology at Capital Health. “The expertise he brings is good news for patients in our region who need advanced surgical treatment for cancerous and non-cancerous urologic conditions.”

“In recent months, Capital Health has welcomed a number of surgical specialists who are highly trained in minimally invasive, robotic-assisted techniques,” said Dr. Mayer. “I am delighted to offer those services to urology patients at Capital Health and join an organization that is so committed toward advancing care through state-of-the-art technology, while providing a personalized approach to each of our patients.”

Before joining Capital Health, Dr. Mayer was chief of Urology and Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery at St. Luke’s Center for Urology, part of St. Luke’s University Health Network, in Bethlehem, PA. He received his medical degree from UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ, where he also completed his urology residency.

Capital Health – Urology Specialists, part of Capital Health Medical Group, works with primary care physicians and other specialists to provide residents throughout Mercer, Bucks, and Burlington counties with advanced urologic care in a compassionate and relaxed setting, including state-of-the-art imaging, diagnostics, and treatment options.

To make an appointment with Dr. Mayer or Dr. Rogers, call 609.303.4460 or visit capitalhealth.org/urology to learn more.

Better Outcomes for Bladder Cancer Patients with New Technology at Capital Health Bladder cancer is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the US and is the fourth most common cancer found in men. Because early detection can lead to significantly better outcomes, Capital Health now offers Blue Light Cystoscopy (BLC) with Cysview, a breakthrough technology that improves bladder cancer detection so doctors can remove more cancerous tumors than previously possible with standard cystoscopy.

“Capital Health is one of only two hospitals in New Jersey to offer this procedure and the first to offer it to patients in central and southern New Jersey,” said DR. BRAD ROGERS, a board certified urologist and director of Urology at Capital Health. “In addition to giving us the ability to diagnose bladder cancer earlier than standard cystoscopy, BLC with Cysview also reduces the likelihood of recurrence.”

When bladder cancer is suspected, doctors use a long thin tube equipped with a lens and a light (cystoscope) to perform a visual inspection of the lining of the patient’s bladder wall. During standard cystoscopy, a white light illuminates the bladder lining, enabling the surgeon to view suspicious areas. However, not all lesions or cancers may be visible under the white light.

With a BLC procedure, highly trained physicians like Dr. Rogers 10Trenton Downtowner | Health Headlines by Capital Health

begin by introducing an agent called Cysview (hexaminolevulinate HCl) into the bladder. Next, viewing the bladder lining using a cystoscope equipped with a blue light, cancer cells appear hot pink while the surrounding tissue remains blue, making it much easier to identify smaller tumors and lesions that might not be visible with standard cystoscopy.

Traditional cystoscopy BLC with Cysview “With significantly improved tumor detection, we’re able to provide treatment earlier and achieve improved outcomes,” said Dr. Rogers. “BLC with Cysview is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for surgery and for follow-up cystoscopies as well, so it can be used for ongoing surveillance.”

Dr. Rogers and his team at Capital Health – Urology Specialists work with primary care physicians and other specialists to provide residents throughout Mercer, Bucks, and Burlington counties with advanced urologic care in a compassionate and relaxed setting, including state-of-the-art imaging, diagnostics, and treatment options. His office is located at Two Capital Way, Suite 407, Pennington NJ 08534. He also sees patients at Capital Health’s multi-specialty office at 1050 Stony Hill Road, Yardley, PA 19067.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Rogers, call 609.303.4460 or visit capitalhealth.org/urology to learn more.

NEW PULMONARY REHABILITATION PROGRAM is a Breath of Fresh Air for Those With Chronic Lung Disease Participants attend education sessions twice each week, before or after their exercise session, and meet with a registered dietitian to address any individual needs.

The overall duration of the program varies according to each individual’s needs and goals. Loved ones are also encouraged to participate to provide additional support to program participants.

Most insurance carriers cover the cost of this program, but some providers may require a copay or limit coverage to a certain number of visits. Anyone considering the program should check with his or her insurance provider regarding coverage for pulmonary rehabilitation.

For people in the Mercer/Bucks County region living with lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, chronic bronchitis and pulmonary fibrosis, Capital Health recently launched its new Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program. Located in the Wellness Center at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell, the program provides a comprehensive outpatient exercise and education program to help patients reduce and control the symptoms and complications related to lung disease and improve their quality of life.

“Collaboration is the key to the program’s success, and participants see the benefits of this approach right from the start,” said DR. DIANA KOLMAN, director of the new Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program at Capital Health and director of the Interventional Pulmonary Program.

“After getting a physician referral for the program, patients undergo pulmonary function tests and interview with our staff before working closely with our team of physicians, registered nurses, exercise physiologists, and registered respiratory therapists. Together, our team and your referring physician develop a customized, carefully coordinated program that helps strengthen breathing muscles and enhance daily living.

Meeting every third Tuesday of the month Patients with severe emphysema may also participate in the program to determine if they are candidates for non-surgical Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell treatment.” Maternal Child Health Conference Room

Join Your Local American Lung Association Better Breathers Club® today at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell

March 18, 2020 | 1-2:30 p.m.

All activities are carefully structured and participants One Capital Way, Pennington, NJ 08534 are monitored through continuous EKG and heart rate

(via telemetry) monitoring, blood pressure checks, and intermittent pulse oximetry (oxygen monitoring).

REGISTER TODAY. Education also609.303.4000 ext. 1612 plays an essential role in the program, with individual and group discussions provided on topics such as nutrition and lung disease, breathing retraining, infection prevention/bronchial hygiene, oxygen use, respiratory management, and conserving energy. medications, stress

For more information about Capital Health’s Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program, visit capitalhealth.org/pulmonaryrehab or call 609.537.6420 to schedule an appointment.

Join Your Local American Lung Association Better Breathers Club® today at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell

Our club meets regu

to provide support, educ

people with COPD or oth March 18, 2020 | 1-2:30 p.m. well as family members an Meeting every third Tuesday of the month

Every third Tuesday of every month | 1 – 2:30Topics include, but are no p.m.

Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell Maternal Child Health Conference Room Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell One Capital Way, Pennington, NJ 08534 One Capital Way, Pennington, NJ 08534

Maternal Child Health Conference Room REGISTER TODAY.

• How COPD affects the

• Breathing techniques • Exercise

609.303.4000 ext. 1612 • Talking with your phys

Our club meets regularly for 1-2 hours

• Medications and othe Join your local American Lung Association Better Breathers

atsupport, to ®provide education and Center socialization for • Medical tests Club today Capital Health Medical – Hopewell.

people with COPD or other chronic lung diseases, as • Supplemental oxygen Our club meets regularly to provide support, education

• Home healthcare well as family members and caregivers. and socialization for people with COPD or other chronic

• Lung transplants Topics include, but are not limited to: lung diseases, as well as family members and caregivers.

• Air pollution Topics include, but are not limited to: …

…

… …

…

• How COPD affects the lungs

How COPD affects the lungs • Breathing techniques Breathing techniques Exercise • Exercise Talking with your physician

Medications and other • Talking with your physician treatment options

… … … … …

Medical tests Supplemental oxygen Home healthcare Lung transplants Air pollution

• Medications and other treatment options

Register today at • Medical tests 609.303.4000 ext. 1612

• Supplemental oxygen

Health Headlines by Capital Health | Trenton Downtowner 11

• Home healthcare

UPCOMING EVENTS

Unless otherwise noted, call 609.394.4153 or visit capitalhealth.org/events to sign up for the following programs.

CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE: Understanding Risk Factors and Treatment Options Tuesday, March 3, 2020 | 6 p.m.

Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell Join DR. STEVEN COHEN, a board certified nephrologist from Mercer Kidney Institute, for a discussion about chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its complications, as well as what treatment options are available to you.

VAPING: Get the Facts Wednesday, March 11, 2020 | 6 p.m.

Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell E-cigarettes have ingredients that can damage the lungs and can also cause many other physical and psychological symptoms. Join DR. DIANA KOLMAN, director of Interventional Pulmonology at Capital Health, to get the facts about vaping.

UNDERSTANDING HIP AND KNEE SURGERY Thursday, March 19, 2020 | 6 p.m.

Capital Health – Hamilton Join DR. ARJUN SAXENA, a board certified orthopaedic surgeon from Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, for a discussion of surgical options that are available to help you maintain your active lifestyle.

FLUSH COLON CANCER: Know Your Risk Factors, Screening Guidelines and Treatment Options Wednesday, March 25, 2020 | 6 p.m.

Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is in March.

DR. ASHLEE GODSHALK RUGGLES, a board certified colorectal surgeon from Capital Health Surgical Group, will cover the different ways of testing for cancer and polyps and treatment options available.

LUNG CANCER SCREENING: What, Who, When, and Why? Thursday, April 9, 2020 | 6 p.m.

Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell DR. AFRICA WALLACE, a board certified thoracic surgeon from Capital Health Surgical Group, will provide an overview of lung cancer screening and its impact on the health of our community.

FREE HIP AND KNEE SCREENINGS Wednesday, April 15, 2020 | 5 – 7 p.m.

Capital Health – Hamilton Meet one-on-one with board certified orthopaedic surgeons DR. ARJUN SAXENA or DR. CHRISTOPHER SELGRATH from Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, who will conduct a free screening and recommend next steps.

Capital Health – Hamilton 1445 Whitehorse-Mercerville Road, Hamilton, NJ 08619 Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell One Capital Way, Pennington, NJ 08534 NJ PURE Conference Center

COLORECTAL CANCER AWARENESS DAY featuring The Capital Colon

Wednesday, March 18, 2020 | 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell One Capital Way, Pennington, NJ 08534

Walk through a giant inflatable colon and learn more about colorectal cancer risk factors and who should be screened. … Meet our gastroenterologists and colorectal surgeon … Learn how colonoscopy screenings can prevent cancer and sign up for a colonoscopy … Discuss healthy eating and lifestyle tips with our oncology nutritionist … Learn about the prep for a colonoscopy with our pharmacy experts … Pick up free blue giveaways and digestive health-related information Call 609.537.6363 for more information.

55+ BREAKFAST SERIES DEPRESSION: NOT A NORMAL PART OF AGING Thursday, March 26, 2020 Capital Health – Hamilton 1445 Whitehorse-Mercerville Road, Hamilton, NJ 08619 8:30 – 9 a.m. · Registration/Continental Breakfast 9 – 10:30 a.m. · Program Join DR. CHRISTI WESTON, a board certified psychiatrist and medical director of Capital Health – Behavioral Health Specialists, to learn about the symptoms of depression, treatment options and prevention strategies.

Register by calling 609.394.4153 or register online at capitalhealth.org/events 12Trenton Downtowner | Health Headlines by Capital Health

FeBRuaRY heaDLINeRs

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King Lear, Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe Street, Bristol, 215-785-6664. www. brtstage.org. Shakespeare’s tragedy is an epic tale of sorrow, forgiveness, madness, and reconcilia�on. Through February 16. 2 and 8 p.m.

Cabaret, Kelsey Theater, Mercer Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, 609-570-3333. www.kelseyatmccc.org.

When American writer Cliff Bradshaw arrives at Berlin’s Kit Kat Club looking for inspira�on, he falls for its star performer, Sally Bowles. However, their decadent lifestyle is soon threatened by the Nazis’ impending rise to power. 8 p.m.

Independence String Ensemble, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 2 p.m.

Debra Devi, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-3926409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 8 p.m.

Joe Ford, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton. com. $15, $10 drink minimum. 3:30 p.m.

Adrinka Stamping, Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Cadwalader Park, Trenton, 609-9893632. www.ellarslie.org. Workshop with Cassandra Gunkel. 1:30 p.m.

Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market, Trenton War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton. www. trentonprfm.com. 10 a.m.

S����� 2/2 Groundhog Day.

 2/6 Luiz Simas, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-3926409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 2 p.m.

Farmhouse Tour, Benjamin Temple House, 27 Federal City Road, Ewing, 609-883-2455.

Tour and informa�on on the families who called the house home. 2 p.m.

Underground Railroad Quilts, Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, 299 Parkside Avenue, Trenton, 609-989-3632. www.ellarslie.org.

Talk by Cassandra Stancil Gunkel. 1:30 p.m.

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Karaoke, Trenton Social, 449 South Broad Street, Trenton. Hosted by Sweets. 9 p.m.

West Trenton Garden Club, Incarna�on Church, 1545 Pennington Road, Ewing, 609883-5804. www.wes�rentongc.org. Hobby and talent night showcase. 7 p.m.

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Jam Night with Nikki and Caleb, Championship Bar, 931 Chambers Street, Trenton, 609394-7437. /www.championshipbartrenton. com. Live music. No cover. All skill levels welcome. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Blood Drive, American Red Cross, Graceway Bible Church, 1934 Klockner Road, Trenton. redcross.org. 2 p.m.

Advances in Pain Management, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609-

i AM TREnTOn, continued from page 8

Ingram says, “We get a lot of small donations, a lot of checks for $15.

(Yet) when people give us that $15 or $5 they’re investing in their neighborhood. And that may be all they have to give. And we would like people to invest in that.”

Janssen Pharmaceutical and Investor’s Foundation supported the 2017 billboard campaign and New Jersey Manufacturer’s has committed support for 2018, 2019, and 2020.

The small step approach actually seems to be part of the group’s history when it started in 2007.

“The idea of I Am Trenton came when during (Mayor Doug) Palmer’s administration,” says Ingram, adding that it was connected with then-Trenton recreation director Sam Frisby’s need for an increase in recreation funds. Frisby is now a Mercer County Freeholder and Capital Area YMCA executive director.

“The city created a study and showed a need for a community foundation,” says Ingram. “Then the (2008) financial crash started and we decided to continue. Someone suggested being involved with Princeton Community Fund, but we decided to focus on Trenton and a community foundation for Trenton and by Trenton — forever.”

The IAT website shows the broad group of city and community people who created the initial board and connected to the various communities.

Bentrice Jusu on one of I Am Trenton’s promotional billboards.

584-5900. Informa�on on available treatments. Register. 6 p.m.

Ea�ng Disorder Friends and Family Support Group, Family Resource Center, 281 Lawrenceville-Pennington Road, Pennington, 267-255-0351. Mee�ng. 7 p.m.

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Ballroom Newcomers Dance, American Ballroom, 1523 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, 609931-0149. Class included. $10. 7 to 9 p.m.

See EvEnTS, Page 14

Kelly Ingram Finishes.

She says she left Mathematica after a friend introduced her to the Isabel O’Neil Studio, which specializes in teaching traditional techniques to create painted finishes that imitate exotic and luxurious materials. Now 28 years later Ingram has clients in Princeton, Hopewell, and Boston.

Lewis says he got involved with IAT because Ingram asked him. Another reason is family legacy. “My ancestors lived in the Trenton before the 1860s — they just sort of pop up as part of the Trenton community involved with building Mt. Zion AME Church. My grandmother left Trenton to live with my grandfather (in southern New Jersey). I used to visit Trenton until the riots and then stopped coming. I have fond memories of Trenton — like this is where my family comes.”

Looking forward, Ingram sees the group continuing to produce small events to help the group step forward to reach some strategic goals.

That include increasing the board, building deep alliances with the city’s various racial and ethnic populations, and helping new businesses and initiatives.

And then there is the billboard campaign. “If we can get the funding for another billboard campaign we’d want one on Route 1 heading into Princeton,” says Ingram. “We do great PR for the city.”

“We started as Capital City Commu- ceutical firm that got bought up by a nity Foundation,” says Ingram. “I Am Princeton company, and we moved to Trenton is the registered name.”

Central New Jersey. I wanted to live in a city that was not part of a megalopoo matter the name, the group lis. That left us with Trenton, Atlantic started its first round of small City, and Camden. We fell in love with grants, $3,500 total, and a public proj- the housing stock in Trenton.” ect. “Christine Palmer came up with “I am from Waltham, Massachuthe billboard campaign,” says Ingram, setts,” says Ingram, whose father adding, “I have been involved from the ran an insurance business. She says get go. We’re fortunate to have people she first came to the area to take a job at Mathematica Policy Research who are here for the right reason.”

Interestingly neither she nor Lewis in Princeton and met her future husband, Ray Ingram, an IT consultant is from Trenton.

Lewis, who is employed by the and owner of the software and service Flemington Free Public Library, is company Dathil.

“He was living in Mercerville, and from Millville, New Jersey. His mother was a teacher and his father a proba- I didn’t want to live there,” she says. tion officer. After attending college “We got a lovely in a house in Trenton, in South Carolina, Lewis ended up in and here we are 31 years later.”

In between then and now was a stint Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he I Am Trenton Community Founmet his future husband, Steve Slush- at Mathematica in New York City, a dation, Box 1743, Trenton 08607. 515er. “He was part owner of a pharma- change in careers, and the launching 674-2127. www.iamtrenton.org. of her own decorative arts company,

N

February 2020 | Trenton Downtowner13

EvEnTS, continued from page 13

Passage Theatre hosts annual benefit

Job Fair, CURE Insurance Arena, 81 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, 609-656-3200. www.cureinsurancearena.com. Hiring for part-�me posi�ons. 3 to 7 p.m.

P

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Dezheng Ping and Larissa Korkina, Music at St. Michael’s, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 140 N. Warren Street, Trenton.

Noon�me recital. Free. Noon.

Notary Public Registra�on/Renewal, Mercer County Connec�on, Hamilton Square Shopping Center, 957 Route 33, Hamilton, 609890-9800. 3 p.m.



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State House Artwork Tour, New Jersey Statehouse, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609847-3150. www.njstatehousetours.org. Tour celebra�ng the 40th anniversary of the Public Buildings Arts Inclusion Act. See artwork incorporated into the capitol complex including stained glass, �lework, pain�ngs, and sculptures. Reserva�ons required. 1:30 p.m.

Friday Dance Party, American Ballroom, 1523 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, 609-931-0149. www.americanballroomco.com. $10. 7 to 9 p.m.

Riverview Consort Early Music, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. $20. 8 p.m.

S������� 2/8

Dance Theatre of Harlem, McCarter Theatre, 91 University Place, Princeton, 609-2582787. www.mccarter.org. The 17-member company performs classics, works by Balachine, and contemporary pieces. 8 p.m.

Kevin Daniel, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-3926409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 8 p.m.

WebT, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton. com. $15, $10 drink minimum. 3:30 p.m.

Joe Plowman and the Philadelphians, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $5-$20. 2 p.m.

Around the World with Capital Philharmonic of NJ, Trenton Country Club, 201 Sullivan Way, Trenton, 215-493-1111. www.capitalphilharmonic.org. Cocktails, dinner and silent auc�on $125. 6 p.m.

Improvisa�onal Quil�ng, Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, 299 Parkside Avenue, Trenton, 609-989-3632. Workshop led by Rose Miller. Register. 1:30 p.m.

9/8

 2/15

Victorian Pressed Flower Workshop, Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, 609-924-8144, ext. 103. morven. org. $20-$30. 11 a.m.

Science on Saturdays, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, 100 Stellarator Road, Princeton, 609-243-2121. www.pppl.gov. “The Cosmic Mul�verse: Science or Fantasy” talk

by Ma�hew Kleban, physics professor at New York University. 9:30 a.m.

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Corinne Mammana, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 2 p.m.

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Modern Times, Princeton Garden Movie Theatre, 160 Nassau Street, Princeton. www. princetongardentheatre.org. Screening of the Charlie Chaplin film followed by discussion. $9-$12.50. 7:30 p.m.

Karaoke, Trenton Social, 449 South Broad Street, Trenton. www.facebook.com/trentonsocial. Hosted by Sweets. 9 p.m.

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Jam Night with Nikki and Caleb, Championship Bar, 931 Chambers Street, Trenton, 609394-7437. www.championshipbartrenton. com. Live music. No cover. All skill levels welcome. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

215•295•4402

OPEN 24 HOURS

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LAUNDRY-DEPOT.COM 322 WEST TRENTON AVENUE, MORRISVILLE, PA 19067 14Trenton Downtowner February 2020

 2/22

W�������� 2/12

Ballroom Newcomers Dance, American Ballroom, 1523 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, 609931-0149. www.americanballroomco.com.

Group class included. $10. 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Murad/Zinger Duo, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. $20. 7 p.m.

CASA for Children Informa�on Session, CASA for Children of Mercer & Burlington Coun�es, 1450 Parkside Avenue, Suite 22, Ewing, 609-434-0050. www.casamb.org. Informa�on session for prospec�ve volunteers. 5:30 p.m.

Let’s Get Spicy, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609-584-5900. Culinary nutri�on demonstra�on and cooking class.

Register. 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

T������� 2/13

Kids in the Kitchen: Sweet Heart Snacks, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609-584-5900. Healthy hands-on cooking class for ages 6 and older accompanied by adults. $5. Register. 6:30 p.m.

F����� 2/14

Valen�ne’s Day. Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Kelsey Theater, Mercer Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, 609-570-3333. www.kelseyatmccc.org. Neil Simon classic about a man in the throes of a midlife crisis who borrows his mother’s apartment for a series of a�ernoon encounters. Through February 23. 8 p.m.

State House Artwork Tour, New Jersey Statehouse, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609847-3150. www.njstatehousetours.org. Reserva�ons required. 1:30 p.m.

Friday Dance Party, American Ballroom, 1523 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, 609-931-0149. www.americanballroomco.com. $10. 7 to 9 p.m.

Edna’s Kim, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-3926409. $5-$20. 8 p.m.  Solo Concert, Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Cadwalader Park, Trenton. www. ellarslie.org. Jazz pianist and vocalist Andy Kahn performs. $35 includes hors d’oeuvres and beverages. 7 to 8:30 p.m.

S������� 2/15

Carrie Jackson, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www. jazztrenton.com. $15, $10 drink minimum.

3:30 p.m.

Marc Kaye’s Songwriter’s Showcase, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $5-$20. 8 p.m.



assage Theatre Company hosts its annual benefit on Saturday, February 29, at the Trenton Country Club.

This year’s honorees are Passage board president Judith Wooldridge and PNC Bank. Both were selected for their generous contributions to Passage’s mission and the Trenton community.

Wooldridge, a Princeton resident with a 40-year career as a health policy researcher and senior vice-president at Mathematica, has been a Passage board member for eight years and president of the board for nearly four years.

PNC Bank has been a committed supporter of Passage for more than 10 years. Joseph F. Whall, PNC senior vice president and director of client and community relations, will accept the award.

Passage’s annual fundraising benefit raises about 10 percent of the organization’s general operating support. The remaining revenue comes from foundations, corporations, individuals, and ticket sales.

Passage Theatre Benefit, Trenton Country Club, 201 Sullivan Way, West Trenton. Saturday, February 29, 5:30 p.m. $125.

609-392-0766 or www.passagetheatre.org.

S����� 2/16

Max’d Out, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-3926409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 2 p.m.

Quilt Arts and Culture, Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, 299 Parkside Avenue, Trenton, 609-989-3632. www.ellarslie.org. Talk by Gail Mitchell. 1:30 p.m.

M����� 2/17

Presidents’ Day. Bank and postal holiday.

Karaoke, Trenton Social, 449 South Broad Street, Trenton. www.facebook.com/trentonsocial. Hosted by Sweets. 9 p.m.

T������ 2/18

Jam Night with Nikki and Caleb, Championship Bar, 931 Chambers Street, Trenton, 609394-7437. /www.championshipbartrenton. com. Live music. No cover. All skill levels welcome. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease and Demen�a, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609-584-5900. Informa�on on risk factors, disease stages, treatments and available resources. Register. 1:30 p.m.

Ask the Sleep Doctor, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609-584-5900.

Informal lecture and Q&A. Register. 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Stress Busters, Interfaith Caregivers of Greater Mercer County, Our Lady of Sorrows, 3816 E. State Street, Hamilton, 609-393-9922.

Nine-week support group for family caregivers. Register. 10:30 a.m.

W�������� 2/19

Ballroom Newcomers Dance, American Ballroom, 1523 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, 609931-0149. www.americanballroomco.com.

Group class included. $10. 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

TAACC Poetry Cafe, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org.

Free. 6 p.m.

T������� 2/20

CASA for Children Informa�on Session, CASA for Children of Mercer & Burlington Coun�es, 1450 Parkside Avenue, Suite 22, Ewing, 609-434-0050. www.casamb.org. 10 a.m.

F����� 2/21

State House Artwork Tour, New Jersey Statehouse, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609847-3150. www.njstatehousetours.org. Reserva�ons required. 1:30 p.m.

Friday Dance Party, American Ballroom, 1523 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, 609-931-0149. $10. 7 to 9 p.m.

Alex Otey Trio, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609392-6409. $20. 8 p.m.

Winter Jam 2020, Championship Bar, 931 Chambers Street, Trenton, 609-394-7437. www.championshipbartrenton.com. More than a dozen bands perform. Con�nues February 22. $40 for two-day pass. 5 to 11 p.m.

East Coast Indoor Dirt Na�onals, CURE Insurance Arena, 81 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, 609-656-3200. www.cureinsurancearena. com. Indoor car racing. $23. Also February 22. 7 p.m.

S������� 2/22

Opening Recep�on -- Collec�ve Expedi�ons, BSB Gallery, 143 East State Street, Suite 4, Trenton, 609-599-3268. www.bsbgallery.com. An exhibi�on featuring mul�media and performance work by ar�sts, Olivia Baldwin, Kyle Co�er, Sarah Po�er, Elisa Pritzker and Greg Slick, designed to exploring the meanings of long buried cultures. On view through March 15. Free. 5 p.m.  Brothers on Broadway, Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, 215-893-1999. www.capitalphilharmonic.org. A tribute to Broadway’s African American leading men featuring Keith Spencer and the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey. $30-$65. 7:30 p.m.

Mara Levine and Gathering Time, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $5-$20. 8 p.m.



S����� 2/23

PJ Parker and Sean Gough, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. $5-$20. 2 p.m.

Underground Railroad Quilts, Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Cadwalader Park, Trenton, 609-989-3632. www.ellarslie.org. Talk

by Cassandra Gunkel. 1:30 p.m.

M����� 2/24

Karaoke, Trenton Social, 449 South Broad Street, Trenton. www.facebook.com/trentonsocial. Hosted by Sweets. 9 p.m.

Hate the Weight Loss Cycle? Love Yourself and Lose!, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609-584-5900. Mo�va�onal �ps and weight-loss advice. Register. 6 p.m.

T������ 2/25

Jam Night with Nikki and Caleb, Championship Bar, 931 Chambers Street, Trenton, 609394-7437. Live music. No cover. All skill levels welcome. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

How You Can Benefit from an Interven�onal Radiologist, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609-584-5900. Register. 6 p.m.

Gift helps Trenton celebrate Washington’s birthday all year

By Dan auBrey

T

renton can celebrate George Washington’s birthday, February 22, by celebrating Wells Fargo’s donation of a historic painting depicting the Revolutionary War hero and first U.S. president to Thomas Edison State University.

The painting has nothing to do with Washington’s famous Christmas Day Battle of Trenton but commemorates what is revealed in its title: “Reception to Washington on April 21, 1789, at Trenton on his way to New York to Assume the Duties of the Presidency of the United States.”

The 17-foot-tall by 12-foot-wide oil-on-canvas mural by American illustrator and painter N.C. Wyeth was commissioned in 1930 by First Mechanics National Bank (a legacy company of Wells Fargo). Displayed at the former bank’s headquarters for decades, it was a familiar and beloved Trenton attraction.

When Wells Fargo moved from

the corner of 1 West State Street, its new space was unable to accommodate the mural, and its future in Trenton became uncertain.

In 2013 officials representing Wells Fargo and the State of New Jersey, along with other community members, found a location for it at Thomas Edison State University, where the work was on loan, and had remained on view on West State Street.

In November, 2019, Wells Forgo transferred ownership of the painting. Its Sotheby’s-appraised value of $4 million makes the painting the gift of largest financial value in the university’s history.

N.C. Wyeth (1882 to 1945) is one of America’s most famous artists and illustrators, creating more than 3,000 paintings and murals and more than 100 books. He is also the father of famed American artist Andrew Wyeth and grandfather to another noted painter, Jamie Wyeth.

The Brandywine, Pennsylvaniabased artist visited Trenton and did research at the Trenton Free Public Library, which owns a portion of the ceremonial arch through which Washington passed and which is de-

picted in the mural.

The dates seen on the image — December 26, 1776, and January 2, 1777 — commemorate Washington’s victories over British forces in the two Battles of Trenton — events that turned the tide in favor of the Americans in their struggle for independence from England.

The painting can be seen in Thomas Edison State University’s Great Hall, 111 West State Street. www. tesu.edu

W�������� 2/26

Ash Wednesday.

Ballroom Newcomers Dance, American Ballroom, 1523 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, 609931-0149. www.americanballroomco.com.

Group class included. $10. 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Fat Tuesday Goes Lean for Lent, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609584-5900. Culinary nutri�on demonstra�on and cooking class. Register. 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

T������� 2/27

Discover Your Character Strengths, RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center Community Educa�on, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, 609-584-5900. Register. 6:30 p.m.

F����� 2/28

Disney’s Frozen Jr., Kelsey Theater, Mercer Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, 609-570-3333. www. kelseyatmccc.org. Princesses Elsa, Anna, and the magical land of Arendelle come to life.

Also February 29. 7 p.m.

State House Artwork Tour, New Jersey Statehouse, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609847-3150. www.njstatehousetours.org. Reserva�ons required. 1:30 p.m.

Friday Dance Party, American Ballroom, 1523 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, 609-931-0149. $10.

7 to 9 p.m.

Open Mic Night, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 7 p.m.

S������� 2/29

Shane Barker, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-3926409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 2 p.m.

Andrew T. Miles and Evan Miklosey, 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 8 p.m.

Dick Gra�on, Trenton Social Restaurant, 449 S. Broad Street,Trenton, 609-989-7777. Jazz and sushi night. 6 p.m.

 2/22 Passage Benefit, Passage Theatre, Trenton Country Club, 201 Sullivan Way, Trenton. www.passagetheatre.org. $125. 5:30 p.m.

Annual Gala, Boheme Opera NJ, Mercer Oaks Clubhouse, 725 Village Road West, Princeton Junc�on, 609-581-9551. bohemegala2020. brownpaper�ckets.com. Rigole�o’s Courtly

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Jest gala celebrates the upcoming produc�on of Verdi’s “Rigole�o.” Performance by quartet featuring soprano Jacqueline Quirk, mezzo-soprano Devony Smith, tenor Jeremy Brauner, and baritone Robert Balonek, plus dinner, raffle, silent auc�on, and more. Register. $140. 7 to 11 p.m.

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February 2020 | Trenton Downtowner15

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16Trenton Downtowner February 2020