Town Topics Newspaper, June 18, 2025

Westminster Conservatory To Continue on Campus Through Fall Semester

Online Talk Recounts History-Making

Flood of 1955 5

Brian Hughes Remembered By Colleagues 7

Many Issues on Tap

For June 28

WJNA Meeting 9

Princeton Festival Continues with Opera Classic 17

The Bridges of Madison County Opens Princeton Summer Theater’s Season 20

Ending a Historic Chapter In Princeton Rowing, Crotty Steps Down as Men’s Lightweight Coach 26

While the future management of Westminster Conservatory of Music has yet to be decided, Rider University has agreed to continue running the community music school through the 2025 fall semester. The plan was confirmed on Tuesday by Kristine Brown, Rider’s vice president of external affairs.

The Conservatory will remain on the Walnut Avenue campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University through the fall term. Rider, which merged with Westminster in 1991, moved the Choir College to its Lawrence Township location in 2020 after unsuccessfully attempting to sell the 23-acre Princeton campus. The Conservatory has continued to operate from the Princeton campus.

The Municipality of Princeton acquired the site for $42 million via eminent domain this past April. Work has been underway “to reimagine this historic site to meet urgent public facility needs, while honoring the cultural significance of its past and leaving a legacy for future generations,” Princeton Council President Mia Sacks said at the time, adding that community engagement would be part of the process.

PDS Boys’ Tennis Showed Fight to the End As it Lost Nail-Biter in Non-Public Quarters 29 Continued on Page 8

Since Rider first announced plans to sell the Princeton campus in 2016, a group of alumni, students, and staff known as the Westminster Foundation has been working to return the Choir College to Princeton, where it was established in 1935. Those efforts included two lawsuits against Rider, related to the merger agreement. Both are being withdrawn.

Constance Fee, president of the Westminster Foundation, said in an email to the Westminster community this week that the Foundation will be among the stakeholders included in discussions about the future.

“In the meantime, current plans for the campus include preserving and maintaining the Quadrangle and Cullen Center buildings, with efforts underway to protect cherished memorials and historical markers,” she said. “After renovations and repairs are completed, spaces on the campus will be available for rental and use by community music and arts groups, including Westminster alumni. Leases will continue for most of the organizations currently renting space

Pride Parade and No Kings Rally Pack Princeton

The weather report was ominous and the rains came, but on Saturday, June 14, thousands of people poured into Princeton to make their voices heard — on Witherspoon Street marching up to the YMCA field for the Pride Parade and Afterparty in the morning, and in Monument Park and Stockton Street for a No Kings Day and Day of Defiance rally in the afternoon.

“‘Nothing is going to dampen our joy’ was the slogan I heard most doing the day,” said Sara Wasserman, queer educator and local community organizer at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ), which was the lead organizer of the Pride events. “We had quite a huge crowd of folks who didn’t care about the rain.”

The No Kings rally, one of hundreds of similar events Saturday throughout the country with more than five million total participants, was a protest against authoritarianism, corruption, and billionaire-first politics. The Princeton Battle Monument with its representation of George Washington towering over a massive crowd was a particularly appropriate reminder of the nation’s founding on the principle that the president is not a king.

Princeton Police Department (PPD) Captain Matthew Solovay, one of about 10 officers overseeing the morning events

and one of a dozen officers on duty for the afternoon rally, reported “no significant issues” except the weather and movement of the huge crowds and management of traffic during the day’s proceedings. Solovay estimated the crowd for the Pride Parade and Afterparty at 500-800 and the No Kings Rally, for which they were expecting 500-1000 people, at more than 3,500. Pride organizers estimated the Parade and Afterparty crowd at well over 1,000.

The greatest challenge for the PPD was helping to move thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles out of the area at the end of the No Kings rally. Solovay reported some traffic congestion as the PPD managed traffic flow and navigated the departure of pedestrians and vehicles.

BRCSJ Chief Activist Robt Seda-Schreiber described the Pride Parade and Afterparty as “an extraordinary event and truly a magical day.” He wrote in an email, “Last year we beat the heat and soaked in

Sherrill and Ciattarelli Win Primary Races, Face Off in Gubernatorial Campaign

Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli are off and running in what’s been described by nj.com as a “bruising” race for governor of New Jersey, following last week’s primary election in which both candidates registered impressive victories over challenging fields of party rivals.

In Princeton and throughout the state, Democratic and Republican parties are gearing up for the general election, with Sherrill and Ciattarelli vying to take over for current New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who is not eligible for another term.

A number of state legislature and local offices are also on the ballot.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states with gubernatorial elections this November, with those contests being closely watched as an indicator of voter attitudes towards President Trump in his first year back in office.

In the Democratic primary Sherrill, who represents New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, won 33.9 percent of the New Jersey Democrats’ votes, fending off five competitors. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was second with 20.6 percent and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop third with 16.0 percent, according to most recent unofficial totals.

In

and in

and a “boisterous,” “upbeat,” “energized” crowd.

NO KINGS:

the shadow of George Washington represented on the Princeton Battle Monument

the spirit of Washington’s embrace of democracy, thousands of demonstrators overflowed Monument Park on Saturday afternoon, June 14, to join a nationwide expression of opposition to policies and actions of the Trump administration. The event featured six speakers, two musicians,

(Photo by Phil McAuliffe)

SUMMER ON THE SQUARE SUMMER ON THE SQUARE

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DONALD C. STUART, 1946-1981 DAN D. COYLE, 1946-1973 Founding Editors/Publishers

DONALD C. STUART III, Editor/Publisher, 1981-2001

LAURIE PELLICHERO Editor BILL ALDEN, Sports Editor

DONALD GILPIN, WENDY GREENBERG, ANNE LEVIN, STUART MITCHNER, NANCY PLUM, DONALD H. SANBORN III, JUSTIN FEIL, JEAN STRATTON, WILLIAM UHL Contributing Editors

FRANK WOJCIECHOWSKI, SARAH TEO, THOMAS HEDGES, ANGELA

PRINCETON PRIDE: Triumphing over adversity as the rains came

Pride Parade participants marched and danced from the Municipal Building up

YMCA field for a celebratory Afterparty on Saturday morning and early afternoon. “Truly a magical day,” said Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ) Chief Activist Robt SedaSchreiber, shown at far right.

Tips from Red Cross For Summer Safety

The American Red Cross New Jersey is offering tips for staying safe this summer Swimming safety is a key concern. Drowning can happen quickly and silently. Unless rescued, it could take as little as 20 to 60 seconds for a drowning person to submerge. The Red Cross urges people to be “water smart” by building confidence in the water, never swimming alone, designating a “water watcher,” wearing a life jacket on a boat, and reaching or throwing an object to a person in trouble in the water rather than diving in. Grilling sparks more than 10,000 home fires on average each year Always

supervise a barbecue grill when in use, the Red Cross suggests. Never grill indoors or in any enclosed area. Make sure everyone, including pets, stays away from the grill. Keep the grill out in the open, away from tree branches or anything that could catch fire. Use long-handled tools made especially for grilling. Don’t leave food out in the hot sun. Separate uncooked meats, poultry, and seafood from salads, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and desserts. When camping, being prepared for emergencies is critical in areas where there is limited access to phone services and help. Wear sunscreen and a hat, pack a first aid kit, use hiking trails that

are within skill levels, share plans with a family member of friend, bring nutritious foods and plenty of water, and download the free Red Cross First Aid app (redcross.org/apps) in case of emergency. Making sure pets are safe is another priority during the summer months. Never leave a pet in the car, even for a few minutes. Look for signs of heat stroke — heavy panting brick red gums, fast pulse rate, and being unable to get up. Bring the pet to the veterinarian as soon as possible if heat stroke is suggested, as it can lead to severe organ dysfunction or damage. Visit redcross.org/ summersafety for more information.

In Brief A Community Bulletin

Directed Enforcement Streets : The Princeton Police Department’s Traffic Safety Bureau and Patrol Bureau is strictly enforcing motor vehicle laws on Mercer Street (speeding), Chestnut and Spruce streets (speeding/stop sign), Jefferson Road (speeding), and the Central Business District (bikes/scooters prohibited) through the end of June. There is an increased police presence on these streets.

Leighton Listens: Councilman Leighton Newlin holds one-on-one conversations about issues impacting Princeton from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on June 18 at Olives Bakery, 22 Witherspoon and on June 25 in the outside seating area of McCaffrey’s Market, Princeton Shopping Center, 301 North Harrison Street.

Juneteenth Flag Raising : On Wednesday, June 19 at 1 p.m. at Monument Park. Afterward, celebrate Black culture through music at the Princeton Festival; an afternoon of live performances presented by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra at Morven, 55 Stockton Street.

Youth Advisory Committee : Currently accepting applications for the 2025-26 academic year. The deadline is June 20. Meetings are held on the first Thursdays of the month, at 7 p.m. Princetonnj.gov.

Food Pantry: Arm in Arm’s mobile food pantry is at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of Mercer County Library System, 2751 Brunswick Pike, on Monday afternoons from 2-4 p.m. Fresh produce, eggs, milk, frozen proteins, and quality baked goods as well as canned and boxed items and personal care items are available for those in need, and different social services agencies are on site. Mcl.org.

Sustainable Princeton “Lending Library” : Sustainable Princeton offers residents and nonprofits in Princeton the opportunity to borrow sustainable home items such as electric landscape equipment, induction cooktops, and repair tools, for free, for up to two weeks. Visit sustainableprinceton.org for more information.

down,

Witherspoon Street to the

(Photo courtesy of BRCSJ)

“Devastation on the Delaware” Online Talk Recounts History-Making Flood of 1955

Communities close to the Delaware River have seen their share of dangerous tropical storms and hurricanes in recent years — think Sandy, Irene, and Katrina. But none rival the devastation of August 1955, when the double whammy of

Hurricanes Connie and Diane struck the area within a week of one another.

The Delaware River watershed’s most catastrophic natural disaster is the topic of an online presentation by Mary Shafer, author of the book Devastation on the Delaware: Stories and Images of the Deadly Flood of 1955, on Thursday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. A 45-minute slide show accompanies Shafer’s talk, which is sponsored by the Delaware River Greenway Partnership. Visit shorturl.at/7416V to register for the free event.

A Pennsylvania native, Shafer is a self-described “weather weenie” who only learned about the storm when she happened upon a book on the subject at a rummage sale.

So were Morrisville, Yardley, and other Pennsylvania towns along the river. Even worse damage was recorded in the Carolinas and the Poconos.

The two storms did kind of a “do-si-do,” Shafer said. “When you have two close hurricanes, they will pull at each other. That’s what happened. Connie broke away and headed inland. That was okay until Diane followed. In the Poconos, there were up to 10 inches of water. Three different people I talked to described solid curtains of water, unlike anything they had ever experienced.”

The book, which is written like a thriller, describes

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“I thought it was weird, because I had been coming to Bucks County for 15 years to visit my cousin, and I had never even heard of this event,” she said. “I was freelancing for the New Hope Gazette at the time, and I asked about it. I was told it was a very regional event and it didn’t get a lot of coverage.”

Shafer’s interest eventual ly led to a book of her own. She had done three years of researching and writing when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. The devas tating storm and its after math inspired her to get it completed.

“As sad as it was, Katrina was kind of a silver lining to the deal,” she said. “Flood ing was at the front of ev eryone’s mind. I wrote up a release, and all of a sudden my phone started ringing off the hook, and it didn’t stop till more than a year later — more like two.”

Shafer did a lot of public speaking over the next five years. Devastation on the Delaware sold more than 15,000 copies. “For a debut indie book, that was amazing,” she said.

Ninety-nine people in the Delaware Valley died during the storms between August 18 and 20. Others were left for dead or missing. Trenton was particularly hard hit.

ALMOST GONE: The Yardley-Wilburtha Bridge, still spanning the Delaware River in this shot, was among the casualties of the deadly flood of 1955. Mary Shafer, author of a book on the subject, delivers a talk about the epic event on June 26. (Photo from the Trentoniana Collection)

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frantic efforts at three summer camps, on islands in the Delaware, to get campers out by helicopter before they were washed away. In Trenton, the whole riverfront — about three blocks — was entirely under water, closing the New Jersey State House and capital buildings. Yardley, Pa. lost the bridge that linked it to Wilburtha Road in Ewing.

More than once during the past decade, Shafer heard a story about a young man who braved the rushing waters in Yardley to rescue a dog that was stuck on debris headed for the Yardley-Wilburtha bridge. But she was never able to find the man, so she couldn’t corroborate the story and include it in the book.

At a talk she gave at the Yardley Historical Society, she was finally able to meet him. He was 98 years old.

“I had looked for him for three years,” she said. “I hadn’t been able to put the story in the book, and now I could [in the third edition]. It was the best moment of my career. This book changed my life.”

—Anne Levin

Greening of Trenton Is Topic of Breakfast

On Thursday, July 31 from 7:30-10 a.m., the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber presents “Sustainable Futures: The Greening of Trenton” as part of the Trenton Economic Development Series. The location is Cooper’s Riverview, 50 Riverview Executive Park, Route 29, Trenton.

From energy-efficient infrastructure to forwardthinking sustainability projects, the event will explore how environmental innovation is driving economic growth and revitalizing communities, especially in Trenton where a stronger future for business is being sought.

Following opening remarks by Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora, the keynote speech will be given by Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle. A panel discussion will follow with Jay Watson of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and Brian Blair of Trenton Renewable Power. Diana Rogers of Greater Mt. Zion Trenton Community Development Corporation is the moderator.

Question of the Week:

“What brought you to the event today?” (Asked Saturday afternoon at the No Kings Day rally in Monument Park) (Photos by Angela Lorenz)

Visit princetonchamber. org for more information.

—Maura Durkin, Manahawkin “There

Haba, Hillsborough

“We

—Ellen Cottone, Lawrenceville and Michelle Masto, Florence

Ch. Stonybrook’s Fantasia, Winner of Prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

Brian Hughes Remembered by Colleagues

As Devoted Public Servant and Preservationist

The June 10 death of former Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes at the age of 68 has inspired numerous recollections and tributes from fellow politicians and colleagues. Hughes is remembered for his commitment to land use, preservation of open space and historical structures, and his devotion to public service.

“Much like his father, former Gov. Richard Hughes, Brian devoted his entire life to serving the people of New Jersey,” said Gov. Phil Murphy. “During his time as Mercer County Executive, he pioneered a model of leadership that directly improved the lives of our state’s families and workers. From preserving thousands of acres of open space to investing in infrastructure and social services, he was a steadfast champion for all who have the privilege of calling the Garden State home.”

Dan Benson, who succeeded Hughes as Mercer County Executive last year, described him as “a devoted public servant, and a truly decent man.”

In his 20 years as County Executive, Hughes showed his passion for the county, “from our parks, to our airport, to our services for our most vulnerable populations,” Benson said. “During my years as a County Commissioner, and later as a State Assemblyman, I had the opportunity to work with Brian for the betterment of Mercer County. Like his father, Governor Richard Hughes, Brian believed deeply in public service and helping those in need.”

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman recalled Hughes as a dear friend. “Brian was a lifelong public servant who tirelessly served Mercer County as its executive with dignity and exceptional service for 20 years,” she said. “Our families have known each other since our fathers worked together decades ago. He always fought for the less fortunate, and was a forward-looking leader in Mercer County. I was honored to work with Brian to help make Mercer County the incredible place it is today. His hard work in service of his constituents and the indelible mark he left on our community will be his lasting legacy. My heart goes out to his wife Pam, son Sullivan, and the entire Hughes family.”

A statement from the Mercer County Board of Commissioners said Hughes “led with integrity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to the residents of our county. Over two decades, his leadership brought transformative progress in infrastructure, open space preservation, and effective, transparent government.”

“Brian was more than a public servant — he was a colleague, a friend, and a mentor to many on this board,” the statement continues. “We are profoundly grateful for his service to the people of Mercer County and for the strong partnerships he fostered across the region and state. His legacy will continue to benefit our community for generations. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with his family and with all who knew,

Use of Hand Tools Is Topic of Lecture

loved, and admired him.”

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora knew Hughes, in public and private life, since 1988.

“Over the decades, I came to know him not only as a steadfast leader but as an incredible friend and unwavering supporter of the City of Trenton,” he said. “He was a true advocate for the underserved, never forgetting the people and communities too often overlooked. He led with heart, humility, and a tireless commitment to the betterment of Mercer County. His legacy will long be felt across the region, especially in Trenton, where his advocacy and love for our city never wavered. Brian Hughes was universally respected and beloved, and his loss leaves a tremendous void. My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Hughes family during this difficult time.”

Hughes’ commitment to historic preservation was noted in a Facebook post by historian Sally Lane, board president of Crossroads of the American Revolution.

“When the Chris Christie administration killed the Trenton Urban Park’s first phase behind the State House, the Petty’s Run second phase went into bureaucratic limbo. Then Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno ordered it permanently covered, despite its protected status. Brian Hughes saved it,” Lane wrote.

She continued, “He offered Mercer County Open Space funding and he persisted. It is one of only five 18th century steel furnaces and plating mills known to have existed in the colonies, and the only one to be uncovered. The remains of the Trenton Steel Works are judged to be of national significance and represent the first archaeologically documented evidence of an 18th-century steel furnace in the New World. Richard Hunter and Ian Burrow and their firm [Hunter Research] did the work, Kathy Crotty and Jay Watson ran interference, but we owe its existence to Brian.”

John Hatch, architect with the Trenton firm Clarke Caton Hintz, wrote, “Prior to becoming County Executive, he was instrumental in saving Building 4, a beautiful historic industrial building across Hamilton Avenue from the Cure Insurance Arena.”

Linda Lloyd McGhee added, “All of his goodness and preservation of Mercer County and New Jersey history need to be taught to inspire others.”

—Anne Levin

Rider Furniture

D&R Greenway Land Trust and farmer and workshop leader Rob Flory will present “The Effective Use of Hand Tools in Gardening and Land Stewardship” on Sunday, June 22 at 2 pm at St. Michael’s Farm Preserve, Hopewell. This workshop is appropriate for gardeners, farmers and land stewards. Reservations are necessary (drgreeway.org). Detailed directions and parking information will be sent to registrants prior to the event. A donation of $10 per person contributes to the care of the land by D&R Greenway Land Trust.

This workshop will cover the basic tools of agriculture, and some specialized adaptations like the wheel hoe(hoe) and scythe(knife) to make gardening work more efficient. Their use in cutting vegetation of different kinds, tillage, planting, and cultivating will be demonstrated with handson opportunities as field conditions allow.

Flory has been practicing agriculture for 40 years with tools ranging from pre-contact Indigenous tools made of wood, stone and bone, village and industrial-level animal-drawn tools, to use of tractors and adaptations of basic tools to animal and tractor power. He applies human and tractor-powered tools of many types in his work at the Native SeedSharing Garden at D&R Greenway’s St. Michaels Farm Preserve. A few other methods will be demonstrated, like solarization and occultation, and fire will be discussed but not practiced, especially Indigenous uses of fire.

Flory formerly worked as a farmer and internship coordinator at Howell Living History Farm. He partners with D&R Greenway Land Trust to provide educational programs on agriculture and crops. At St. Michaels Farm Preserve, he is growing native corn from Indigenous seed to share with the Lenape people, and he is growing crops for donation to Aunt Chubby’s Project and the Stoutsburg-Sourland African American Museum. Now over 400 acres, the St. Michaels property, which was preserved in 2010 and expanded in 2017, is an expanse of farm fields and forests on the edge of Hopewell Borough. Started as a Victory Garden in 2020, the community garden at St. Michaels Farm Preserve has grown to 48 plots and provides a beautiful setting for community members to grow healthy and nutritious food.

Visitors to the preserve can look for the D&R Greenway sign and park in the parking lot located approximately at 120 Princeton Avenue, Hopewell.

FOPOS Welcomes Two New Trustees

an independent consultant, she has held grant-writing positions at the Arts Council of Princeton and McCarter Theatre Center. She and her husband Bo, who has served on the FOPOS board, have been long-time supporters of the organization. They have engaged in sustainable landscape practices, including installing native plants and a wildflower meadow, at their home overlooking the Community Park North section of the Greater Mountain Lakes Natural Area.

Newby grew up in southern California in the Mojave Desert, among the poppies and Joshua trees. She completed her PhD in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia in 2022, and is now a lecturer at Princeton University, where

she teaches undergraduate writing and research classes focused on topics and themes in environmental studies. She researches and writes about the commonalities shared by literature, ecology and environmental health from the nineteenth century to the present. She has led students from Princeton’s Writing Program and Scholars Institute Fellows Program on field trips to the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve to learn about FOPOS’s Riparian Restoration Project to remove invasive species and plant native trees, shrubs and wildflowers.

Since its founding in 1969, FOPOS has helped to establish more than 1,800 acres of parkland and a network of trails that nearly encircles

Princeton. Through grants and the contributions of hundreds of people in the community, FOPOS has helped to raise over $9 million for the purchase of land and acquisition of easements on properties that might have been bulldozed for development. FOPOS also engages in stewardship, from creating and maintaining hiking trails, boardwalks and footbridges, to the removal of invasive species and the replanting and care of native varieties. FOPOS also sponsors community programs and activities, such as nature walks and educational workshops, and advocates for governmental actions that protect our water, land, animals and plant communities. Visit fopos.org for more information.

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Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) announced the election of two new trustees, Andrea Honore and Diana Newby, at its annual membership meeting in May.

Honore, who has an MA in art history, has worked in auction houses and museums, as well as with art collections and arts-inhealthcare programs. Now

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO). A cultural centerpiece of the Princeton community and one of New Jersey’s finest music organizations. The PSO presents orchestral, pops, and chamber music programs of the highest artistic quality, supported by lectures and community events

Its flagship summer program The Princeton Festival brings an array of performing arts and artists to Princeton at: Morven Museum & Garden June 6-21, 2025

BY HAND: A group of volunteers from Outdoor Equity Alliance recently explored the use of hand tools in a garden at St. Michael’s Farm Preserve in Hopewell.

Westminster continued from page one on the campus, and plans for the Westminster Conservatory to remain on the campus are being considered.”

Since its relocation to Rider’s campus and the related uncertainty about its future, the Choir College — considered a world-renowned cultural institution — has seen its enrollment shrink by more than a third. In her letter, Fee acknowledges that the Choir College will never return to Princeton.

Despite that, “The Westminster Foundation remains committed to honoring the history and preserving the legacy of Westminster Choir College,” she said. “We will continue to engage with the Municipality to ensure that Westminster’s contributions to the cultural life of the Princeton community are recognized and the historical significance of the campus is honored.”

At its June 11 meeting, the Princeton Board of Education unanimously appointed

thony J. Diaforli as director of facilities and grounds, effective September 1, and David Hunt as assistant director of facilities and grounds, effective August 1.

budgets and scheduling, worked with contractors, managed preparation for athletic programs and events, and overseen equipment maintenance, among other responsibilities. In addition, he has earned a state certification in educational facilities management and has taken courses in diverse subjects ranging from architecture to integrated pest

Fee thanked Sacks and the Council for their efforts. She also cited the appointment last January of Westminster alumnus Donald Nally as director of choral studies as a positive development.

“While we acknowledge that some recent changes may not be what we had hoped for, we take comfort in knowing that the Municipality is committed to carefully preserving and maintaining the campus and that it will be accessible for future generations,” she said. “We will continue to keep you informed as plans develop.”

—Anne Levin

Get the scoop from

Diaforli has worked in the Princeton Public Schools for 35 years, the past 26 as grounds foreman. Hunt has been a part of the district’s grounds maintenance staff for the past 29 years.

“Tony Diaforli and Dave Hunt are well known and highly regarded in our community,” said Interim Superintendent Dr. Kathie Foster. “They have long since earned the trust of staff in facilities and grounds, school leaders, and our partners and contractors. Tony’s training and experience have led him naturally to the director’s role. I am delighted that both Tony and Dave are moving into these leadership roles.”

As Grounds foreman, Diaforli has led staff, managed

“I am excited to be part of some of the changes that are coming as school additions come online,” he said. “I also enjoy working within the community. Because I have been here, I know the folks in the road department, the recreation department, and the PTOs. If you are in the field, or if you are a parent, I know your concerns and I will be ready to respond.”

Hunt has worked on maintaining grounds, preparing athletic fields, scheduling, repairing equipment, maintaining vehicles, training new employees, and performing supervisory roles as needed.

“As an employee of the district for almost 30 years, I

feel vested in the community,” Hunt said. “I am excited to get started in my new role. I have been involved in all facets of maintenance and grounds throughout my career, and I am ready to tackle any needs that the district may have.”

Outdoor Activities Planned At Apple Montessori Princeton

With summer break less than two weeks away, Apple Montessori Princeton is officially ready to open their new inground saltwater pool.

Ready for the start of the school’s educational summer camp, parents can look forward to their little ones receiving a well-rounded education with plenty of outdoor activities.

This summer, Apple Montessori Princeton will intertwine outdoor activities with interactive learning, with the added bonus of offerings including swim lessons from Red Crosscertified instructors, thanks to the new pool. With additional programs spanning music, sports, cooking, and hands-on robotics programs, the camp ensures kids continue to build on their educational development, cognitive skills, and social skills from the school year while having a summer-long adventure of fun, creativity, and friendship. Visit applemontessorischools.com for information.

a Princeton tradition!

“AI

in NJ” is Topic Of Chamber Event

On Thursday, July 10 from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m., Princeton Mercer Chamber presents “AI in NJ: A Conversation with the Inaugural Executive Director of the New NJ AI Hub” at Princeton Marriott at Forrestal. Liat Krawczyk, the speaker, will talk about how the stateof-the-art hub in Princeton is innovating the AI workforce and what it means for Mercer County. According to New Jersey Business Magazine, “The state’s designated Strategic Innovation Centers (SICs) aim to bolster New Jersey as a hotbed for startups and other innovative endeavors.” To register for the event, visit princetonmercer chamber.org.

Anthony J. Diaforli

David Hunt

JUMP IN: The new inground saltwater pool at Apple Montessori Princeton is officially ready for campers.

Many Critical Issues on Tap For June 28 WJNA Meeting

The Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood Association (WJNA) will be holding a public meeting open to the whole Princeton community at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 28 at the Arts Council of Princeton. A number of hot issues are on the agenda.

Among the WJ-related topics up for discussion are engineering and infrastructure, the tree canopy, ongoing renovations at the Paul Robeson House, the work of the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society (WJHCS), a new project to construct a WJ laundromat, and a review of plans for this summer’s Joint Effort Safe Streets program.

The agenda item of greatest interest, however, according to WJNA co-chair Leighton Newlin, who is also a member of Princeton Council, is a report from the Witherspoon-Jackson Development Corporation (WJDC), whose mission is “to preserve, restore, and sustain the WitherspoonJackson neighborhood’s historic character, diversity, and quality of life.”

Calling for more transparency and accountability on the part of the WJDC, Newlin stated that he had “been barraged by questions” from members of the community, and many of those questions were focused on a house at 31 Maclean Street that the WJDC bought in 2019 for about $400,000 with the plan of making renovations and selling at an affordable price to a qualified buyer.

“As a neighbor, a resident of the neighborhood, and an elected official I get inquiries,” said Newlin. “People need to be informed. More than a few people are wondering about this.”

The WJNA’s major source of funding has been a settlement of approximately $1.25 million paid by Princeton University in three installments from 2017 to 2019.

Newlin acknowledged that the WJDC has been paying taxes on the house and making some repairs, as well as providing tax assistance for lower income WJ residents, but he and his constituents, he says, will be eager to learn more at the June 28 meeting.

“The most important thing that should happen at this meeting is an update about what’s going on with the house at 31 Maclean,” he said. “People want to live there, and nothing’s happening. It’s been vacant for a long time. A lot of people are very upset with the fact that they got $1.25 million in the settlement from Princeton University, and no one knows what’s being done with that.”

Newlin stated that WJDC Chair Yina Moore had promised more feedback and transparency at the last WJNA meeting in November 2023 but had provided no further information. “People want to know, and there are people in the neighborhood who want to consider becoming homeowners there,” said Newlin.

In a June 13 phone conversation Moore, who along with Newlin is also co-chair of the WJNA, stated that the WJDC had not made a decision about the disposition of

the 31 Maclean Street house but that there had been several applicants to purchase it and that they hoped to sell it in the coming months to a longtime resident or descendant, member of the school system, a first responder, or someone who has been in service to the neighborhood.

The house has required more repairs than anticipated. “We rebuilt the rear deck to code yet need to repair the front porch decking and railing to historic standards, after which the siding will be painted,” Moore said. “The interior is being painted, lead paint remediated, a cracked sewer main line repaired, and a new oven range and bathroom sink, both donated by a member, installed. American Water has just notified us that the lines from the street may be lead pies, so those will need to be repaired.”

She went on to note that WJDC has paid out almost a half million dollars in property “relief” payments to approximately 50 longtime WJ neighborhood homeowners. She added that the WJDC directors continue to update the website wjdcnj.org to increase interactivity and that this summer they are embarking on a yard cleanup program led by a landscaper who has offered his services to the organization.

“We value and seek participation from all over the community and encourage volunteers, such as the landscaper, to come forward with time, skills and pro bono services,” said Moore.

In addition to Moore’s eagerly anticipated updates on the WJDC, the June 28 agenda includes an overview from a representative of the

municipal engineering department and a presentation, probably led by a member of the Princeton Shade Tree Commission, on the status of the WJ neighborhood tree canopy, which, according to Newlin, has been identified as “suffering” and “needing an upgrade.”

“We need more tree cover,” said Newlin. “White neighborhoods have more trees and are cooler than Black neighborhoods. If you live in the neighborhood and you don’t have a tree in front of your house, then let’s try and get one there.”

Also featured at the June 28 meeting will be Paul Robeson House of Princeton Board President Ben Colbert discussing plans for completing renovations and opening the house to the public, and WJHCS Board President Shirley Satterfield discussing recent initiatives of the organization.

Also on the agenda is a presentation prepared by Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design describing the construction of a laundromat on the corner of Witherspoon Street and Leigh Avenue. “This will be the first time in many years that we’ve had a laundromat in that neighborhood, and what a joy it will be,” said Newlin, especially for individuals and families that have had to travel across town to use laundry facilities.

The final item currently on the agenda is a preview of the 2025 edition of John Bailey’s popular Joint Effort Safe Streets summer program of athletics, culture, education, and celebration coming up for the WJ community in August.

—Donald Gilpin

Sherrill and Ciattarelli continued from page one

In the Republican primary, Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman in his third race for governor, easily defeated his four opponents, tallying 67.8 percent of the vote to 21.8 percent for secondplace finisher Bill Spadea, a radio host and Princeton resident.

In Princeton’s unofficial results, it was 45.6 percent for Sherrill, 28.6 percent for Fulop, and 14.1 percent for Baraka in the Democratic race, with 55.6 percent for Ciattarelli and 30.1 percent for Spadea in the Republican primary. Princeton Democrats cast 4,105 votes, Republicans 448 votes.

“It was a set of strong candidates,” said Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO) Chair Jeffrey Oakman. “Mikie Sherrill ended up the victor by a significant margin, but it was great to see the range of interest.”

Oakman emphasized the “huge gulf” between the Democrats and “the MAGA Republican side of the equation.” He added, “Now is the time to focus on our shared values and get behind the Democratic candidates in the fall election. Donald Trump made it clear a long time ago that Jack [Ciattarelli] is his guy. He’s the MAGA guy in New Jersey.”

In planning for the coming four and a half months of campaigning, Oakman expressed a need to channel the energy from the primary into the general election. “We have a lot of work to do to make sure that we come out strong to reject what’s happening in D.C. from coming to New Jersey. Whether it’s DOGE or ending abortion rights or ending clean energy investments — any number of bad things that I think all of the Democratic candidates in the primary thought were bad. It’s time to coalesce on that.”

PCDO Elections Committee Chair Rachel Grainger noted that the organization would be organizing a number of door-to-door canvassing opportunities for volunteers looking to get involved in supporting Sherrill and other Democratic candidates on the ballot.

“Research tells us it’s the most effective strategy, but we’ll also add in some phone

banking, tabling, and postcard writing, and we’ll see how that shapes up,” she said. “The bottom line is that we’re very excited to talk with voters about our Democratic candidates.”

She continued “New Jerseyans want and deserve elected officials who will understand what’s keeping them up at night and who will be fighting for them every day.”

Both Oakman and Grainger stressed the importance of the down-ballot races — for two seats in the state assembly, for Mercer County Clerk, for two county commissioners, and for Princeton Council.

Oakman went on to underline the close connection between Ciattarelli, who came within about three percentage points of defeating Murphy in the 2021 gubernatorial election, and President Trump, who endorsed him last month in the primary race.

“He is the Donald Trump handpicked candidate here,” said Oakman. “What we’ve seen around the country is that the Republican Party today is the MAGA movement, and whatever Donald Trump says to do, they jump and do it. Is Donald Trump on the ballot? He kind of is.”

Oakman added, “People need to understand that Mikie Sherrill and other Democrats on the ballot have a different vision for our state and our country, and that’s the vision that we support, and we need to mobilize people around that vision.”

Princeton Republican Municipal Committee Chair Dudley Sipprelle stated that Republicans in Princeton and throughout the state are also focused on the race for governor this year, and he noted that the gubernatorial contest might also have a strong influence on the down-ballot contests.

“I think it looks pretty good for Ciattarelli’s chances to be governor,” Sipprelle said, and he mentioned a number of issues — tax reform, capping property taxes, reducing

TOWN

state spending, improving a “terribly unfriendly business climate” — where he thinks the Republicans have strong platform positions.

“Ciattarelli has many winning reforms that he’s going to bring about,” said Sipprelle. “He says what it is. He’s transparent, unlike many of the Democratic programs. The Democrat program is ‘Stop Trump.’ That’s not a program that’s really going to help New Jersey.”

Sipprelle went on to cite a poll showing Trump as more popular than Murphy in New Jersey. “Running against Trump — if that’s all they’ve got, I don’t think that’s a winning program,” he said.

“Jack is presenting the facts and a policy and a program,” said Sipprelle. “If the president saw him as the strongest candidate and endorsed him, well, great. You don’t refuse endorsements from the president.”

In addition to the gubernatorial race, Princeton voters on November 4 will weigh in on a contest for two seats in the General Assembly representing the 16th district between incumbents Roy Freiman and Michelle Druilis for the Democrats and Catherine Payne and Scott Sipos for the Republicans; a race for Mercer County Clerk between incumbent Democrat Paula Sollami Covello and Republican challenger Shaolin Brown; and a contest for two spots on the Mercer County Board of Commissioners between Democrat incumbents Nina Melker and Cathleen L. Lewis and Republicans Daniel J. Hanley Jr. and Alexander DiFalco; and the uncontested race for two spots on Princeton Council with Michelle Pirone Lambros and Mia Sacks both seeking a third term.

“This is a critically important year to encourage folks to reach out and to get involved,” said Grainger.

—Donald Gilpin

Wasserman added, “It was truly an incredible celebration to highlight who we are and what we can do as a group.”

Gathered under the big roof at the YMCA field as the rain continued in the early afternoon, Pride participants listened to speeches and music, and socialized. “I came to support my grandson,” said one woman from Burlington. “He’s 12 and he wanted to be able to come here. That’s how I knew about the event, and in spite of all the rain, it’s a success.”

A young woman from Montclair, standing with a group of friends, commented, “It didn’t matter too much to me if it was sunny or rainy. Engaging with queer people in my community — that’s an awesome thought.” One of her friends chimed in, “I was excited to come out and enjoy the company and the community of Pride.”

A middle-aged woman from East Windsor carrying an American flag stated, “I’m a supporter of LGBTQ and of people in general wanting to be themselves. I think everyone has the right to do that. In America they should. We’re a part of this nation, and you can’t take that away from us.”

The No Kings rally, which was sponsored by Indivisible Princeton, the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA), and the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO), featured six speakers — Emcee the Rev. Robert Moore, Ezra Rosenberg of ACLU-NJ, Princeton Mayor Mark Freda, former N.J. Public Defender Joe Krakora, SWEEP N.J.’s Louise Walpin, and N.J. State Assemblywoman Tennille R. McCoy — and two musicians, Sharleen Leahy and Diane Doolittle.

The crowd, many carrying placards and signs, filled Monument Park and overflowed on all sides, and the rain cooperated by stopping about 15 minutes before the 3:30 p.m..start of the proceedings. At the end of the event people stayed around and lined both sides of Stockton

Street/Route 206, the Monument side and the Trinity Church side, holding signs and chanting. People drove by honking and cheering, prompting a response from Moore: “Those are the sounds of freedom we’re hearing, freedom from the tyranny of kings.”

PCDO Second Vice President Dosier Hammond, a lead organizer for the event, described the mood as “boisterous.” He added, “Definitely people are angry at what’s going on around the country, but it was more upbeat than that. I wouldn’t say it was a dour mood at all. It was upbeat — not in the way that things are going well, because they’re going horribly, but people are energized to fight back, to resist — definitely nonviolently. People were really energized and charged up.”

Hammond pointed out that there have been rallies in Princeton in conjunction with nationwide events each of the past three months, and that this one was the biggest so far, maybe twice as big as the “Hands Off” rally on Hinds Plaza in April.

“I think people were more motivated this time,” he said. “I think they’re much more motivated as things get worse in this country. People were very motivated to show up.” Another event will be planned for July, he added.

“The narrative is that the people of America are very upset with Trump’s trashing of democracy and tearing down all the checks and balances,” said Moore. “We’re trying to save our Constitution and save democracy, and that’s really what we’re here for. And now we have the additional factor of him militarizing things.”

Moore talked about the “3 Cs” of the Trump administration: corruption, chaos,and cruelty. He closed with a quote from the chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, the Rev. William Barber: “There are no kings if we don’t bend the knee.”

Moore went on to lead the crowd in a chant: “We refuse to bend the knee to any king.”

He added, “That’s the attitude we have to have. Don’t bend a knee to them and then they don’t have the power.”

—Donald Gilpin

Garden Party Planned For Gen. Rochambeau

The Trent House Association will hold a garden party on Sunday, June 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. in honor of the 300th birthday of Gen. Rochambeau, who led the French army in aid of the American Revolution. The party will be held rain or shine at the William Trent House Museum, 15 Market Street, Trenton.

On the program are French wine, pastries, and hors d’oeuvres. French songs of Rochambeau’s era will be performed by Mostly Motets in the historic house.

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (July 1, 1725 – May 10, 1807) was commanderin-chief of the Expédition Particulière, the French force sent in 1780 to aid the Americans in their fight for independence from the British. In the summer of 1781 Rochambeau’s army joined the Continental forces under General Washington in an almost 700-mile march from Rhode Island to Virginia.

In late August/early September of that year, the combined French and American troops camped in Trenton, preparing to cross the Delaware River before continuing to Yorktown, where they defeated the British. This victory marked the virtual end of the War, securing American independence.

The William Trent House Museum is a National Historic Landmark in the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area and on the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail and on the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail. The Museum is dedicated to sharing the authentic history of the house, property, and people with our communities, connecting the past with today and tomorrow. Registration is required at tinyurl.com/Rochambeau300. Free parking is available behind the property off William Trent Place.

Tino’s

paper. Pride Parade continued from page one the sun (figuratively). This year we tamed the torrent and got soaked in the rain (literally). It is again an extraordinary example of not only how we powerfully persevere, but we fabulously thrive together.”

Police Blotter

On June 10, at 1:45 a.m., subsequent to a motor vehicle stop for Failure to Maintain Lane, the driver and sole occupant, a 23-year-old male from Pennington, was found to be driving while intoxicated. He was placed under arrest and transported to police headquarters where he was processed. At the completion of his processing, he was issued summonses for Driving While Intoxicated, Reckless Driving, Careless Driving, and Failure to Maintain Lane before being released to the custody of a sober adult.

On June 6, at 5:44 a.m., patrols responded to the area of Cherry Hill Road and State Road on the report of a single-car motor vehicle collision involving a utility pole. Upon arrival, the vehicle was observed to be unoccupied and resting against a utility pole. The driver, a 51-year-old male from Princeton, was subsequently located on Cherry Hill Road near Foulet Drive. Further investigation revealed that he had operated his vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. He was placed under arrest and transported to police headquarters for processing. He was issued motor vehicle summonses for Driving While Intoxicated, Reckless Driving, Careless Driving, Unsafe Lane Change, Leaving the Scene of an Accident, and Failure to Report an Accident. After arrest processing, he was released to a sober adult, and was provided with a court date.

11:54 a.m. and 1:05 p.m., an unknown person(s) stole a package from the front porch of his residence. The total monetary loss is $336.90. There are no suspects at this time.

On June 5, at 7:28 p.m., an individual reported that between 7 p.m. on June 2, and 7 a.m. on June 5, an unknown suspect(s) entered two of his unlocked vehicles while they were parked in the driveway of his residence on Westcott Road. Although both vehicles were rummaged through, the only item stolen was a medical bag, valued at $150. There are currently no known suspects.

On June 3, at 8:26 a.m., patrols were dispatched to a business on Palmer Square East in response to a report of criminal mischief. The complainant stated that on May 30, at approximately 1:47 a.m., an unidentified male was captured on surveillance footage vandalizing the surveillance camera mounted on the building at Hulfish Street. The complainant provided photographs and videos of the suspect, described as a male between the ages of 20 and 30, with tattoos on his stomach and the outer biceps of his right arm. The most prominent tattoo appears to read “2001” and is located on the lower half of the suspect’s stomach. The estimated cost of the repair is $2,372.41. The investigation is ongoing.

through, and noted that his wallet, which contained numerous credit cards, was stolen. It was learned that the suspect(s) then used the stolen credit cards to make several purchases.

Another individual reported that her unsecured vehicle was also burglarized overnight on June 2 while it was parked on Chestnut Street. She stated that the contents of her glove compartment and center console had been scattered throughout the interior of the vehicle, however nothing of value was stolen.

A short time later, a resident of Wiggins Street advised that her unsecured vehicle was burglarized overnight while parked in the driveway of the residence. She discovered that her center console and glove compartment had been rummaged through, and her Apple iPhone charger was determined to have been stolen.

A resident of Hamilton Avenue later reported that her unsecured vehicle was burglarized overnight while parked in their driveway. The resident discovered that the center console and glove compartment of the vehicle had been rummaged through, and her wallet and gas card were determined to have been stolen. The investigation is ongoing.

On June 5, at 3:14 p.m., an individual reported that, on June 5 at approximately 4:39 a.m., two unknown male suspects entered his unsecured vehicle while it was parked in the driveway of his residence located on Library Place. Although the vehicle had been rifled through, the resident reported that no property was stolen or damaged. The residence was equipped with a surveillance camera that captured a male suspect pull on the door handle of the locked vehicle in the driveway, and another male suspect jog past the camera. These suspects are believed to be the same suspects associated with the other vehicle burglaries reported in this jurisdiction between June 2 and June 5. The investigation is ongoing.

On June 6, at 4:03 p.m., a Westcott Road resident reported that on that date, sometime between

On June 3, at 8:33 a.m., patrol officers responded to a residence on Linden Lane to investigate a report of a stolen vehicle. Surveillance footage from the home showed that at approximately 2:47 a.m., unknown individuals exited a darkcolored sedan and took the resident’s vehicle. The last sighting of the stolen vehicle on camera showed it traveling south on Linden Lane toward Nassau Street. Further investigation revealed several additional reports of vehicle burglaries in the immediate area, which are believed to have occurred around the same time.

A resident of Spruce Circle reported that, between June 2 at approximately 4:45 p.m. and June 3 at approximately 8:10 a.m., her unsecured vehicle had been entered and rummaged through. It was discovered that several golf clubs and headphones were missing/ stolen.

Another individual reported that his unsecured vehicle was burglarized overnight on June 2 while it was parked on Chestnut Street. That individual stated that his vehicle was rummaged

On June 3 at 5:26 p.m., a complainant reported that, between June 2 at 5:30 p.m. and June 3 at 8 a.m., an unknown suspect(s) entered his unsecured vehicle while it was parked in the driveway of his residence on Library Place. Although the vehicle was rifled through, no property was damaged or stolen. The Detective Bureau is investigating.

On June 3, at 7:17 p.m., an individual reported a theft of four company checks by unknown individual(s), which were deposited and cashed. The total monetary loss was $6,694.00.

There are no suspects at this time.

Unless noted, individuals arrested were later released.

is printed

HONORING A LEADER: A party for the 300th birthday of Gen. Rochambeau will be held on Sunday, June 29 at the Trent House.

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Spotlight on Cranbury Town Topics

Farm Owner and Neighbors Want Cranbury To Find Another Site for Affordable Housing

The house and farm at 1234 South River Road is Cranbury Township’s choice as a location for state-mandated affordable housing.

But to property owner Andy Henry, 1234 South River Road is more than an address in a township document: it is the childhood home his great-grandfather built, a home that saw laughter and love, and a playful and protective family dog — one of many over the years, he said, along with a collection of stray cats who found their way to a free “food bank.” It is a place to which he and his brother regularly return, and they are not ready to see it demolished.

As the June 30 deadline to comply with the state’s affordable housing laws nears, many Cranbury residents oppose the plan to take the farm by eminent domain, and have voiced concerns at meetings, online, and in a GoFundMe campaign. The township, for its part, has explained why its choices are limited.

Under the Mount Laurel Doctrine, which was decided in a state Supreme Court case 50 years ago, all New Jersey government entities must provide their “fair share” of affordable housing. Based on complex criteria, Cranbury’s share is

265 over the next 10 years. By the year 2035, New Jersey towns must add or renovate over 146,000 affordable housing units, based on state calculations.

The criteria for where to locate the housing include available sewer and water, accessibility to transit, a 250-foot buffer zone from a warehouse, and more.

Farm Memories

While there are warehouses nearby today, growing up, said Henry, “we were surrounded by soybeans and winter wheat.” The New Jersey Turnpike was built an eighth of a mile behind the farmhouse in 1951, and exit 8A, which opened in 1972 only a half mile away, brought more traffic into Cranbury. But the farm was considered “our own little place,” he said.

On the 20 acres, an earlier house built by his greatgrandparents in 1850 had burned down, and in 1879, Henry’s grandfather built the current white structure. Modifications were made in the 1950s, such as indoor bathrooms, and replacing the use of a hand-powered water well, which Henry recalled pumping three times

and living room, and a wood stove that is still there.

As they grew up in the home, the Henry brothers, Andy and Chris, attended Cranbury Elementary School — third, fourth, and fifth grade where the town hall is today — and went to a new Hightstown High School, which was the former sending/receiving arrangement, as Princeton High School is now. He graduated in 1970.

In 1936, his grandfather died and left Henry’s mother and grandmother to run the farm. His mom was an avid gardener, and from the fruits of the garden made rhubarb pie and blackberry pie, and fresh asparagus, he recalled.

Many of his memories involve the family dog, “a little mutt named Gypsy.” In the fall of 1962 there was barking for a couple of nights, but the family did not see anything outside until they found that their car, a 1952, four-door black Dodge sedan, was gone. (It was eventually found in Newark, he said.) Around 1972, the National Guard camped overnight in the harvested fields. With strangers on the property, the dog (this one a Great Dane) would not interact with them, but did like to intervene during playful wrestling matches between the brothers and their father.

Grove City College in west ern Pennsylvania. The sons of two World War II vet erans, he and his brother joined the Air Force after college. Their father died in 2016; their mother had died a few years earlier. They didn’t live to see the ambi guity regarding the future of their family home

cattle, with 39 Galloway cat tle, 15 sheep, and assorted goats and chickens. It is a working farm, and the Hen rys are there “regularly.”

what makes the Cranbury case unusual is the land planning and location to build the affordable housing. “There are warehouses out by the turnpike and it is far from everything else. We believe there are alternatives, and the farm can be preserved,” he said.

Duggan said that taking a farm for affordable housing in a warehouse district is inconsistent with the township’s master plan, which involves farmland preservation.

punch,” he said of the town ship’s plan. “We’ve been fighting developers for 30 years.” The farm is still, he said, “a little oasis surrounded by warehouses, or by land about to become warehouses.”

“Unusual” location

Henry’s attorney, Timothy P. Duggan, chair of Stark & Stark’s Condemnation, Redevelopment, and Eminent Domain Group, said that

Duggan said he would file a complaint. After the Township files its plan with the state by June 30, about 60 days are allowed to

The quest to comply with New Jersey’s affordable housing regulations has been a lengthy process. The ordinance outlining the plans was discussed in April, and at the May 12 municipal meeting the Township Committee approved an ordinance to acquire the Henry property, as well as a lot at 1274 South River Road, for affordable housing.

According to the township website, a regular Township Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 23 at 7 p.m., and on Tuesday June 24 at 7 p.m. there will be a special Planning Board meeting on the affordable housing plan. This meeting will be held at the public library. A meeting on Thursday June 26 will be the final step prior to state plan submission with a special meeting at 7 p.m., also at the library.

“We do think there are alternative sites,” Duggan said. “More suitable sites. We do believe (selecting Andy’s Farm) is arbitrary and capricious.” He said he and his client support affordable housing but believe there are better locations.

Best for Cranbury Cranbury Mayor Lisa Knierim has addressed residents’ concerns in her regular updates, which are public on the township website, found at cranburytownship. org/home/news/mayorsupdate-june-11-2025.

In the June 11 update — the most recent, she said the township would continue “open negotiations with the property owners at 1234 and 1274 S. River Road. I will also remind our community that these negotiations remain confidential. Any speculation or announcement that a monetary offer has been made to any property owner by the Township of Cranbury is yet another lie in this false social media narrative that continues.” She urged dialogue on the issue.

After noting that the decision was not an easy one, she adds that “it was done with an extraordinary amount of diligence which is what all of Cranbury deserves.”

explains, they need high scores which are based on requirements such as sewer, transportation, water, etc. Multiple smaller properties that don’t score well, will not be eligible for full federal tax credits to cover construction costs.

Lastly, she writes, “I know we exhausted all our options before presenting our final plan to the residents and now to the State. I know that our decision was fact-based. That is this job whether people like it or not. No one is in favor of eminent domain, no one wants to see a farm disappear. The utopian society that is being painted on social media is inaccurate to say the least. Stating that all our current residents have the luxury to walk and mail a letter, get an ice cream cone or wave at the library books is completely inaccurate. We have children who are bussed to Cranbury School, who can’t walk to town, nor can they ride their bikes, whose parent(s) get in the car and drive to Main Street to participate in our ‘community activities,’ to enjoy our paths and parks every day.”

She explains that she voted for the plan to “protect our town from irresponsible planning and property options that will be denied by the state thus opening ourselves to builder’s remedy,” which, she notes, would “destroy our infrastructure, cripple our emergency services and overload our schools.” Builder’s remedy would allow developers to bypass local zoning restriction.

Additionally, she writes, “I voted yes to avoid catastrophic municipality property tax increases for Cranbury residents.” For

to

A GoFundMe — titled Save Andy’s Family Farm –A 150-Year Legacy at Risk, set up by resident Karen Herr DeRosa, on May 9 had raised more than $50,000 from 898 donations, as of Monday, June 16. It states, “If you’ve ever taken South River Road on your way to the NJ Turnpike, you’ve passed it—that beautiful, peaceful stretch of farmland where cows graze and sheep roam under open skies. That’s Andy’s farm. Generations of Cranbury families recognize it instantly. To the children in town, it’s the magical ‘cow and sheep farm.’ To the rest of us, it’s a quiet reminder that not everything good has to be paved over.”

—Wendy Greenberg

ENDANGERED FARMLAND: The farm at 1234 South River Road in Cranbury, as well as a property at 1274, has been earmarked as a site for state-mandated affordable housing by the Cranbury Township Committee. Some residents are against the plan. The Township says its options are limited to stay within state law. Pictured is the house in 1880. (Photo courtesy of Andy Henry)

Spotlight on Cranbury Town Topics

Cranbury Library Kicks Off Summer Program June 24

Join the Cranbury Public Library on Tuesday, June 24 from 2 to 6 p.m. to kick off the library’s Summer Enrichment 2025 and sign up for a summer of fun. The library is at 30 Park Place West in Cranbury. Register at cranburypubliclibrary.org/ summer-enrichment.

Registration on this page is for the June 24 Kickoff event only. Registration for the entire 2025 Summer Enrichment program must be done by visiting the circulation desk between June 24 and August 22.

Alongside the national theme of Color My World, summer enrichment at the Cranbury library will be inspired by Camp Half-Blood from the Percy Jackson series.

Participants of all ages will be sorted into the cabin of a god or goddess when they register and will be able to take part in summer programming inspired by mythology from around the world. As participants level up and gain prizes for their own achievements, their successes will also help out their respective cabins. More details will be explained at the kickoff celebration, which is in the Maker Space. Participants can make a button featuring your cabin’s symbol; paint beads for a necklace like Percy and his fellow Camp Half-Blood campers; and decorate a feather for a collaborative art project.

From 2 to 4 p.m., face painters will be on site to turn your face into a work of art. At 4 p.m. local artist Jenny Santa Maria will be conducting Model Magic Moments: A Sensory Art Adventure workshop for patrons ages 3 to 7. In this playful workshop, children will color Model Magic clay using Crayola markers, knead it to blend vibrant colors, and craft their very own snail and rose creations. This is a separate

registration, and is linked from cranburypubliclibrary. org/summer-enrichment.

Cranbury Station Gallery

Hosts Paint Party

Cranbury Station Gallery is planning a Paint Party at Princeton Soup and Sandwich, 3 Old Trenton Road, Cranbury, on Tuesday, June 24, at 6:30 p.m. Artist and gallery owner Kathie Morolda will guide participants through an acrylic painting class (geared for all levels). End the evening with a finished work of art.

Cranbury Station Gallery (CSG) Paint Party events are open to the public and held at two different restaurants in Cranbury, with a light dinner included, for $40. Each event lasts about 2.5 hours. After the Paint Party CSG offers a wide selection of custom 11×14 frames for sale ($20 each) should you want to frame your painting to display in your home. Call (609) 495-5641 or email csgproduction123@ gmail.com to reserve your seat.

Cranbury Station Gallery was founded in 1983 by Kathleen Maguire Morolda. The gallery quickly became well known in central New Jersey for providing quality custom framing for original art, photography, diplomas, sports jerseys and needlework. A second location opened in Princeton in 1992. In 2015 the business grew again with the creation of CSG Paint Party events.

Artist Karen Repka Presents Solo Exhibit

The Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury is hosting an opening reception on July 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. for “Peace and Tranquility” a solo exhibit by Karen Repka. The gallery, on the first floor of Cranbury Town Hall, at 23-A North MainStreet, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

A lifelong artist, Repka began private art lessons as a child and pursued art into adulthood, as she earned a

master’s degree in arts and education from William Paterson University. Her art was put on hold while she raised a family and taught elementary education, but after retirement she has been able to focus on her early passion. Classes in photography, printmaking, and watercolor, mostly at the Arts Council, have led to juried selection at Ellarslie in Trenton; Grounds For Sculpture Member Musings in Hamilton; the West Windsor Arts Council; Phillips Mill in New Hope Pa.; Artworks Trenton – Printmaking Show; the Garden State Watercolor Society — where she is a signature member, and others. She held her first solo show in the summer of 2023 at The Watershed Institute in Pennington, and was recently honored with a Purchase Award at the 2025 Mercer County Juried Art Show.

The Stonebridge photography Club is exhibiting her works until the end of June. After Repka’s exhibit, the gallery will feature Creative Collective in August, and then a solo show by Toby Ehrlich in September.

The Cranbury Arts Council provides arts-oriented programs, workshops, and performances aimed at enriching the cultural experiences of the community and keeping the creative spirit alive in adults and children. Their mission is to foster, support, educate, inspire, and promote artists and art appreciation in the community.

Market On Main Reopens in Cranbury

The Market on Main Street, 17 North Main Street, Cranbury, noted for its Greek specialties, reopened on May 31 after being closed since April for some renovations and to install baking equipment. Now it is also known for fresh baked goods.

Hours are daily, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., but closed Tuesdays. The restaurant can be reached at (609) 409-2000.

“ROCKY COAST”: This work is featured in “Peace and Trnquility” a solo exhibit by Cranbury artist Karen Repka, on view July 2 through July 30 at the Gourgand Gallery on the first floor of Cranbury Town Hall, 23-A North Main Street, Craanbury. An opening reception is on July 11 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Elected Officials Owe a Duty to the Electorate To Represent All Residents

To the Editor:

I am very disturbed by Leighton Newlin’s letter that appeared in the Wednesday, June 11, issue of Town Topics [“’Defending’ Historic Princeton? From Whom, and From What?”]. The substance of the letter is not my principal concern. Almost all of it is something that can be challenged and easily refuted. Rather, my concern is about the ethics of an elected official taking such a biased, public stance on a matter that is still open.

Perhaps I’m prejudiced, because as a member of the legal profession, I’m held to a Code of Professional Responsibility that prohibits even the “appearance of impropriety” — i.e. any action that creates the appearance of bias in order not to destroy the public trust — in any matter in which he or she is involved.

Even if elected officials are not held to a codified standard of conduct, at the very least they owe a duty to the electorate to represent all residents, not only one interest group. Not to do so, raises an issue of unfair influence on a matter that still has an administrative hurdle to clear with the Planning Board and is now before the court for adjudication.

Councilman Newlin’s constituents deserve better in order to begin to restore the public trust.

JANE MACLENNAN Edgehill Street

Those Not in Favor of Housing Project are Concerned Citizens Who are Trying to Be Good Stewards of Town

To The Editor:

Let’s be frank, Councilman Newlin’s letter to this paper was a plain assertion that citizens of this town who display the “Defend Historic Princeton” signs are closeted racists and bigots whose motivation is to ensure that affordable housing should be available, just as long as it is as far away from their homes as possible. This is ugly, disgusting, and insulting rhetoric that couldn’t be further from the truth and holds no place in this discourse.

It is clear to me this proposed housing project has nothing to do with affordable housing – it is just a way for the town to increase its tax base.

If affordable housing is the most crucial reason this project must move forward, why then does it only call for the bare minimum of units to be designated as such? Why does this designation then lapse after 30 years? Why would the town not consider alternate proposals which were calling for the whole complex to be considered affordable housing?

Clearly it is because the affordable housing units in this plan were just a hurdle that must be complied with but at the same time a useful marketing tool to be used against

all those not in favor of putting this new complex right in the middle of a historical neighborhood. As soon as any protest is lodged, they can turn to: “What do you mean you don’t want the apartment complex built, this must mean you are anti-affordable housing, diversity, and inclusion.” These baseless retorts may silence some, but I am confident most people can see right through them.

Princetonians not in favor of this project are not evil bigots, rather, they are concerned citizens who are trying to be good stewards of this town, their fellow citizens, and the historical elements that make Princeton so unique.

It is disappointing to see that instead of listening, as Councilman Newlin is so famous for, and addressing the real concerns regarding this project he would rather just hurl insults at the very citizens he is tasked with looking after all because they don’t agree with something he wants.

PRICE KETCHIFF Quaker Road

Councilman Newlin needs to Quit Race-baiting and Serve Public Honestly

To the Editor:

As an originator of the signs seen across Princeton, I’d like to correct some misinformation. The signs could have read “Defend Historic Princeton from Rapacious Development and a Complicit Town Council” but that wouldn’t have fit. No matter the wording, “Protect” or “Conserve,” Councilman Newlin would have distorted the facts and hurled ugly accusations.

It’s shocking to see an elected official cynically condemn large numbers of his constituency as racists.

Worse, Newlin knows our concerns have never been about Black people or Brown people or poor people. From Day One the issue has been greedy overdevelopment, involving two key points: 1) A luxury high rise with eye-watering market rents with the densest development in all of Princeton, and with environmental damage and exacerbated traffic that will destroy a quiet, historic neighborhood; 2) minimal and temporary community housing, a fig leaf on luxury development, that evades long-term affordability in Princeton. Newlin knows this but chooses to dog-whistle about race.

Newlin doesn’t mention that residents presented the Council with an architect-designed plan for a less-dense, environmentally sustainable, 100 percent affordable development, with more total low-income units, attainable with

some vision and creative financing. Instead, our elected officials opt for an easy fix that just happens to award a local developer tens of millions of dollars at Princeton’s expense.

I was raised in Princeton by a single mother who, even with an Ivy League degree, could never afford to buy a home. We moved each time the rent increased: from Ewing Street to Greenview Avenue to Moore Street (for six months until we found an apartment on Pine Street) with a brief stint on Littlebrook, until we landed in a duplex on Jefferson Road, where my mother sublet our bedrooms while we were away at college. Even in the 1980s, Princeton was unaffordable for single working parents. After a divorce, I was fortunate to a move my own children into a Princeton Community Housing unit at Merwick. No one in Princeton cares more about affordability than I do. I’ve lived it. Councilman Newlin needs to quit race-baiting and serve the public honestly.

CAROLINE CLEAVES Edgehill Street

Newsstand Town Topics

Can be purchased Wednesday mor nings at the following locations: Princeton McCaffrey’s

Kiosk Palmer Square

Speedy Mar t (State Road)

Wawa (Universit y Place)

Rocky Hill

Wawa (Rt 518) Pennington Pennington Market

Hopewell

Deserve to Be Heard

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the recent letter (“’Defending’ Historic Princeton? From Whom, and From What?”) by Leighton Newlin, Council member and liaison to Princeton’s Historic Preservation Committee. It’s distressing to see a public official (especially one who describes himself as someone who “listens”) dismiss residents who speak out, and label them unfairly. It’s too easy to paint us as an enemy. We are not. In 2019, when a two-family duplex rental was proposed in the Witherspoon-Jackson historic neighborhood where Mr. Newlin lives, he publicly opposed granting any variance.

According to Community News: But others, including members of the board, expressed concern that a variance granted here would open the floodgates to the “condominiumization” of Princeton. Leighton Newlin, a lifelong Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood resident and a key figure in the fight to have it designated as a historic district, warned about the unintended consequences the variances could have, expressing concern that changing the owneroccupancy requirement would open the neighborhood to real estate investors who would buy up properties and turn them into multi-family rentals.

“What we’re talking about here tonight, quite frankly, is history. Now let’s be clear: The reason that Witherspoon-Jackson was made a historic district was to preserve the streetscape and the integrity of the neighborhood,” he said. “One of the things that will kill a neighborhood and displace a neighborhood quicker than anything is to have a flood of renters in what is now a historic neighborhood where the reason it’s historic and the reason it got the designation is because of the camaraderie of the people and the fact that when people own homes there is more care and concern with the neighborhood.”

Leighton defended his own historic neighborhood when he felt it would be “killed” by the addition of a single duplex rental, and he successfully argued against the variance. He now applauds a 238-unit luxury rental apartment complex (complete with rooftop swimming pool) which will dominate and reshape the streetscape of another historic Princeton neighborhood. He asks why there isn’t a civil conversation. That statement is so depressing. The Mercer Hill / Frog Hollow neighbors (those most affected) have repeatedly asked for a conversation with Council for more than five years and, despite a written commitment from the town’s attorney, Council has repeatedly declined to meet.

If defending historic Princeton and neighborhood integrity mattered in 2019, it still matters now. And, in any healthy democracy, people deserve to be heard.

Let’s have that conversation and work together for the common good.

KAREN

Letters to the Editor Policy

Town Topics welcomes letters to the Editor, preferably on subjects related to Princeton. Letters must have a valid street address (only the street name will be printed with the writer’s name). Priority will be given to letters that are received for publication no later than Monday noon for publication in that week’s Wednesday edition.

Letters must be no longer than 500 words and have no more than four signatures.

All letters are subject to editing and to available space.

At least a month’s time must pass before another letter from the same writer can be considered for publication.

Letters are welcome with views about actions, policies, ordinances, events, performances, buildings, etc. However, we will not publish letters that include content that is, or may be perceived as, negative towards local figures, politicians, or political candidates as individuals.

When necessary, letters with negative content may be shared with the person/group in question in order to allow them the courtesy of a response, with the understanding that the communications end there.

Letters to the Editor may be submitted, preferably by email, to editor@towntopics.com, or by post to Town Topics, PO Box 125, Kingston, N.J. 08528. Letters submitted via mail must have a valid signature.

Books

Together, we’ll reflect on creation, care, and the sacred call to restore our connection to the earth.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24, 2025

National Book Award

winner Joyce Carol Oates, a Princeton University faculty member, will visit Doylestown (Pa.), where she will discuss her new book, Fox: a Novel, on Wednesday, June 25, at 7 p.m. in the Life Sciences Auditorium at Delaware Valley University, 700 East Burler Avenue. She will be in conversation with award-winning author Cara Blue Adams.

This is a ticketed event. Each ticket includes admission for one and one hardcover copy of Fox: A Novel . The book that is included with your ticket will be available for pickup when you check in at the event For tickets, visit doylestownbookshop.com/ CarolOates. Directions and parking information is on the page.

Doors will open at 6 p.m.

Additional books will be available for sale at the event, and each attendee must purchase a ticket.

An adult must accompany children under age 18.

Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic, according to the publisher’s notes. When two brothers discover Fox’s car half-submerged in a pond in a local nature preserve and parts of an unidentified body strewn about the nearby woods, the entire community, including Detective Horace Zwender and his deputy, begin to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.

The book (Hogarth, $32) is described as a “hypnotic, galloping tale of crime and complicity, revenge and restitution, victim vs. predator,” in which Oates’s Fox “illuminates the darkest

corners of the human psyche while asking profound moral questions about justice and the response evil demands . . . Fox enchants and manipulates nearly everyone around him, until at last he meets someone he can’t outfox.”

A Library Journal starred review states, “[Oates] is at her best here: insightful, unrelenting, and devastating.”

Oates is a recipient of a National Humanities Medal awarded by President Barack Obama, the National Book Critics Circle’s Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award, the National Book Award in Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, the Prix Femina, the Cino Del Duca World Prize, and is a fivetime finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She has written the bestsellers Blonde and We Were the Mulvaneys. She is the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Distinguished Professor of the Humanities Emerita at Princeton University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2024 she won the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award given to “a master of the thriller and noir literary genre.”

Adams is the author of You Never Get It Back , a New York Times Editors’ Choice. It was honored with the John Simmons Short Fiction Award, shortlisted for the Mary McCarthy Prize, and longlisted for the Story Prize. Her work appears in the New Yorker, Granta, and the Kenyon Review. She is an associate professor at Temple University and lives in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley.

Tickets are non-refundable but the Doylestown Bookshop, 16 South Main Street, Doylestown, Pa., will try to have your book autographed, and held at the front counter. If this is the case, email staff@ doylestownbookshop.com for arrangements.

O’CONNELL Hibben Road

Princeton’s Oates to Talk About New Book in Doylestown, Pa.

Writing about Brian Wilson (19422025) on Father’s Day is a complicated proposition. In Catch A Wave: The Rise, Fall & Redemption of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson (Rodale 2006), Peter Ames Carlin ponders the possibility that Brian blames his father Murry Wilson (1917-1973) for delivering the blow “that destroyed almost all of the hearing in his right ear.” The tangled back story of the “crushing blow” to a musician “who would spend his life manipulating sound textures but could never hear music in stereo” takes a more suggestive turn when Brian admits “I was so afraid of my dad and the way he talked to me that something got inside of me and I just started making great records.”

Still leaving a lot unsaid, Wilson offers a cautiously worded account of his father’s treatment of him and his Beach Boy brothers Dennis and Carl in a 2004 interview: “He was the one who got us going. He didn’t make us better artists or musicians, but he gave us ambition. I’m pleased he pushed us, because it was such a relief to know there was someone as strong as my dad to keep things going. He used to spank us, and it hurt too, but I loved him because he was a great musician.”

In His Own Words

Wilson speaks as a father himself in I Am Brian Wilson (DaCapo 2016), a memoir, with Ben Greenman. While watching his daughter Carnie sing, he says, “I was thinking about when she was little; about her sister when she was little; about how I was young then, too; about the cover of Sunflower ; about feeling my mom’s hands as she lowered me into the crib. People are beautiful. Life can be, too.”

Brian’s thoughts about people and life express a personal truth nicely articulated by the Velvet Underground’s John Cale: “What Brian came to mean was an ideal of innocence and naivety that went beyond teenage life,” resulting in “fully developed songs, adult and childlike at the same time. There was something genuine in every lyric.”

Sunflower Lullaby

The 1970 album Sunflower with its cover photograph of the band and their children is the Beach Boys recording I’ve always felt closest to. Our only child was born six years later, and for the first thousand nights of his life, I’d stand in front of the record player as he drowsed in my arms to music that felt like family, as if Brian Wilson and his brothers were his California uncles singing lullabies (not all

Father’s Day Musings on Brian Wilson

that great a stretch, since his father and I were born in the same town, Hutchinson, Kansas). The songs that guided our son to dreamland almost 50 years ago — “This Whole World,” “Add Some Music to Your Day,” “All I Wanna Do,” “Our Sweet Love,” “Forever” — still console and inspire him during dark times.

Breaking the News

When Brian Wilson died last week, I hesitated to break the news to Ben, who has grown up idolizing Brian above all the many musicians who have brightened his difficult life. There was no way to soften the blow when John Lennon was murdered. With Brian, I had the option of waiting until he found out for himself, as I’d done with Ben’s other rock heroes. Now here we were in his room at two in the morning surrounded by shelves of albums and CDs, six guitars, a keyboard, four amps, and a dozen effect pedals. He was playing a record of his choosing for me, a nightly ritual, much as I’d done for him during those first thousand nights. I decided to approach the moment by ask ing him to play “This Whole World” from Sunflower was, as is often the case, not in the mood for anything so tran scendently joyous, I had no choice but to break the news, my rationale being who better to tell him than the person who had brought Brian’s music into his life?

Living in New York at a time when the only records I owned were either jazz or classical, I abandoned my portable stereo for the infectious sounds coming from the little blue Sony I kept on a windowsill overlooking West 87th Street. With Beatle-blitzed Manhattan still reeling, I had no choice, not with a city slicker DJ named Murray the K constantly playing their music and chatting with four Brits who sounded like ones I’d hung out with the previous spring in Greece. That sudden change in listening habits at least made some kind of sense. But the Beach Boys ? I’d always thought of those California High School Harrys as a joke — until after multiple hearings of “I Get Around,” I found myself singing along, not the wretched “real cool head making real good bread” verses but the soaring chorus, sharing harmony heaven with someone who turned out to be Brian Wilson. Coming

quirky, intimate, comfortably listenable piece of work, with a storybook mood set by the cover image of a cottage buried in a Douanier-Rousseau-style jungle, smoke from its chimney spelling out the title, a preview of the cozy, homey spontaneity of the music within.

Born in Hawthorne

The fact that Brian Wilson was born in a Los Angeles suburb called Hawthorne didn’t get my attention until I began overthinking the legend of the fearful, abusive father beating a son destined to produce works of musical genius. What gives the story a Hawthornian twist is Brian’s reference to “the way he talked to me,” so powerfully that “something got inside of me.” This was where my thoughts were headed when I found out Hawthorne had indeed been named for the author of The Scarlet Letter and the creator of Roger Chillingworth, who had a way of getting inside of people like Hester Prynne, the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, and their daughter Pearl.

The origin of the town’s name is worth mentioning. It was founded in 1905 by two real-estate developers, one of whom had a daughter who shared her birthday, July 4, with Nathaniel Hawthorne. The town was originally known as the “Hawthorne Improvement Company,” a concept that would have amused the author of The House of the Seven Gables

While reading the worldwide tributes to Brian, I learned that his musical soulmate Paul McCartney was born two days ahead of him, on June 18, 1942, a fact that fol lows the sequence of my own listening his tory between February and May of 1964.

Princeton Festival Continues With Opera Classic

The Princeton Festival showed off its mainstage production this past weekend with a presentation of Giacomo Puccini’s timeless opera Tosca Conducted by Rossen Milanov, Friday night’s performance (with repeats on Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night) at Morven Museum & Garden kept listeners captivated with high-quality character portrayals, Puccini’s unforgettable arias and a libretto of plot twists, all leading to a disastrous end. Performed in Italian with English titles, Tosca was surely a challenge for the Festival, but the audience reaction made it clear that reaching to new heights can often strengthen a performing organization’s standing in the community.

Set in early 19th-century Rome, Tosca contains a career-defining role for sopranos in the character of “prima donna” singer Floria Tosca. Princeton Festival soprano Toni Marie Palmertree was no stranger to the part, with past performances of this character under her belt. Palmertree immediately began with a clear and appealing sound, portraying the diva as young and demure, but with the potential to do what it takes to get what she wants. With a background including the Metropolitan Opera, Palmertree showed herself well capable of commanding the stage. She sang Tosca’s signature aria “Vissi d’arte” with poignant resignation to her fate, then instantaneously turned the tables on her foe. Palmertree altered her vocal quality and timbre in this second act aria to indicate her submission to Scarpia, a sharp contrast to her soaring passages of defiance or when proclaiming her love for the painter Cavaradossi.

The object of Tosca’s affection was sung by tenor Victor Starsky, also a Puccini veteran. Starsky began the first act with a solid voice, conveying Cavaradossi’s thoughts pensively in the chapel while painting and simultaneously helping an escaped prisoner. He reached higher vocal ranges with ease, floating notes over orchestration which became richer as his character slipped more into despair. Starsky and Palmertree were well-matched vocally, and the audience welcomed the humor in their interactions in such a dark storyline.

The lives of both Tosca and Cavaradossi were upended by Chief of Police Scarpia, sung with appropriate nefariousness by baritone Luis Ledesma. A singer frequently portraying both heroes and villains, Ledesma has also made a mark in the operatic world interpreting Spanish

works, including the recent ground-breaking Florencia en el Amazonas. Ledesma’s Scarpia was not overtly ruthless, but was imposing nevertheless, like other 19thcentury baritone characters who manipulate the situation (and usually the soprano lead) to get their way. Ledesma saved his rage for the Act II confrontation with Tosca — the dramatic meat of the production. Accompanied by steady and increasingly menacing brass, Ledesma and Palmertree brought the scene to an intense conclusion, setting up an even more tragic final act.

Bass Eric Delagrange convincingly sang the music of prisoner Angelotti, who although a minor character, was a vital key to the opera. As a chapel Sacristan, bassbaritone Stefano de Peppo added a strong third voice to a well-balanced trio among Angelotti, Cavaradossi, and the Sacristan. Other voices helping to carry the story were Nicholas Nestorak as police agent Spoletta and Jacob Hanes singing the role of the jailor.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra provided consistently effective accompaniment throughout, allowing the voices to carry over the instrumental palette. Milanov brought out wind passages when there was little or no singing, and the ensemble deftly shifted moods in an opera full of emotional swings. From Cavaradossi’s light-hearted nature to Scarpia’s distinguishing sharp chords, the musicians well captured Puccini’s theatrical intent while moving the score along. In particular, the onstage action of the third act was so riveting that one almost forgot there was an orchestra, and the subtlety and crispness of the accompaniment well captured the anguish.

Chorus director Vinroy Brown compiled a solid vocal ensemble, with a well-trained children’s chorus prepared by Allison Fay. Stage director Eve Summer placed the chorus of monks in the audience aisles for the Act I “Te Deum,” easily filling the hall with blocks of sound. The members of the children’s chorus were always engaged in the action, singing with clarity and animation.

This year’s Princeton Festival has raised summer classical entertainment to new levels in a region where many people head to the shore for the weekends. With the weather so far cooperating, this past week’s productions of Tosca have continued this season’s combination of music, drama, and nature.

—Nancy Plum

The Princeton Festival continues until June 21 with music, opera, and dance, along with community activities. Information about all events can be found by visiting princetonsymphony.org/festival.

Dear Neighbors,

Thank you for the positive response to the inaugural edition of “Community Connections” in the Town Topics — it was wonderful to hear from so many readers. I hope you will keep sharing your suggestions for how we can continue to enhance this newsletter. You can reach me at haparker@ princeton.edu.

I’d also like to extend our gratitude to the many local residents who have signed up to “Stand Up for Princeton and Higher Education,” joining a community of Princeton alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends who are committed to making the case for America’s colleges and universities. For more information, I encourage you to scan the QR code on the next page.

As always, we are grateful to be part of this extraordinary community, and for our many partnerships with local organizations to advance shared priorities that benefit all who live, learn, work and play here.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to seeing you on campus and around town.

On Campus: Museum to open this fall. The mosaics await.

of the old Museum, has found a new home in the reception area to the Museum’s object study rooms, where viewers will be able to understand better how the piece once fit into its original architectural context.

Conservators at EverGreene, masonry contractors, riggers and engineers collaborated on the re-installation of the window within a large steel frame.

Ancient Roman mosaics

Among the most highly anticipated moments in the process has been the placement of several of the Museum’s ancient Roman mosaic pavements, which were excavated in the early twentieth century near Antioch, in present-day Turkey, as part of a multinational partage excavation project.

Cavities were built into the new building’s floors in different locations to house three of the mosaic fragments, with protective glass flooring above them. Steward noted that inspiration for this approach was drawn from locations within the Musée du Louvre in Paris.

walkable feast of music

The Princeton University Art Museum announced this spring that its highly anticipated new building will open to the public Oct. 31, 2025, following a multiyear design and construction process.

The 146,000-square-foot new facility effectively doubles the Museum’s spaces for the display of art and for teaching and educational programming, with updated visitor amenities and a season of four noteworthy inaugural special exhibitions.

One of the inaugural special exhibitions will be “Princeton Collects” (Oct. 31, 2025-March 29, 2026), highlighting transformative works of art — including major paintings by artists such as Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell and Gerhard Richter — donated in honor of the new building, which was designed by Adjaye Associates in collaboration with executive architect Cooper Robertson.

The Museum’s robust schedule of public programs includes a 24-hour open house beginning the evening of Oct. 31.

“The building’s architecture and the globespanning galleries within will invite visitors to see themselves as citizens of a broader set of communities,” said Museum Director James Steward, “which in turn will, we hope, nurture a deeper sense of our shared humanity.”

As the opening draws closer, the space has begun to transition from construction site to museum — capable of housing the many extraordinary works of art from the collections that have been off view since 2020.

Among the first pieces to grace the interior of the new building are the sixteenth-century Mallorcan staircase, the medieval stone window from the Vaucluse region of France, and the ancient Roman mosaics — all physically

Humanities professors and administrators from all 18 public community colleges in New Jersey spent a full day on Princeton University’s campus this spring for a conference focused on increasing the vitality of the humanities in the college classroom and deepening partnerships with Princeton. The event, the first in a series, was hosted by Princeton’s new Humanities Initiative and the Program for Community College Engagement (PCCE).

The Humanities Initiative launched this academic year with a goal of supercharging the University’s capacity “to take really big swings at big ideas,” according to its director, Rachael DeLue. She told attendees that a “major pillar” of the Initiative is to “foster community engagement

and public collaborations.” That effort is centered first and foremost on Princeton’s relationship with New Jersey’s community colleges, she said. Sarah Schwarz, director of PCCE, invited attendees to think about how Princeton can “open doors and share our resources more widely. I hope we can think together about the challenges facing the humanities while celebrating the humanities in the classroom and revitalizing the role of humanities.”

PCCE was founded in 2023 to build on the University’s long-standing work with community colleges. Its primary goal is to create collaborations and mentorship opportunities for faculty, administrators and students at New Jersey’s community colleges with Princeton faculty and graduate students.

embedded into the architecture of the facility. Their installation marks the culmination of years-long collaborations between teams of specialist conservators, art handlers, curators, registrars and more.

The process of returning the works to the new Museum facility and laboriously and safely re-embedding them in the new architecture began in September 2024. As they were transported into and installed in the new building, Museum photographers Jeffrey Evans and Joseph Hu documented the specialist installation teams at work. The full story of the reinstallation appeared in the winter issue of the Princeton University Art Museum Magazine and is excerpted here.

Mallorcan stairway

The Museum’s sixteenth-century Mallorcan stairway was previously a mainstay of the galleries of medieval art, where elements of it were installed across the galleries, including as a functional staircase leading to the former Works on Paper Study Room.

After meticulous cleaning at a studio in Maryland, the stairs were fully rebuilt over a period of nine months. Preparators and conservators, outside contractors, and members of Princeton’s facilities department and security staff all played key parts. The staircase’s new location, “nested within the environs of the Museum’s Grand Stair in a dramatic doubleheight space, will have a lasting impression on visitors,” said Michael Jacobs, senior gallery designer and manager of exhibition services.

Vaucluse window

The Museum’s fifteenth-century stone window from the Vaucluse region of France, formerly housed in a connecting space between galleries

As the installation of the remaining embedded objects neared completion, Alexia Hughes, chief registrar and manager of collection services, commented: “To see these architectural pieces in place, it does feel right. The building is so different from what it used to be ... we’ve been disconnected from the old building for four years now, and with the return of these amazing pieces it’s starting to feel like the Princeton University Art Museum once again.”

Throughout the day’s programming, attendees learned about the range of free resources available at Princeton, including Princeton University Library’s Special Collections and the Princeton University Art Museum.

“The humanities students are the heartbeat of our institutions,” said conference co-organizer Linda Scherr, chief academic officer of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges.

She noted that more than 20 percent of the 20,000 associate of arts degrees conferred annually at New Jersey community colleges are in the humanities. She said access to cultural and academic resources, such as those that Princeton makes available, are essential as community college educators work to help students “see how their humanities courses fit into their journey as an engaged citizen, their career journey, their lifelong learning journey.” Jamie Saxon Office of Communications

Community college educators visit Princeton.

Photo by Matthew Raspanti, Office of Communications

Detail from a Princeton University Art Museum mosaic depicting Apollo and Daphne. Photo by Joseph Hu

Hilary A. Parker, Vice President and Secretary, Princeton University

Music filled the town at PorchFest on April 26.

Photo by Matthew Raspanti, Office of Communications

Conservators from Adam Jenkins Conservation Services make final touches during the installation of the mosaic pavement. Photo by Joseph Hu The Museum website, artmuseum.princeton.edu, has details on the public opening, including

Students at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs bring a range of experiences to the classroom, perhaps none more so than the military service members who attend.

Their practical experience often illuminates policy discussions and adds nuance to conversations about the world’s most pressing problems, said Jacob N. Shapiro, a professor of politics and international affairs and director of the Empirical Studies of Conflict project. In turn, the students say their time at Princeton SPIA helps them think more broadly about the U.S. military’s challenges and how to tackle them. Here, thoughts and perspectives from four SPIA military scholars.

Kristy Gonzalez, Class of 2025, joined the Marine Corps Reserve as a Miami Dade College student prior to attending Princeton. She is a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps who works as a parachute rigger and commutes to Florida to attend training. “The military gives you a broad perspective of how the world works and how people make decisions,” Gonzalez said, and Princeton SPIA fits the public-service mission that guides her: “a sense of helping the world to work the right way for the right reasons.” Austen Boroff, Ph.D. candidate, commissioned as a field artillery officer from West Point in 2014 and became one of the first female platoon leaders; she deployed to Iraq twice. Later, in Washington state, she commanded a long-range hypersonic weapons battery. “Princeton SPIA has widened my aperture,” Major Boroff said. “It’s insightful to step back and examine the grand strategic picture and tools of statecraft beyond

military applications.” The Chatham, N.J., native has enjoyed visiting her parents on Sundays. She will move to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, this summer and continue work on her dissertation.

Joshua Peters, a Master in Public Policy (MPP) student , joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at Florida State University. He was commissioned as an infantry officer and deployed to Europe several times before transitioning to the U.S. Army Special Forces. Most recently Peters, an Army Major, has served as a foreign area officer in the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan. “I don’t want to think about problems only from a military perspective,” he said. “Princeton is helping me have a political and policy perspective, an economic perspective and a human perspective.” After completing the program, he will work as the deputy director for security cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Lithuania.

Caroline Miller, also an MPP student, is an active-duty U.S. Coast Guard officer who has worked on counternarcotics operations in the eastern Pacific, environmental protection and mass casualty response in California, and strategic missions in Bahrain. Her military experiences add perspective to the policy challenges discussed in class on topics such as national security. Lieutenant Miller will be assigned after graduation to a policy-related role for the Coast Guard. “Part of the value of me doing this program is that five, 10 years from now, I’ll be able to take the lessons I’ve learned here, the connections, and the way of thinking, and be able to apply them,” she said.

Ambreen Ali, Princeton SPIA

The University dedicated Sonia Sotomayor Hall in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Class of 1976, at a ceremony on campus April 11. The University also unveiled a portrait of Justice Sotomayor that will be added to Princeton’s campus art collection.

“I am deeply touched to have my name become a permanent part of Princeton,” Justice Sotomayor said. “Thank you, Princeton, for all I have become and for all the good your generations of students have brought into this world. My heart is bursting today with joy and gratitude.”

President Christopher L. Eisgruber called it “an exciting and historic day for Princeton.”

“With this portrait and naming, your remarkable legacy will be memorialized on this campus for generations to come,” Eisgruber told Justice Sotomayor before she cut the ceremonial ribbon for Sonia Sotomayor Hall.

“We are forever grateful for the transformative contributions you have made to the nation and to humanity and for the inspiration you have been to so many of us.”

Earlier in the day, Justice Sotomayor joined Eisgruber for a wide-ranging conversation about her extraordinary life and career during a special program for students at Richardson Auditorium.

Justice Sotomayor has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2009. She is the first justice of Hispanic heritage and the third woman justice in Supreme Court history. She is also a former Princeton trustee.

Sonia Sotomayor Hall, located at 36 University Place, is the site of programs that support firstgeneration college, lower-income, transfer, and veteran students, as well as the first place that many prospective students visit on campus. It houses the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity, the undergraduate Admission Information Center and the Center for Career Development. The building also includes one of the two Princeton University Store locations.

Emily Aronson, Office of Communications

Members of the Princeton community can participate in the University’s Pre-read tradition — in which all incoming students read and discuss one book — on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m. in the Princeton Public Library's Community Room. Register online at princetonlibrary.org starting Aug. 15 and receive a free copy of the book while supplies last.

Dean of the College Michael D. Gordin’s book “On the Fringe: Where Science Meets Pseudoscience” has been named the Princeton Pre-read for the Class of 2029. The book, which uses history and philosophy to explore how to distinguish science from pseudoscience, grew out of a longtime class taught by Gordin. Gordin will be in conversation with Corina Tarnita, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Campus Calendar

Artist Paul Newton’s portrait “Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Class of 1976” Photo by Jeff Evans © Paul Newton

Princeton SPIA military-affiliated students (from left) Austen Boroff, Caroline Miller, Kristy Gonzalez and Joshua Peters. Photo by Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications

“The

Bridges of Madison County” Opens Princeton Summer Theater’s Season; Strong Performances Highlight the Romantic Musical’s

Folk-Influenced Score

Princeton Summer Theater is opening its season with The Bridges of Madison County. The romantic musical portrays an affair between an Italian-born Iowa housewife and a visiting photographer for National Geographic. Depicting this brief relationship invites us to consider the fragility of fleeting moments — and, consequently, the human instinct to try to preserve their memory in a tangible form.

The Bridges of Madison County is adapted from Robert James Waller’s 1992 novel of the same title (which also is the basis of the 1995 film). The musical’s book is by playwright and librettist Marsha Norman. The eclectic but sufficiently unified music (which borrows from folk and opera, along with other influences), and the lyrics are by Jason Robert Brown, whose The Last Five Years was presented by PST last year.

Originally The Bridges of Madison County met with limited success. Following its 2013 premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, it opened on Broadway in February 2014, and closed in May of that year. Nevertheless, Brown won that year’s Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations. Certain songs from the show, particularly “To Build a Home” and “It All Fades Away,” frequently are heard in concerts.

Eliyana Abraham, the former PST artistic director who staged The Last Five Years, returns to direct The Bridges of Madison County. Abraham guides the talented cast through a thoughtful, generally successful production that allows the show’s strongest and most beautiful elements to shine.

The crisp music direction is by Halle Mitchell (assisted by Jenia Marquez). Sound Designer Orion Lopez-Ramirez ably maintains balance between the actors and the orchestra — a quintet featuring Mitchell (keyboard and guitar), Marquez (keyboard), Simone Scott (guitar), Chern Yang (violin), and Radon Belarmino (cello).

Belarmino opens the show with a contemplative cello solo, stating a motif that becomes a theme for the character of Francesca, an Italian war bride. Francesca (played by Alison Silldorff) enters; we see her leave her home in Naples, and travel to her eventual home in Winterset, Iowa, where as of 1965 she has lived for 18 years with her husband and two children.

This sequence of events is covered in “To Build a Home,” a brisk waltz that is well served by Silldorff’s delicate soprano. Abraham infuses the opening number with plenty of stage business — Francesca unpacks as she sings — evoking a hectic journey.

Immediately we get a sense of Francesca’s stable but stultifying home life. Her affable but dispassionate husband, Richard “Bud” Johnson (Zach Lee) is preparing to leave on a trip of his own, along with the couple’s children, Michael (portrayed as entertainingly rebellious by Lana Gaige) and Carolyn

(a contrastingly prissy Lucy Grunden). The purpose of the trip is to show Carolyn’s prize steer at a fair.

Tensions that are starting to erupt, particularly between Bud and Michael, are conveyed in “Home Before You Know It,” a quartet that has some nice contrapuntal writing by Brown. Lee nicely captures Bud’s lack of emotional intelligence (pointedly noted by Carolyn) in trying to run his family.

Shortly after Francesca’s family leaves, Robert Kincaid (Cory Garcia Jr.) pulls into their driveway to ask for directions. He is a photographer for National Geographic ; the title of the show (and novel) is derived from his assignment, which is to photograph Madison County’s covered bridges. He has had trouble finding the final bridge, so Francesca guides him.

Just as Francesca sings about being anchored in “To Build a Home,” Robert sings about being “Temporarily Lost.” Despite some lovely melodic phrases, there is some awkward word-setting that yields odd accents (particularly for the line “I’ve been looking for something”). Nevertheless, the song benefits from Garcia’s sturdy, rich baritone.

A more satisfying number for Robert is “The World Inside a Frame,” whose lyrics nicely encapsulate a central theme of the show: “It’s like all you didn’t know that you were waiting for is just outside the frame, and it can change the way you see.”

On Robert’s first night, it (helpfully) is too late for Robert to eat dinner at a restaurant in town, so Francesca cooks him a meal from a recipe she has brought with her from Italy. She is excited to discover that Robert recently has visited Naples, where she has

Silldorff and Garcia sing exquisitely together in their duet “Before and After You/ One Second and a Million Miles.” Garcia’s impassioned rendition makes Robert’s signature ballad “It All Fades Away” the showstopper it needs to be; movingly, Robert contemplatively stares at Francesca’s photo as he sings that number’s wordless vocalise. Silldorff’s sensitive phrasing benefits the introspective “Always Better,” in which Francesca contemplates her circumstances and choices.

Robert’s presence soon is observed by the family’s neighbors, an inquisitive but kindly older couple named Marge (Lucy Shea) and Charlie (Ja’quan Spann). It becomes clear that Marge knows about the affair, and upon the family’s return late in act two, she becomes directly involved.

While the romance between Francesca and Robert obviously is the primary focus, it is to the show’s credit that we do not forget about Francesca’s family. Their time at the fair is encapsulated in a rousing countryflavored ensemble number, “State Road 21.”

(The ensemble is comprised of Shea, Spann, and Emmie Collins.) Bud is given the driving “Something From a Dream,” movingly delivered by Lee, in which to express his feelings for Francesca.

There are aspects of the show (and perhaps of the original story) that could be stronger. It is a rather convenient coincidence that the day Francesca’s family departs, there arrives a man who happens to have photos of her old home. Additionally, there is little suspense; until late in the second act, one never has the sense that Francesca and Robert will be discovered — so the stakes are not particularly high.

experience that “To Build a Home” tells us her character has attained. This partly may be due to the fact that the actor (Silldorff) recently graduated from Princeton; however, the music — for all its beauty — could do more to distinguish Francesca’s generation from Michael and Carolyn’s.

However, the alchemy in the combination of the book, score, and performances is that these individual quibbles matter little. As corny as this may sound, fundamentally what matters is that Robert and Francesca meet, discover their common connection to Naples, and fall in love. We may not entirely approve of the moral aspect of Francesca’s choices (the show does not pass judgement), but the love between her and Robert comes from a genuine and deep enough place — and has a sufficiently transformative and positive effect on Francesca’s character — that we tend to forgive that.

Abraham could pay greater attention to certain production aspects, particularly the timing of prop placement for scene changes. In more than once scene, the audience’s view of the actors is blocked by furniture that is not yet in use.

That said, the direction includes some appealing tableaux and effective use of vertical levels. Frequently Francesca and Robert are toward the front of the stage; characters who have influenced their pasts — Francesca’s family, and Robert’s ex-wife Marian (Sidney Humes-James, who brings a pleasing mezzo-soprano and smooth phrasing to “Another Life”) — are further back, elevated.

ry derives from the film may also feel that Francesca seems a bit young to have the life

Carolina Kertesz’s set makes effective use of the space. It is evocative enough to capture a perceived essence of rural smalltown America, but economical enough to enhance, rather than overwhelm, the performances. Kat McLaughlin’s lighting aids in creating some attractive stage pictures.

Costume Designer Susan McLernon evokes the period while using color to define character. Although they are a mixture of light and dark, the majority of the tasteful outfits are conspicuously subdued. It is not until Robert arrives that a character — Francesca – wears vibrant red. It adds a nice layer that, in early scenes between the two, Robert an orange shirt while Francesca wears a white one. Later, Francesca wears the red dress while Robert’s shirt is white, underlining how intertwined the two characters have become.

“The Bridges of Madison County” will play at the Hamilton Murray Theater in Murray Dodge Hall, Princeton University, through June 28. For tickets, show times, and further information visit princetonsummertheater.org.

“Love is always better.” Ultimately, the success of the production elements is marked by the extent to which they allow the consistently talented performances to flourish. The Bridges of Madison County is at its best when audiences can savor the beauty of its themes and musical numbers. Princeton Summer Theater’s production makes that possible.

—Donald H. Sanborn III

“THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY”: Performances are underway for Princeton Summer Theater’s production of “The Bridges of Madison County.” Directed by Eliyana Abraham, the musical runs through June 28 at Princeton University’s Hamilton Murray Theater.

Above, from left: National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid (Cory Garcia Jr.) visits a small Iowa town on assignment, and enters into a love affair with Italian-born housewife Francesca (Allison Silldorff). (Photo by Eliyana Abraham)

Performing Arts

Classic by Oscar Wilde On Stage at Kelsey Oscar Wilde’s farcical tale depicting the tangled affairs of two men-abouttown leading double lives comes to the stage of Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre when Shakespeare ‘70 presents The Importance of Being Earnest June 20-29.

Wilde’s “trivial comedy for serious people,” now celebrating its 130th anniversary, remains as timely today as when it was first produced in 1895. The story involves two rakish young men, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who opt to navigate Victorian-era expectations of courtship simply by evading them. But when their personas and egos begin to collide, the pair get caught up in a wit-fueled whirlwind of mistaken identities and romantic snafus. In the end, the story reveals the absurd lengths that humans will go to in pursuit of acceptance, love, and truth.

Tickets are $20 and $22. For show times, visit kelseytheatre.org.

Monthly Open Mic At Arts Council

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) will continue the monthly Story & Verse Open Mic every third Thursday at their Paul Robeson Center

for the Arts offering spoken word artists and poets a way to stay creative and connected this summer.

The next event is Thursday, June 19 at 7 p.m., with a theme “Dreams in Wake and Sleep.”

Since 2020, Story & Verse has provided a welcoming spotlight for both emerging and established artists in the ACP’s Solley Theater, an intimate space. Previous recorded events can be seen on the ACP’s YouTube channel. Story & Verse is free for all, hosted by local artist Brass Rabbit. Performers are invited to share a story, poem, or spoken word piece up to 5 minutes in length.

“Story & Verse has blossomed into a true mainstay here at the Arts Council”, said ACP Director of Programming and Events Melissa Kuscin. “It’s diverse in every way possible, showing off the talent of every age group, every level of experience. In fact, we’ve been getting more beginners than ever, and we’re honored to host a space that makes everyone feel like it’s for them.”

For Open Theme Nights, participants are welcome to share any piece of their choosing. Other events may be inspired by specific themes. The theme on July 17 is “In the Deep End,” while August 21 is an open theme. The Arts Council is

at 102 Witherspoon Street. Visit artscouncilofprinceton. org.

“Layers of Obscurity”

Performance Planned

Creative visionary/interdisciplinary artist Tammy Sands and songwriter/composer Jimmy Waltman will perform Layers of Obscurity’s 11 +1 on Saturday, June 21 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Studio 17 in Hopewell Borough. This free event invites the community to engage in an artistic exploration of the links between human health and planetary well-being.

The performance will feature six of the 12 symbolic systems that make up 11 +1, each composed of three interpretive layers. The creative project challenges audiences to move beyond societal and emotional “obscurities” and reawaken a sense of interconnectedness with Earth’s fragile natural systems.

“The health of Mother Earth and her inhabitants is at a turning point,” said Sands. “Through this work, we’re inviting people to feel, remember, and reimagine their interconnectedness and interdependence with natural systems, cycles, and rhythms to evolve in healthier relationships with our world and each other.”

“With this performance, we hope to inspire reflection

21. Visit princetonsymphony.org/festival for tickets.

and involve others in our art making process,” said Waltman. We’re interested in collaboration and conversation as a means of proliferating the mission of the project: to begin to heal the fractured relationship between people and the natural world that is leading to existential environmental crises.”

Far from a conventional performance, 11 +1 is part immersive experience, part collective reflection. Attendees are encouraged to engage deeply, not just as spectators but as participants in a shared inquiry into ecological urgency, emotional

clarity, and transformative connection.

This event is suitable for all ages and backgrounds and is intended to spark meaningful conversations within the community. Visit journeywithlightness.com/ lightness-of-vision for more information. well loved and well read since 1946

BROADWAY STAR: Kelli O’Hara was the featured performer at a June 7 fundraiser held at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick. The “Night in

more than $313,000 to support arts education programs, affordable ticketing initiatives, and community outreach efforts to ensure that the performing arts remain affordable and accessible for all.

Lights” benefit gala raised

(Photo by Jeff Auger)

COMEDY OF MANNERS: Ryan Holcombe, left, and Maggie Gronenthal star in the Oscar Wilde play “The Importance of Being Earnest” at Kelsey Theatre through June 29.

who for decades documented life in Princeton’s Witherspoon-

Teen Photography Camp

At Arts Council

Now in its fourth year, a teen photography camp honoring the late photographer Romus Broadway — who documented life in Princeton’s WitherspoonJackson (W-J) neighborhood for decades — continues to inspire the next generation of storytellers. The camp offers photography instruction, lessons in local history, and digital cameras to 10 selected student applicants.

Broadway captured daily life in the W-J neighborhood through thousands of images from the late 1950s through the early 2000s. He passed away in the summer of 2020, leaving behind a profound legacy as the unofficial photographic historian of a tight-knit community. His photo collages have been displayed at events, church services, schools, and community programs — including at the Arts Council of Princeton for many years.

“As one of the founding members of the Romus

Broadway Camp, I am filled with hope and comfort seeing it continue to thrive.

Partnering with the Arts Council of Princeton was truly the icing on the cake — this collaboration is a perfect match. Together, we’re able to provide students with top-notch instruction and meaningful support that honors Romus’s legacy,” said Lance Liverman, a member of the organizing committee alongside Iona Harding, Asha Weal, the Rev. Gregory Smith, and Adam Welch.

The camp combines the fundamentals of photography with the history of the Witherspoon-Jackson community. Photographers Asha Weal and Davon Rodgers designed the curriculum. Both residents and non-residents were invited to apply, and 10 students were selected.

Participants, ages 12 to 15, will benefit from two weeks of full-day instruction at the end of this month.

Each day focuses on a different aspect of photography fundamentals and the local

history that inspired Broadway to begin documenting his community over 75 years ago. The students will explore sites across the Princeton University campus and the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, a historically Black community and Princeton’s 20th Historic District. All participants will keep the digital camera they use throughout the session.

The Romus Broadway Photography Camp is endorsed by the WitherspoonJackson Historical and Cultural Society, whose mission is to research, preserve, understand, appreciate, and celebrate the rich and proud history of African Americans in Princeton, in partnership with the Arts Council of Princeton.

For information about sponsoring a child, email emma@artscouncilof princeton.org.

Three New Exhibitions

At Gallery 14 at Hopewell Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography in Hopewell will present “Scott Hoerl: Still Life Photos +,”

“Jill Mudge: Narratives in Nature,” and “Barbara Warren: Imaginary Landscapes” June 21 through July 20.

Warren said, “Some of my favorite subjects to photograph are landscapes, abstracts, patterns and textures. Due to COVID and personal injuries, my ability to pursue landscape photography has been limited in the last few years. So I’ve turned to creating my own imaginary landscapes. These landscapes are created by combining photography with traditional collage techniques. I create the collage elements using my own painted papers and my own printed photographs of abstracts and yes, landscapes.

“I create both traditional collages mounted on cradle boards as well as photographs matted and framed. I often photograph the collage after the first layer of papers have been laid down. I then finish the collage in the traditional manner, but also create a photographic variation by adding elements and layers in Photoshop to create a print version.”

Mudge said , “ I consider myself a fine arts photographer and I enjoy taking photos of landscapes, nature, wildlife, and equine photography. I am active with local photography clubs and enjoy staying current with new ideas. I am a member of NANPA, Gallery 14, Princeton Photography Club, Garden Club of

Princeton, and the Arts Council

According to Hoerl, “My award-winning photography is a product of a lifelong interest in the arts. A native of Delaware, my artistic journey began in my late teens in Vienna, Austria, where I studied classical music and where my eye was first drawn to the architectural marvels of Europe that have become a theme of my photography. Those early years also instilled a lifelong obsession with travel.

“‘Still Life Photos +’ features many of my still lifes, including various flowers, plants, and items I have collected on morning walks with my wife. I especially relish creating textured backgrounds to compliment these images. I have a fascination with shapes, shadows, and reflections

which will also be a part of this exhibition.”

Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography is located at 14 Mercer Street and is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed July 5 and 6.) Appointments can also be made to view the exhibition at other times by emailing galleryfourteen@yahoo. com. For more information, visit gallery14.org.

NONORING ROMUS BROADWAY: A teen photography camp has been created in honor of the late photographer Romus Broadway,

Jackson neighborhood.

(Broadway at ACP in 2015)

“MY LOVELY FRIEND”: This photograph by Jill Mudge is featured in “Narratives in Nature,” on view June 21 through July 20 at Gallery 14 Fine art Photography in Hopewell.

“STILL LIFE Photos +”: Photographs by Scott Hoerl are on exhibit at Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography in Hopewell June 21 through July 20.

of Princeton.”

ART ALL NIGHT: The annual event returns to the Trenton War Memorial June 28-29 for a full 24 hours starting on Saturday, June 28 at 3 p.m.

Art All Night Returns to Trenton War Memorial

Back for its annual return on June 28–29, Art All NightTrenton is the primary fundraiser for Artworks Trenton, the capital city’s nonprofit visual arts center. By bringing the community together through creativity, it supports free classes, exhibitions, and outreach programs all year long.

The event will once again run a full 24 hours, offering an immersive celebration of creativity from 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon to 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon — with new experiences for artists, families, night owls, and everyone in between.

Held at the Trenton War Memorial, the event kicks off on Saturday, June 28 at 3 p.m. and runs until midnight with a community gallery of visual art, live performances, live murals, a beer garden

hosted by the Bent Iron Brewing Company, interactive workshops, and more.

This year’s event also features a Kids Corner, presented by Capital City Craft Studio, offering face painting, Isles Trex trucks, crafts from the New Jersey State Museum, performances by the Trenton Circus Squad, and interactive classes from two teaching artists. For adults looking for something a little unexpected, the Boozy Steam Lab offers a 21-and-over experience that blends science and mixology with sessions at 10 and 11 p.m.

When the doors close at the War Memorial, the night continues at Vibes All Night, a late-night celebration of art, culture, and community held just down the street at 13 West Front Street from 12 to 5 a.m. on June 29. Vibes All Night invites night owls, dreamers, and insomniacs to gather in a space filled with

creative energy — featuring local DJs, live art, vintage and handmade vendors, late-night bites, drinks, and space to unwind. It’s a free, open-to-all experience designed to keep the community connected and inspired deep into the night.

“This year, we’re thrilled to bring back the full 24 hours of Art All Night,” said Kenny Bullock, creative director. “And now, with Vibes All Night taking over after midnight, we’re expanding what the night can be —welcoming people into a different kind of creative space where the energy keeps flowing and everyone belongs.”

Open calls to submit art and volunteers are still live at artallnighttrenton.org.

To learn more about getting involved or sponsoring this year’s event, reach out to Managing Director Craig Shofed at director@ artworkstrenton.org.

New Jersey State Museum Presents “Recent Acquisitions” Exhibit

The New Jersey State Museum in Trenton now presents “Recent Acquisitions: Fine Art.” The new exhibition presents some of the latest accessions to the Fine Art collection, many of which are on view to the public for the first time, including works by artists Robert Smithson, Cindy Sherman, Willie Cole, Melvin Edwards, Nancy Cohen, and Purvis Young. The exhibition is on view on the museum’s second floor Riverside gallery.

Since the establishment of the Fine Art bureau in 1964, the collection has grown to over 12,000 artworks that represent the museum’s commitment to broadening exploration of new narratives in American art history, while also highlighting New Jersey’s role in the context of a global art world.

According to the Museum’s Fine Art Curator Sarah B. Vogelman, “each of these newly accessioned works either addresses a gap or bolsters a strength in the museum’s contemporary holdings.” This includes the first acquisitions of works by important artists with New Jersey connections: Glen Ridge-born Cindy Sherman (b.1954) and Passaic native Robert Smithson (1938-1973); as well as Hillside resident Robert Duran (1938-2005) and Mount Holly’s Frank Dillon (1867-1954). Recently acquired works by artists Joseph Stella (1877-1946) and Purvis Young (19422010) build upon the collection’s strengths in American Modernism and Outsider art

respectively, and expand the possibilities for understanding these movements within art history at the State Museum.

The New Jersey State Museum, located at 195-205 West State Street, Trenton, is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; closed on all state holidays. General admission is free. For more information, visit statemuseum.nj.gov.

Area Exhibits

Art@Bainbridge, 158 Nassau Street, has “Roberto Lugo: Orange and Black” through July 6. Artmuseum. princeton.edu.

Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville, has “Celebrating Color and Light” through July 6. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lambertvillearts.com.

Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, has “Mirrored Hues” and “Places Near and Far” June 21 through July 19. Artscouncilofprinceton.org.

Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography, 14 Mercer Street, Hopewell, has “Scott Hoerl: Still Life Photos +,” Jill Mudge: Narratives in Nature,” and “Barbara Warren: Imaginary Landscapes” June 21 through July 20. Gallery14.org.

Gourgaud Gallery, 23-A North Main Street, Cranbury, has works by Stonebridge Photography Club members through June 27. Cranburyartscouncil.org.

Green Building Center, 67 Bridge Street,

Lambertville, has “Awakenings” through June 20. Greenbuildingcenter.com.

Historical Society of Princeton, Updike Farmstead, 354 Quaker Road, has “Princeton Reflected: Stories from HSP’s Collection” and “Einstein Salon and Innovator’s Gallery.” Museum hours are Thursday through Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m. Princetonhistory.org

Mercer Museum, 84 South Pine Street, Doylestown, Pa., has “The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution” through December 31, 2026. Mercermuseum.org.

Michener Art Museum, 138 South Pine Street, Doylestown, Pa., has “Yesterday’s Dreams Are Real” through July 27 and “Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural” through September 14. Michenerartmuseum .org

Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, has “Historic Morven: A Window Into America’s Past” (ongoing). Morven.org.

Phillips’ Mill, 2619 River Road, New Hope, Pa., has “The Selma Burke Invitational African American Art Show” through June 29. Phillipsmill.org.

Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, has photographs by Rebecca DePorte through July 1. Smallworldcoffee.com.

West Windsor Arts, 952 Alexander Road, West Windsor, has “Faculty and Student Art Show” through June 28. Westwindsorarts.org.

Tell them you saw their ad in

JUNE

Town Topics

Mark Your Calendar

Wednesday, June 18

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Leighton Listens. Councilman Leighton Newlin holds one-on-one conversations about issues impacting Princeton at Olives Bakery, 22 Witherspoon Street.

3 and 7 p.m.: The Princeton Festival presents “The Sebastians: Baroque Brilliance” at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street. Princetonsymphony. org/festival.

6 p.m.: The Board of Trustees of Princeton Public Library meets at the library, 65 Witherspoon Street. Princetonlibrary.org.

Thursday, June 19

10 a.m.: Meeting of the 55 Plus Club of Princeton at The Jewish Center, 435 Nassau Street, and via Zoom. Dr. William Hu, director of the Center for Healthy Aging Research at Rutgers, will speak on Long Covid. Free ($5 suggested donation). Princeton55plus.org.

10-11:30 a.m. Cook Talks: Hydroponic Gardens , at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of Mercer County Library System, 2751 Brunswick Pike. Mcl.org.

7 p.m.: The Princeton Festival presents “Masters of Soul,” a Motown revue, under the tent at Morven, 55 Stockton Street. Princetonsymphony.org/ festival.

7 p.m.: Story & Verse Open Mic at the Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street. The theme is “Dreams in Wake and Sleep.” Hosted by Brass Rabbit. Share a story, poem, or spoken word piece up to 5 minutes long. Free. Artscouncilofprinceton.org.

Friday, June 20

12-8 p.m.: Sunset Sips & Sounds at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Wine, music, light bites in the apple orchard. Music from 5-8 p.m by Kindred Spirit Duo Terhuneorchards.com.

7 p.m.: The Princeton Festival presents “Viva Vivaldi ” with Daniel Rowland and Maja Bogdanovic and PSO Strings under the tent at Morven, 55 Stockton Street. Princetonsymphony.org.

6 p.m.: Native Plants workshop at Lawrence Headquarters Branch of Mercer County Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike. Led by Kelly Rypkema, director of environmental education at Mercer County Park Commission. Mcl.org.

8 p.m.: The Importance of Being Earnest is performed at Kelsey Theatre, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. $20-$22. Kelseytheatre.org.

Saturday, June 21

9 a.m.-1 p.m.: West Windsor Community Farmers Market, Princeton Junction train station southbound side. More than 50 local farms and vendors. Wwcfm.org.

10 a.m.: Toy Story is screened at the Garden Theatre, 160 Nassau Street, as part of the $5 Family Matinees program. Gardentheatre.org/family.

10 a.m.-4 p.m.: Dairying at Howell Living History Farm, 70 Woodens Lane, Hopewell Township. Learn about milking the farm cow and more. Free. Howellfarm.org.

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Public Release Party for the live action How to Train Your Dragon at Princeton MarketFair mall. Dragon stilt-walker, Vikings, the character Toothless, and more. Free. Marketfairshoppes.com.

11 a.m.-12 p.m.: Create and Connect: Kids Co-Regulation Activity at Center 353 (formerly

Trinity Counseling Service), 353 Nassau Street. Engaging art activity for children and adolescents (ages 5-15) led by a trained artist and experienced mental health clinicians who will lead a hands-on activity designed to support emotional regulation and promote optimal functioning. No art experience necessary. Centerat353.org.

12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music Series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Wine, food, farm strolls, and music from 2-5 p.m. by Chris P Antique Car Show from 10 a.m.-3 p.m . Terhuneorchards.com.

12-4 p.m.: Juneteenth celebration at the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, 189 Hollow Road, Skillman. Performances, activities, exhibitions, food, and more. $20 online, $25 at the venue (kids 14 and under $10 online, $15 at the venue). Ssaamuseum.org/ Juneteenth-2025.

2 p.m.: The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra led by Daniel Spalding presents “Classic Virtuosi (With a Twist)” at Mill Hill Playhouse, 205 East Front Street, Trenton. Works by Bach, Mozart, Lekeu, Miguel del Aguila, and Steve Reich. $45. Pvco.org. 4:40-6:30 p.m.: “Layers of Obscurity’s 11 + 1,” performance and participatory reflection, at Studio 17, 17 Seminary Avenue, Hopewell. By interdisciplinary artist Tammy Sands and composer/musician Jimmy Waltman. Free. Journeywithlightness.com/ lightness-of-vision.

6-8 p.m.: Blueberry Festival at Kingston Presbyterian Church, 4565 Route 27, Kingston. Free. Bounce house, pony rides, gaga ball pit, games, crafts, and more. Rain or shine. Kingstonpresbyterian.org.

CONTINUING

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

The Phoenician Scheme

Friendship

Tuesday 6/24

Sabbath Queen w/ Director Q&A

Hollywood Summer Nights!

Wednesday 6/25

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Thursday 6/26

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

See website for more details & special events

www.princetongarden.org

7 p.m.: The Princeton Festival presents “ARRIVAL from Sweden: The Music of ABBA” under the tent at Morven, 55 Stockton Street. Princetonsymphony. org/festival.

8 p.m.: The Importance of Being Earnest is performed at Kelsey Theatre, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. $20-$22. Kelseytheatre.org.

Sunday, June 22

10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Ciclovia Princeton. Walnut Lane, from Hamilton Avenue to Guyot Avenue, will be a car-free zone with yoga demonstrations, a Capoeira workshop, a bike safety area, chalk murals, live music, and a bike decorating contest. Artscouncilofprinceton.org.

12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music Series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Wine, food, farm strolls, and music from 2-5 p.m by Michael Montemurro Terhuneorchards.com.

1-5 p.m.: Courthouse Quilters Guild of Flemington hosts a fabric dying workshop followed by a lecture from 6:30-8:30 p.m.: “Kaffe & Morris: A Color Collaboration Across Time” by Marisa Simon of Free Spirit Fabric. At Hunterdon County Complex, 314 Route 12, Flemington. Courthousequilters. org/home.html.

1 p.m.: “A Sampling of Hunterdon County Needlework,” at Acme Screening Room, 25 South Union Street, Lambertville. Textile scholar Marty Campanelli is the speaker. $10 ($5 students). Lambertvillehistoricalsociety.org.

2 p.m.: “The Effective Use of Hand Tools in Gardening and Land Stewardship,” presented by D&R Greenway Land Trust and farmer Rob Flory at St. Michael’s Farm Preserve, Hopewell Township. $10 donation. Drgreenway.org.

2 p.m.: The Importance of Being Earnest is performed at Kelsey Theatre, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. $20-$22. Kelseytheatre.org.

4-5:15 p.m.: Stay Tuned performs at the Listen Local series on Hinds Plaza (or inside Princeton Public Library’s Community Room if it rains). Princetonlibrary.org.

4-8 p.m.: The Veblen Birthday Bash, at Herrontown Woods, 600 Snowden Lane. Celebrate summer and the birthdays of the Veblens, who donated the nature preserve. Free. Herrontownwoods.org/events.

Tuesday, June 24

9:30 and 11 a.m.: Read & Pick: Green Beans, at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Hands-on farm activity followed by stories for kids preschool-8. $12 per child. Terhuneorchards.com.

Wednesday, June 25

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Leighton Listens . Councilman Leighton Newlin holds one-on-one conversations about issues impacting Princeton in the outside seating area of McCaffrey’s, 310 Harrison Street.

Thursday, June 26

10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Nook & Fern takes part in the Nassau Artist Pop-Up at Small World Coffee, 254 Nassau Street. Handmade and antique items for the home. Smallworldcoffee.com.

10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Beyond Words 1: Pearls of Wisdom, free familyfriendly workshop especially for those impacted by cancer. A nurturing space for creative self-expression and connection guided by therapist Deborah Rice and inspired by artwork of Priscilla Snow Algava to explore themes of resilience, hope, and healing. At West Windsor Arts, 952 Alexander Road. Westwindsorarts.org.

11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.: 33rd Annual Volley for SERV tennis/pickleball/golf tournament at Cobblestone Creek Country Club, 2170 Lawrenceville Road (Route 206). Servbhs.org.

7:30 p.m.: The Ivalas String Quartet performs works by Haydn, Skye, and Ravel at Richardson Auditorium. Free. Tickets.princeton.edu.

7:30 p.m.: “Devastation on the Delaware: Stories and Images of the Deadly Flood of 1955,” online talk by Mary Shafer, drawing from her book of that title. Sponsored by the Delaware River Greenway Partnership. Followed by a Q&A. Free. Delawarerivergreenway partnership.org.

Friday, June 27

12-8 p.m.: Sunset Sips & Sounds at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Wine, music, light bites in the apple orchard. Music from 5-8 p.m by Ragtime Relics Terhuneorchards.com.

8 p.m.: The Importance of Being Earnest is performed at Kelsey Theatre, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. $20-$22. Kelseytheatre.org.

Saturday, June 28

9 a.m.-1 p.m.: West Windsor Community Farmers Market, Princeton Junction train station southbound side. More than 50 local farms and vendors. Wwcfm.org.

9 a.m.-2 p.m.: Fearless Women’s Summit at Purposely Eventful, 353 Route 22 East, Greenbrook. Sponsored by Princeton Research Forum. Topics range from enterprise to caregiving for women’s empowerment. Onewoman.ca/fearlesswomens-summit-new-jersey-2925.

Back Nine, Indoor Golf Simulator Facility, Is Now Open at Princeton Shopping Center

Golfers take note! An intriguing new opportunity is available at the Princeton Shopping Center.

Back Nine celebrated its Grand Opening May 30, and is now ready to help golfers of all levels of ability hone their skills.

IT’S NEW To Us

A franchise owned by Geoff and Sheyda Spies, it is an indoor golf simulator facility that offers a variety of opportunities, including technological feedback, to improve one’s golfing abilities.

A Princeton native, Geoff Spies had a successful corporate career in New York City, but was looking for a change. “I really wanted to have my own business,” he explains, “and I was interested in some-

franchises, and found Back Nine. It took about a year to accomplish it, and open as an independently owed franchise.”

New Industry

Back Nine was founded in Utah two years ago, and there are now 40 franchises nationwide. The Princeton location is the second in New Jersey.

“This is a new industry,” points out Spies. “We expect it to increase all the time. Golf is very popular now, and this will be a great addition. With the indoor facility, this will be a great way for people to practice all the time, whatever the weather or season.

“Also, it is great for all levels. The technology gives you instant feedback about your swing, and other skills. You can accomplish a lot in a short time. You can actually play 18 holes in one hour!”

A golfer himself, Spies is enthusiastic about this new opportunity and the special technology that offers such complete

Three hitting bays with oversize screen simulators (16 feet wide) are available for golfers to access as a driving range or individual golf course (simulated actual golf courses all around the world). There is also a non-tech putting green, intended as a warm-up and practice area.

“Back Nine is not a replacement for traditional outdoor golf,” says Spies. “It is a complement to what golfers are already doing. It’s a way to practice using data and technology to improve your golf game. It’s a way to play some of the best and most famous golf courses around the world without leaving Princeton.”

“It’s a way to fit golf into a busy schedule,” he continues. “It is conveniently located in town, with ample parking. Plus, practice or full rounds of golf can be done in less time than outdoor golf.”

Membership-Based

Also, he explains, Back Nine is a membership-based facility. “A primary benefit of membership is that the facility is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to members. They can come in the morning before work, during their lunch hours, late in the evening, or whatever best suits their schedule. Members also do not pay each time they use the facility. They can book as many tee times as they would like.

“Also, Back Nine is weatherproof. It can be hot and humid outside in the summer, but Back Nine is air conditioned, and no sun block is required! We will also have league

nights and tournaments for adults plus kids’ camps and clinics for the younger golfers. We have the ability to do private events, either corporate or personal, including holiday and birthday parties.”

Different types of memberships include Par, Birdie, and Eagle, he adds. “Par is intended for the solitary golfer looking to work on their game. It offers the lowest financial entry point, and still allows unlimited tee times. It does require additional expenses for guests, and tee times are maxed at 60 minutes” says Spies.

Tee Times

“Birdie, the most popular membership option, is a single golfer on the account, but it allows the golfer to bring guests and book longer tee times, up to two hours,” he continues.

“Eagle is the most robust membership and is intended for two golfers to use the account simultaneously. It is ideal for a husband and wife who like to play either together or independently, or two friends who want to share the benefits of Back Nine. It allows both golfers to make their own tee times and each to bring their own guests.”

In addition, corporate memberships are available, which also offer the opportunity for members to bring clients to the facility. Members sign up for their tee time online and will receive a text message to confirm the time.

Back Nine’s modern setting and decor offer a comfortable environment. Seating is available in front of the screens for those who may wish to watch the golfers practice their skills.

“We were trying to fit the

Princeton audience and create a place where people would be comfortable, and also have it feel premium and unique,” reports Spies. “The seating at each hitting bay makes it feel like the ultimate place to hang out with friends while also playing golf.”

All ages are enjoying this new opportunity at the Princeton Shopping Center, including teens and members of school golf teams. Beginners are welcome to see how they can do on a driving range or learn to navigate an actual course — all via simulation.

Excitement and Interest

Instruction is also available, says Spies. “Lessons with PGA professionals can be arranged.”

“It’s just great way to learn golf or improve your game,” he emphasizes. “Playing a course is more challenging, but you can practice and improve your skills on the driving range too.

Even in the short time we have been open, there’s been an excellent response and a lot of excitement and interest.

“Also, we are the only Back Nine in the area, so we expect not only Princeton members, but people from all around the region. As I mentioned, we are a new industry, so we want to get the word out. We want to introduce this terrific new concept to everyone! We are sure they will appreciate the great benefit Back Nine offers.”

Back Nine is open seven days, 24 hours a day. Members will receive emails and texts, which will enable them to enter the facility at any time. Public tee times are also available at certain hours. Consult the website for details.

For further information, call (609) 380-9997 or visit the website at thebackninegolf.com/ princetonnj.

—Jean Stratton

GOLF GUIDANCE: “Back Nine is the new indoor golf simulator facility that offers guests the opportunity to work on their golf game in a variety of ways.” Geoff and Sheyda Spies, owners of Back Nine (and both Princeton High School graduates), look forward to welcoming golfers to their new facility.

S ports

Ending a Historic Chapter in Princeton Rowing, Crotty Steps Down as Men’s Lightweight Coach

For Marty Crotty, being around the Princeton University boathouse since the 1990s has been a life-changing experience.

Crotty, a 1998 Princeton alum, starred as a rower during his college days, helping the Tiger men’s heavyweights to national titles in 1996 and 1998. In 2006, Crotty came home to the boathouse to serve as the freshman coach for the Tiger men’s heavyweight team. He went on to become the head coach of the men’s lightweight program in 2009.

“It defines me, it is who I am,” said Crotty reflecting on his time on and around Lake Carnegie. “It is hard to characterize yourself, but if you ask anybody who epitomizes Princeton athletics and orange and black, I think a lot of people would say that guy Marty Crotty over there.”

Earlier this month, Crotty, 49, stunned a lot of people in the rowing world when he announced that he was stepping down from guiding the lightweight program.

“It is just where I am in my life and it is where I am in my commitment, dedication and service to Princeton, like 31 years in some capacity as a coach, as a rower, as a student,” said Crotty. “I have been super fortunate to be at Princeton for 31 years with just a little three or four year break in there but, man, 31 years is a long time to do something. It is time for me to go out and see what else there is.”

Crotty broke the news to his rowers on June 1 when they returned to the boathouse after ending the season by competing in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship on Cooper River in Cherry Hill.

“I am glad I had a chance to do it in person,” said Crotty. “I want to look you in the eye and say this is not because of you, this is not because of you as a roster. There are no individuals in this room that I don’t love” Reflecting on his Tiger coaching career, Crotty loved the challenge of taking the helm of the men’s lightweight program.

“As a head coach, the buck stops with you,” said Crotty. “When you transition to head coach, you are responsible for 40 guys, a head assistant, and whatever second or third assistant that you have. So right off the bat

you are responsible for more personnel. What I remember about that year was definitely being ready for it. I craved being responsible for more personnel.”

With the Tiger men’s lightweight team coming off a season for the ages in 2009 as its varsity eight took first in the Eastern Sprints, IRA, and Henley Royal Regatta, Crotty was under pressure to maintain the program’s standard of excellence.

“We had a lot of guys to replace from the 2009 boat, four or five guys graduated, and right off the bat I was tasked with finding the next group of guys that could have the same level of success,” said Crotty, who led the varsity eight to the IRA National Championship and Eastern Sprints titles in his debut campaign. “I really enjoyed that challenge. We had four or five sophomores in that boat who could not row on the varsity as freshmen. They were pretty green, it was their first year on varsity. I thought they did a great job of matching the success of the ’09 boat.”

Tiger men’s heavyweight head coach Greg Hughes, a 1996 Princeton alum, who knew Crotty during his college years, wasn’t surprised to see him succeed from the start.

“He did a great job with that; he came into it and knocked it out of the park in his first year, winning Sprints and the national championship,” said Hughes, who was Crotty’s predecessor as both the freshman heavyweight coach and men’s lightweight head coach. “That is hard to do, even if nothing changes. It is hard to match that success. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to feel like to know that there is nowhere to go but down. He crushed it.”

Over the years, Crotty grew as a coach, becoming more involved in his rowers’ lives off the water.

“In my early coaching career, I was more of a motivator than I was a coach,” said Crotty. “I just coached what was in front of me. I think I did a good job in my early days getting the most out of a kid. I trained guys well. I never really tried to have an understanding of what was going on in a kid’s life. But as each generation came in, the school evolved a little bit, the athletic department evolved a little bit, and the boathouse evolved a little bit. I just changed to try to

understand each individual more as a student athlete and as a person.”

Hughes, for his part, is impressed by how Crotty evolved over the years.

“In rowing, you are not in the sidelines, you are not going to call a timeout and talk about it and send them back out,” said Hughes. “They have to know how to make big decisions. You have to create that environment and Marty did that. He was willing to try new and different things. He didn’t feel like he had some formula. Good coaches are risk takers and it doesn’t always go perfectly.”

In 2023, things went just about perfectly for Crotty and the Tigers as his rowers bounced back from a disappointing 2022 campaign to win an IRA National Championship along with the IRA President’s Cup team title, an Ivy League Championship, and a championship at Eastern Sprints. The Tigers’ varsity eight and second varsity eight were victorious in their grand finals at both the IRAs and Eastern Sprints. Princeton finished the season with an 11-1 overall record and a 5-1 record in Ivy competition.

“That year we were senior laden and we had great leadership with a couple of great captains,” recalled Crotty, noting that the varsity eight had finished a distant sixth in its 2022 IRA grand final. “They just came out and said we are not going out like last year’s seniors had to go out on a real low. We are going to win this whole damn thing. I don’t care what boat I am in, come hell or high water, we are going to come out this season and win every race and they damn near did. That was the seniors putting their foot down. Every senior had a hand in it. What was so cool about that year is how far they came as a group. You could not have a lower low or a higher high in a 24-month span.”

In the view of Hughes, Crotty deserves credit for developing an upbeat feeling around his crew that spring.

“That is not possible without his hard work and leadership,” said Hughes. “He created an environment where those seniors could come off of 2022 and feel like they have ownership of their season and the program in a way that has a positive and lasting impact on the team. Marty creates that kind of group dynamic.”

Crotty stepped down from the program after guiding it since 2009. Crotty, a 1998 Princeton alum

starred as a men’s heavyweight rower during his college

weights to a 105-33-1 overall record and the varsity

Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships in 2010 and 2023. (Photo

In Crotty’s final campaign, the group displayed moments of brilliance but the varsity eight ended up finishing fifth in its grand final at the IRA.

“What was good about this year is that I really enjoyed having such a boatload of ability but we just could never make it jell,” said Crotty, who ended up with a 105-33-1 overall record in his tenure guiding the lightweights with his rowers winning 12 medals at the Eastern Sprints and eight at the IRA regatta. “I thought until the very last race that it is going to click, it is going to click. It clearly never clicked but there were some flashes this season. I have never had boats go so fast as this season.”

As the season went on, Crotty began contemplating stepping down.

“It was a combination of things, if I was ever going to leave on my own accord, I definitely wanted to do it at a time where things were good,” said Crotty. “I didn’t want there to be a trigger or a reason that I was leaving. Number one I wanted to leave like John Elway style, win the Super Bowl and retire. Second best was to leave with the roster in a good spot. We have plenty of talent, there are no pieces to pick up. I had only decided in my head with my wife (Regan), the boss. I decided the day before we left for Eastern Sprints. I only told John Mack (Princeton Director of Athletics) the day before we went to IRAs.”

Revealing his decision to his rowers proved to be emotional. “There was no easy

way to do it given the timing, it was like ripping off a band aid,” said Crotty. “I was more intent on making it clear that this was not about them. It is not you, it is me. They were not prepared for it. I have to say, I was really moved by their reaction. There were some guys that got pretty emotional and wow I did not expect that. There were some guys that were a little bit angry.”

In the wake of his decision being made public, Crotty has received a flood of positive responses.

“The messages I have received, while it is certainly not even close, it feels like every single guy I have ever coached has texted me,” said Crotty. “Other coaches in the league and guys I coached against who are no longer coaching, and former administrators have reached out. One of the first calls you get is from Gary Walters, he was the guy that hired me in the first place. The reaction has been unexpected but I am really grateful and thankful for that. It has been great week because of that.”

While Hughes understands Crotty’s desire to pursue other opportunities, his exit will leave a huge void in the boathouse.

“He is more than just a coworker for me, I have known him forever,” said Hughes. “He has been a great friend. It has been very few years of the 34 I have been around here where he hasn’t been a key part of it. It will be tough. I was really sad. I have rarely known the boathouse without him. He is truly at the core of the fabric of the place. He was a key part of the resurgence of heavyweight rowing as an athlete and what happened in that late ’90s window. His impact and success as an athlete is on par with the greatest that we have had as a Princeton athlete. It is the ultimate team sport and he was a part of a strong successful team. He most certainly was a key player in that environment.”

Beyond his success as a rower and a coach, Crotty’s forceful personality has made an impact across the Princeton community.

“His nickname is Marty the one-man party,” said Hughes of Crotty, who has served as the class president

for the Princeton Class of 1998, a position into which he was elected by his classmates, from 2003 through 2008. “He is a thousandwatt lightbulb. He walks in and you smile the second you see him. He just brings so much energy and productivity to everything and those people are special.”

Now, Crotty will be putting his energy into a different team, Princeton CarbonWorks.

“I am 49 so I have still got a ton of juice; back in 2015 I founded a carbon fiber bicycle wheel company which has taken off quite a bit,” said Crotty. “We have a worldwide sales network. It is another world of opportunities. I have just been a partner in it, I have accomplished quite a lot despite also being the coach. I am kind of curious to see what I can accomplish if I treat this as my priority because Princeton has been my priority to date. I have been lucky to partner with some guys who could really blow this up properly. I have just sort of been a witness to it. I want to throw myself into the mix.”

While Crotty is leaving the boathouse, he isn’t going far.

“I am walking away but I knew I didn’t have to go anywhere because my wife is a dean at Princeton,” said Crotty, noting that his sons, Jack and Henry, are graduating from Princeton High this week and will be heading off to college this fall. “The timing felt right, you can retire on a high note or if everything is good because this is not something I would ever want to quit. Quitters quit at the worst times when something is bad and you are giving up. I wanted to make sure if I ever left coaching I did it a good time.”

Although Crotty plans to be immersed in Princeton CarbonWorks, he doesn’t rule out a return to the water sometime in the future.

“I will always be a coach,” said Crotty. “I am sure you will find me over at Mercer Junior Rowing coaching the women’s eight some year because I love coaching. I loved coaching until the last day I coached.”

—Bill Alden

MARTY PARTY: Marty Crotty enjoys the action from the shore during his tenure as the head coach of the Princeton University men’s lightweight rowing program. Earlier this month,

who

days, guided the Tiger men’s light-

eight to Intercollegiate

by Row2K, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

PU Sports Roundup

PU Track Athletes Shine at NCAAs

Sam Rodman provided a major highlight as Princeton University track athletes competed last week at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Recently graduated Rodman placed fourth in the 800 meters in a time of 1:46.86 to earn first-team All-American honors. Rising senior Greg Foster placed seventh in the long jump with a best leap of 25’ 7¼ to also achieve first-team AllAmerican status.

Rising senior Joe Licata finishing 13th in the shot put with a best throw of with a mark of 62’ 1¼” to achieve second-team All-America honors.

Two other Tiger men earned second-team AllAmerican status as 2025 graduate Harrison Witt clocked a time of 3:47.92 to take tenth place in the 1,500 and rising senior Casey Helm finished 13th in the discus with a best heave of 189’7.

As for the Princeton women, rising senior Georgina Scoot starred, finishing 11th in the long jump with a best leap of 20’4½” to become a second-team All-American and placed 21st in the triple jump in 41’2½” to get AllAmerican honorable mention recognition.

Recently graduated Mena Scatchard placed ninth in the 1,500 to earn second-team All-American honors while rising senior Shea Greene took 10th in the javelin in 182’5 to join Scatchard as a second-team All-American.

PU Women’s Lightweight Team Earns Accolades

Princeton University rising junior star Cate Barry has added another accolade to her growing resume last week as she was honored as the College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Lightweight Athlete of the Year. In addition, Tiger head coach Paul Rassam was named the Coach of the Year.

Barry follows in the footsteps of Sarah Fry ‘24, who was the 2024 CRCA Lightweight Athlete of the Year. Rassam was also honored as Coach of the Year in 2024.

Barry rowed from the stroke season for the varsity eight all season, leading the Tigers to an Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship, an 8+ gold medal at IRAs, an Eastern Sprints team points title and an 8+ gold medal at Eastern Sprints along with an undefeated regular season. Additionally, Barry was named a CRCA First-Team All-American.

PU Women’s Rower George Named Athlete of the Year Finalist

Recently graduated Princeton University women’s open rowing star Katherine George was named a College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Athlete of the Year finalist, the organization announced last week.

George competed for the Tiger varsity eight, helping it win an Ivy League gold for the eighth straight season. The varsity eights also finished the season with winning the Petite Final at the NCAA Rowing Championships to take seventh overall.

The Tigers’ sixth place finish at NCAAs in the team standings marks the 10th top-ten finish for the program in the last 13 NCAA regattas.

Senior captain George, a native of Chearsley, England, has collected three consecutive first-team AllAmerican honors and was also a finalist for this award last year.

Tiger Football Star Scarano Tabbed for Preseason Honor Princeton University football rising senior star Marco Scarano has been named as one of the top 25 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) returning linebackers according to HeroSports’ Sam Herder.

Scarano is the only Ivy League representative on the list, coming in at No. 18.

Scarano was a secondteam All-Ivy selection in 2024 as he finished with 68 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and four passes defended. He was one of the most disruptive defensive players in the league, ranking third in tackles (8.4 per game) and second in tackles for loss (1.1) in Ivy League games.

For his career, Scarano, a native of Berlin, Conn., has 144 tackles, 16.5 for loss with seven passes defended and two forced fumbles.

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OPPORTUNITY: Kaitlyn Chen races upcourt in a 2024 game during her senior season for the Princeton University women’s basketball team. Last Sunday, Chen, who helped the UConn women’s team win the NCAA Championship in March as a grad transfer, was signed by the Golden State Valkyries of the WNBA. It marks a return to the expansion franchise for Chen as she was previously selected by Golden State in the WNBA draft this April and played in two preseason games before being waived. Chen was slated to be available for Valkyries when they faced the Dallas Wings and former UConn teammate Paige Bueckers on June 17.

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Undergoing a Roller-Coaster Ride this Spring, PHS

Baseball Went 9-12, Returned to States

It was a roller-coaster ride this spring for the Princeton High baseball team.

After getting off to a 6-3 start, PHS lost eight straight games. The Tigers rebounded by winning their last three regular season contests as they earned a spot in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 tournament.

PHS head coach Dom Capuano acknowledged that there were plenty of highs and lows for the Tigers this season.

“We had stretches where we played really good and we had stretches where we didn’t, it is what it is,” said Capuano, whose team posted a final record of 9-12. “It was a good season. We made it back to the state tournament. We had a twoyear hiatus from that so that is something to be proud of, getting back there.”

In the three-game winning streak, which saw PHS defeat South Hunterdon 8-3, New Egypt 2-1 and WW/PNorth 5-2, the Tigers played some good ball.

“We kept ourselves in the game in those games,” said Capuano. “We did what we were supposed to do and we didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”

In the first round of the state tournament, the Tigers did shoot themselves in the foot in an 11-1 loss to Hightstown.

“We were excited and we were pretty confident that

if we played a clean game, we would have a good shot at winning,” said Capuano. “Now that clean game didn’t happen. We thought we matched up pretty decently with them if we played our best but we didn’t. That was part of our season.”

While it was an uneven season, Capuano saw some key positives.

“I thought we pitched very well this year,” said Capuano, whose squad collided a 4.21 ERA. “We had a lot of sophomores get a good amount of time and experience which really helps and is big moving into next year.”

The team has a solid core of returners, led by junior Chase Hamerschlag along with junior Matt Akey, sophomore Will Arns, sophomore Charlie Baglio, sophomore Nick Rizzo, sophomore Tyler Florentino, and junior Anders Hedin.

“We have Chase coming back, we have Matt coming back,” said Capuano. “Will started every game at shortstop. Charlie got a lot of time and some other sophomores got experience like Nick, and Tyler. Anders is a junior, it is only his second year with us. Those three got exposure. Now did they have the best seasons that they wanted to? No. But I think we were able to identify what we need to do moving into next year.”

Hamerschlag starred with his arm and bat, notching a team-high 58 strikeouts on the mound and batting .397.

“Chase had a great season, .397 is an awesome season but the room for growth there is just big,” said Capuano, noting that Hamerschlag made the Mercer County All-Star squad for the upcoming Carpenter Cup Classic. “His ceiling is nowhere close to there. He had 25 hits and he probably should have been closer to 30 or 35 hits. He already has 109 strikeouts in his career. We are working on it. When he is in a groove, it is good. That is the same thing with his hitting. He has really has so much more left to grow everywhere. We are really excited to see what next year brings.”

The squad’s five seniors, Eric Wheeler, James Schiavone, Nano Sarceno, Nate Nydick, and Travis Petrone, showed their growth.

“They all had great years,” said Capuano. “The five of them were huge and they are going to be hard to replace with the productivity and experience they brought for us this year.”

Wheeler and Schiavone starred on the mound as Wheeler pitched to a 2.89 ERA and piled up 31 strikeouts while Schiavone had a 3.50 ERA and 29 strikeouts.

“Wheeler and James tied for the team lead in wins,” said Capuano. “James came along strong at the end. For Wheeler, it was the whole season. They did great on the mound. James was really good at the plate (batting .292).”

Sarceno proved to be a

clutch hitter, batting .266 with 10 RBIs.

“Nano came up with arguably one of the biggest hits in the season when we came back to beat South,” said Capuano. “He stepped up huge for us at catcher when Akey got hurt.”

The versatile Nydick produced at the plate, hitting .261 with a team-high 12 RBIs, and was a key utility player in the field.

“Nate hit in the upper part of the lineup for the whole season pretty much,” said Capuano. “He came

through with some big hits.

If we needed him to play first, outfield or pitch, he did whatever we needed.”

Program stalwart Petrone produced a superb final campaign, batting .345 and tying Hamerschlag for the team-high in runs with 18.

“For him, especially at the plate, he way surpassed what I was expecting,” said Capuano, noting that Petrone, a three-sport star, will be playing football at FDU this fall. “He did great up there. He held down center field with a bunch of

inexperienced outfielders around him which we needed.”

While those seniors will be missed, the experience gained by the younger players has PHS set up well for the future.

“Everybody has a good vibe right now going into next year,” said Capuano.

—Bill Alden TOWN TOPICS is printed entirely on recycled paper.

THE RIGHT STUFF: Princeton High baseball player Chase Hamerschlag fires a pitch in a game this spring. Junior Hamerschlag starred with his arm and bat for PHS this season, notching a teamhigh 58 strikeouts on the mound and batting .397 as the Tigers went 9-12. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

With Defense Developing into a Stellar Unit, PDS Boys’ Lax Went 7-10, Made CVC Semis

As the Princeton Day School boys’ lacrosse team avenged a tough regular season defeat to Allentown by edging the Redbirds 5-3 in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament quarterfinals on May 10, its performance was a microcosm of the squad’s strengths and weaknesses.

“That felt good, our defense played great,” said PDS head coach Sam Kosoff. “That was the tale of the tape for us going down the stretch. Our defense really played well and our offense had trouble generating. Jake [Harrison] had a huge game in goal. Our defense did a good job of keeping shots to the perimeter which was awesome. Jake could see the ball well and out-letted it well. We did the little things to make it right.”

Following that trend of stingy defense and sputtering offense, ninth-seeded PDS fell 8-4 at eighth-seeded Rutgers Prep on May 28 in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group Tournament.

“I thought we were the better team but we shot ourselves in the foot repeatedly,” lamented Kosoff, whose team ended the spring with a 7-10 record. “We just couldn’t take care of the ball, we threw the ball away too much.

We played good defense. If we hold a team to eight goals, that should be a win. We just had a lot of trouble generating offense.”

An early season adjustment helped the Panther defense tighten up.

“I think our defense really embraced their role,” said Kosoff. “We implemented a zone three weeks in and it proved to be a difference maker. We fed off that pretty well.”

But as the defense thrived, the PDS attack struggled to find a rhythm.

“The frustrating part was the offense, they did some things very well,” said Kosoff, whose squad lost 8-3 to Notre Dame in the CVC semis. “They were hungry for plays and doing things. I would always say fellas if we can’t scoop a ground ball and catch and throw, a play can’t happen.”

Senior midfielder Hart Nowakoski emerged as the key offensive threat for the Panthers, tallying a team-high 53 points on 33 goals and 20 assists.

“Hart was our main kid; I love the kid, he is super bright,” said Kosoff. “He was big net positive for sure.”

The squad’s large senior contingent set a positive tone this spring.

“They were everything for us really,” said Kosoff. “They were the utility belt, they did a little bit of everything.”

A trio of senior stars, defender Wyatt Ewanchyna, Asher Lewis and Nowakoski, earned All-CVC recognition.

“Wyatt was a second-team longstick midfielder, Hart was a second-team midfielder and Asher was a second-team face-off guy,” said Kosoff. “Hart also got the Bob Scott award for the CVC which is really nice. The Bob Scott Award for U.S. Lacrosse is given for good sportsmanship, community service, and high academic performance. There are only 12 of those guys in New Jersey every year.

The Panthers will be looking for their core of returners — rising junior Tucker Seamans (9 goals, 12 assists in 2025), rising junior Krystian Rzeczycki (4 goals, 6 assists), rising junior Landon Lewis (26 goals, 10 assists), rising senior Ethan Mack, rising senior Nick Stivala (2 goal, 3 assists) and rising junior Marshall Matyszczak (22 saves in goal) — to fill the void left by the graduating seniors.

“Very few of our younger guys got significant minutes aside from Tucker, Krystian, Landon, Ethan, and Nick,” said Kosoff. “Marshall got some great time in goal and proved to be a really solid back-up for us down the stretch.”

—Bill Alden

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Nail-Biter in Non-Public Quarters

PDS Boys’ Tennis Showed Fight to the End As it Lost

While the Princeton Day School boys’ tennis team lost to Morristown Friends in the quarterfinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Non-Public tournament to end its season, it went out with a bang.

Playing at the secondseeded Foxes, the seventhseeded Panthers put up quite a fight as they fell 3-2 with two of those defeats on the day coming in 10-point match tiebreaks after the first two sets were split.

PDS head coach Michael Augsberger liked the way his squad competed in the nipand-tuck battle.

“I can say that we are really proud of that effort against Friends, you can see what they did against Christian Brothers in the final (a 4-1 loss),” said Augsberger, whose team ended the season with a 9-6 record. “Even though we go out early, we can say we would have given them the same kind of effort in the final.”

The Panthers got superb efforts at doubles against Moorestown Friends as first duo of Steven Li and Avi Saran and the second pair of Archie Douglas and Faizan Mohammad each posted straight-set wins.

“It looked like they were speeding off in the beginning,” said Augsberger. “They had to handle a really tough clawing back from their opponents and they were able to do that in both of those matches. We knew we had a deep team coming in. We had to rely on the doubles teams but they had to fend off hard charges at the end.”

At second singles, sophomore Abhishek Srinivasan showed his toughness in defeat as Jack Cramner edged him 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (13-11).

“Abhi won the first set and in the second set he kind of flagged a little bit and I said save some energy for the tiebreak so you can play with everything you have,” said Augsberger. “He got off to a good lead in the tiebreak, he was up 9-6 and that was to clinch the quarterfinal. Their kid hit this backhand down the line with Abhi at the net. It was a screeching, stretching backhand. It was an outstanding shot and Abhi even clapped his racket. It wasn’t like Abhi gave it to him, he really earned it. He made great shots to tie it up.”

Senior star Jaylen Peng gave his all at third singles but fell to Zev Smith who prevailed 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).

“The way that match went, that kid played incredible defense, he was going back and forth on the baseline all day,” said Augsberger. “We tried to have Jaylen hit it past him, but the kid was too athletic for that. He was

hitting bullets back. In the second set, Jaylen was in more control and mixing it up a little better, coming to the net trying to shorten points. He was able to get that second set and then in the tiebreak, it went basically back to 50/50 balls. They went to 10-8 in the tiebreaker, it was really incredible defense from their guy.”

With freshman Bryan Kim Short gaining valuable experience at first singles and nearly all of the team’s doubles players returning, Augsberger believes the program has a strong foundation in place.

“To have Bryan at first singles and to know that we have some younger guys coming up next year that are around that level is a huge boost for the team to have,” said Augsberger. “We had a much deeper team this year. Our second doubles won Preps and they were outstanding. At the end of the year we could count on our doubles teams to come through. We have everyone coming back on doubles except for Steven. Michael [Zhou] could also be interchangeable with the second doubles guys and even Jacobo [Garcia-Carillo]. He was in the lineup for the counties and he is a hell of an athlete.”

Senior Li gave the Panthers a big boost as he overcame an arm injury that could have sidelined him for the whole spring.

“Steven was an incredible soldier for us this year; to go from being injured and basically out for the season and to fight through that wrist injury and learn a one-handed backhand and to go from

playing singles to playing doubles,” said Augsberger. “He was going through all of those changes and having to learn a new partner. When he has played doubles he has had new partners every year. We can’t say enough about what he has given the program and his maturity as a young man to fight through all of that adversity.”

The squad’s other senior, Peng, fought hard to end of his career.

“We gave the team award this year to Jaylen, Steven got it last year,” said Augsberger. “Jaylen’s maturity is phenomenal. He has become smarter, he has honed that power and that power has gotten even more immense I would say. When opposing teams look at him, they say he is a tennis player. He has got the movement, he has the reach at net and all of that. He had the best record on the team in terms of an individual.”

While the graduation of Li and Peng will leave a void for the Panthers, Augsberger is confident that his returners will step up.

“It is difficult when you have to lose two seniors who have been in the program and have really brought in and have such a high skill set,” said Augsberger. “Last year, we didn’t have to worry about losing anybody because we had those two big-time players still on the team. This time we have to go through that and think about replacing that. We are looking forward to some of the young guys coming up even though we have to say goodbye to those two. Those guys know when it is their time. It is going to be Avi’s time next year and Jacobo’s. It will be their time to lead and they have that in them.”

—Bill Alden

FINAL SET: Princeton Day School boys’ tennis player Jaylen Peng prepares to hit a forehand in a match this spring. Senior Peng starred at third singles in his final campaign as the Panthers went 9-6 and reached the quarterfinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Non-Public tournament.

(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

ON THE BALL: Princeton Day School boys’ lacrosse player Colton Simonds, right, gathers in the ball in a game this spring. Senior attacker/midfielder Simonds tallied 10 gals and 13 assists this season to help PDS post a final record of 7-10 and earn a spot in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament semifinals.

(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Getting Better and Better as the Spring Unfolded, Stuart Lax Ended With 3-Game Winning Streak

Saving its best for last, the Stuart Country Day School lacrosse team finished the 2025 season by winning its final three games.

Stuart head coach Paige Meszaros was proud of the way her squad kept improving as the spring unfolded as it defeated Immaculate 13-12, Lawrence 12-11, and Wilberforce School 10-7 in its last three contests of the campaign.

“I think it takes us a little while to jell together,” said Meszaros, whose team posted a final record of 6-10. “As the season progressed we get better each game. You definitely see a difference at the end of the season from the beginning.”

In reflecting on that progress, Meszaros saw growth from many of her less experienced performers.

“I would say the young players definitely helped us out quite a bit being that they had a year under their belt of lacrosse and just became better athletes,” said Meszaros. “It definitely helped us. Our defense is pretty strong and

they have a better feel for it.”

In its season-ending win over Wilberforce, Allison Lee and Abby Chirik each scored four goals for Stuart.

“Wilberforce is a really nice team,” said Meszaros. “It was a good game, we got to get a lot of our girls some playing time so that was nice to see. It was a whole team effort in the win.”

The team’s senior group of Allison Lee, Emily Harlan, Maya Dev, Lola LopezSpencer, Elise Hwang, and Annarose Bourgoin gave the Tartans a great effort in their final campaign.

“They are just the best, the three seniors that were the captains were just such a great help,” said Meszaros, referring to Lee, Harlan, and Dev. “We had a few new seniors with us this year. Annarose and Lola were a really big help too. Annarose changes the whole pace of practice with her effort.”

Williams College commit Lee capped a great career, tallying 81 goals and eight assists this spring as she ended up with a school

record 335 goals along with 51 assists.

“All of the girls look up to her, she is a very strong player,” said Meszaros. “She always keeps her head cool, no matter how hard she is getting checked or fouled. She is able to just remain calm. She helps out the other girls. She is more of a strong, silent leader. Allison just leads by example.”

Harlan also produced a strong final campaign, tallying 12 goals and seven assists, including the gamewinning goal in the final seconds in the win over Lawrence on Senior Day.

“Emily was a huge help for us back there with our low attack,” said Meszaros. “She could always drive to goal, she made it work. She is always smiling, regardless of what we were doing. If we were doing sprints, she always had a smile on her face. It was contagious for the other girls. She was a really good leader too.”

Junior Chirik had some huge games as she ended up with 18 goals and seven assists.

“Abby started driving a lot more to the goal and putting the ball into the goal,” said Meszaros. “It is something that she has always been able to do. She just started to do it with more confidence this year.”

Lee’s younger sister, sophomore Lauren, played with a lot of confidence this spring, contributing 21 goals and 12 assists.

“Lauren is a great help, she is a really good leader vocally out there,” said Meszaros. “She will pull girls aside and help them with their cradling or just little things to help out. She is a like a coach on the field. I am really excited that she will be there next year.”

Displaying a lot of progress, sophomore Betsy Murphy tallied six goals and five assists.

“This year she hustled a lot more out there, she was one of our most improved players,” said Meszaros. “I would say from the year previously just her effort out there has changed entirely.”

At goalie, freshmen Sophie Vernon (38 saves) and Georgia Spirko-Noto (106 saves) both improved as the season went on.

“We started with Georgia and Sophie really improving as the season progressed so we started using both of them,” said Meszaros. “With their size difference, shooting on them would throw me off. Georgia is big and Sophie is smaller.”

Going forward, Meszaros believes the Tartans can do some big things.

“There is a whole lot of girls coming back,” said Meszaros. “Our sophomore class was really big so that will definitely help us out.”

—Bill Alden

SISTER ACT: Stuart Country Day School lacrosse player Lauren Lee heads upfield in recent action. Sophomore Lee had a superb season this spring, tallying 21 goals and 12 assists. Lee’s older sister, senior standout Allison, a Williams College commit, led the Tartans with 89 points on 81 goals and 8 assists as the Tartans posted a final record of 6-10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Local Sports

Princeton Post 218 Baseball Falls to Broad Street Park

Christian Morency hit a homer in a losing cause as the Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball team fell 12-4 to Broad Street Park Post 313 last Friday.

In upcoming action, Princeton, who moved to 1-1 with the defeat, plays at North Hamilton on June 19 before hosting Hightstown Post 148 on June 20, Allentown on June 21, South Brunswick Post 401 on June 23, and Bordentown Post 26 on June 24.

Princeton Summer Hoops Recent Results

In action last Monday night in the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League, YSU defeated Play Smart 76-56 as Wesley Robinson led the way with 21 points and Freddy Young Jr. chipped in 18. In other games, Myles Mitchell-White and Derrick Woods starred to help Lob City defeat Tropical Smoothie Cafe 76-58. MitchellWhite tallied 18 points and Woods contributed 17. Former Princeton High star Jahan Owusu scored 18 points in a losing cause for Tropical Smoothie. Sean Kelly scored 14 points as Novi Wealth Partners topped J Majeski Foundation 66-54.

Bailey Basketball Academy Offering Summer Camps

The Bailey Basketball Academy (BBA) is offering two week-long basketball camps this summer along with other specialty hoops programs.

BBA is led by former Princeton Day School girls’ hoops coach and Philadelphia 76ers camp director

and clinician Kamau Bailey. The camps are slated for June 30-July 3 and July 2125 at the Princeton Middle School.

There are full day camps for ages 9-14 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and half day camps from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

In addition, there will be First Hoops options for ages 5-8 (9 a.m.-11:45 a.m.).

BBA will also offer Shot Doctor shooting instruction and small group player development daily sessions from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. starting June 24 and running through August 15 (excluding camp dates) for players getting ready for middle school, high school, or club participation. The daily workouts will be held at the newly-built BBA outdoor basketball courts at 3752 Highway 27 in Princeton.

There will be an open house at the BBA facility for parents and players on June 17 at 6 p.m. which will include an information session, games, prizes, and a sports give-a-way.

All players will be required to bring their own water, snacks and/or lunch for the applicable programs.

For more information, contact Kamau Bailey at (917) 626-5785 or at kamau.bailey@gmail.com

Stuart Sports Camps Still Have Openings

The Stuart Country Day School is holding three sports camps on its campus at 2100 Stuart Road in Princeton in July and there are still openings for the programs

There will be a field hockey camp for players in grades 3-9 being held from July 14 -18 with sessions running from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., a girls’ tennis camp for players in grades 5-9 being held from June 30-July 4 with sessions running from 9 a.m.

TOWN TOPICS is printed entirely on recycled paper.

to 12 p.m., and a girls’ basketball camp for players in grades 5-9 being held from July 7-11 with sessions running from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The camps are geared for beginners as well as experienced players.

One can log onto the Stuart website at stuartschool. org and go the Menu section in the upper right of the home page and hit the “Sports Camps for Girls” link under the Athletics section for more information about the camps.

NJ Wrestling Organization

Holding Golf Event July 23

The New Jersey Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is holding its 22nd golf outing, a shotgun/ scramble, on July 23.

The event will take place, rain or shine, at Mercer Oaks Golf Club at 725 Village Road, West Windsor.

The goal of the chapter outing is to seek and raise contributions, donations and gifts to provide wrestling camp and clinic scholarships to deserving youth who seek to improve and enhance their skills and love for the sport of amateur wrestling. As a result of those efforts, the chapter will also make contributions to selected veterans and relief organizations such as the NJ Vietnam Memorial, as well as children’s hospitals such as St. Jude’s and the Ronald McDonald House.

The golf package includes brunch and registration (7:45-8:45 a.m.), green fees, cart, practice range, putting contest, locker, giveaways, prizes, and silent auction as well as a buffet dinner.

The cost for foursomes is $635, individuals $170, dinner-only $75 and raffles $20. Players 18 and under must be accompanied by an adult player. Singles and pairs have to contact the golf chairman for arrangements.

Foursomes are not required to do so.

Any golf questions should be directed to Chair Ken Bernabe at bernabekenjb@aol. com (732) 991-3984).

Tee, flag and meal sponsorships are as follows: $300 brunch; $500 dinner; $200 flag; $100 tee. Mail all sponsorships to Ed Glassheim, Golf Assistant Chair, 12 10 Whitehouse-Hamilton Square Road, Apt. #3, Hamilton, NJ 08690. Or contact

him at (609) 947-5885 or glassheim@yahoo.com

Golf registration and payment can be sent to Glassheim’s address with check payable to NWHFNJ-GOLF by June 27, or pay by ZELLE to Bill Miron at (908) 872-3520.

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RISING UP: Princeton High boys’ tennis first doubles player Tacto Yamada, left, leaps for a shot in recent action as partner Shaan Zaveri looks on. Last week, sophomore Yamada and senior Zaveri advanced to the semifinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) boys’ tennis doubles tournament. The PHS pair saw their NJSIAA run end as the WW/P-South duo of Shriyan Kumar and Rohan Ramachadran defeated them 6-0, 6-3 last Thursday at the Mercer County Tennis Complex. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Obituaries

On Thursday, June 5, Derek DiGregorio passed away at home in Princeton, New Jersey, far too soon at 27 years old.

Derek spent his brief but incandescent life in Princeton where he served as a center of gravity for the entire community. From the very beginning, Derek was different. Just after he was born, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which he would tell friends was “a bruise on his brain that makes him a little wobbly.”

Born on campus in the shadow of Princeton Stadium where his father, Steve, was a football coach, he was a mainstay on the sidelines of football and basketball games along with his mother, Nadia, and his brothers Zack and Aaron and almost always sitting alongside the Levy family, Howard, Riva, Lior, Mia, and Noa. Playing with friends at Riverside School and on the playground on Western Way formed even more friendships that would last a lifetime.

When he was just 4 years old, Nadia signed him up for Tae Kwon Do with Susan Winter where he was the youngest and smallest kid in the class, with Ms. Winter often having to pick him up when he fell because his sparring gear was too big for his short arms. Over the next 25 years, Derek’s commitment to Tae Kwon Do deepened as he won seven world championships — even after he was confined to his wheelchair — and worked with Ms. Winter to teach countless more students not just martial arts but perseverance, discipline, dedication, and integrity. After more than a decade of diagnostics and different neurologists, Derek was diagnosed with Ataxia-Telangiectasia, a rare, degenerative genetic disorder that would eventually rob him of control of his arms and legs and confine him to a wheelchair. But the disease could never touch his indomitable will, his love and support for

his friends and family, or his courage to keep pushing. His spirit inspired a movement around a disease that most people couldn’t pronounce, let alone recognize. Suddenly, a kid from Princeton had inspired incredible campaigns to find a cure for A-T — from Rob Bonora and Anthony Greco to walking from San Diego, California, to Nutley, New Jersey, to a Make-A-Wish trip to London for a day on the set of Avengers: Infinity War to herculean fundraising events that raised nearly one million dollars. His walk across the graduation stage at Princeton High School with the assistance of a robotic exoskeleton was featured on Good Morning America and caught the attention of millions across the country. He even received an honorary degree from Princeton University in 2012 for his support of the athletic department and inspiration to its athletes and coaches.

As Derek’s body deteriorated, he continued to adapt to do the things he loved most: attend Comic Con with dear friends like Will Christiansen, ride horses at Unicorn Therapeutic Riding in Pennington, NJ, take pictures at Princeton High School sporting events, and teach Tae Kwon Do, even from his wheelchair. His friends and family will remember him for his grit and determination, but also for his Wheel of Fortune prowess , inexplicable love for mushroom pizza at Conte’s, and quickness to crack you up with a joke — no one more than himself.

Derek was welcomed into Heaven by his father Steve and grandparents Eileen, Andreas, Silvio, and Rose Marie. His life will continue to be honored by his mother Nadia, brothers Zack and Aaron; aunts and uncles Mark, Patty, Andrea, Bruce, Monica, and Lynda; and a flock of loving cousins Alex, Allison, Luke, Jack, Michael, Amalia, Leif, Lindsay, Patrick, and Jessie.

Samuel Borden Starkey, Sr., beloved father, devoted community member, and generous host, passed away on June 7, 2025, at the age of 71. Born on March 8, 1954, in Princeton, New Jersey, Sam lived a life marked by deep affection for family, spirited generosity, and a passion for music, sailing, and tradition.

He was the son of Elizabeth Hance Starkey Cook and Austin C. Starkey, Sr., whose love of travel, music, education, and the sea helped shape the man he would become. Sam attended Princeton Country Day School and was a seasonal student at the Gulf Stream School in Florida. He graduated from The Lawrenceville School, where he discovered a lifelong love of singing through the glee club — an experience he fondly recalled for opening doors to performances (and friendships) at nearby girls’ schools. He also played varsity ice hockey and tennis, reflecting a competitive spirit and deep love of camaraderie. Sam continued singing throughout his life in the choirs at Trinity Church in Princeton and All Saints Church in Bay Head.

Sam earned his degree from Lake Forest College before beginning his career at Gerard Bank in Philadelphia. He later joined Salomon Brothers in New York City, where he was known for his integrity, insight, and sharp understanding of the markets. Drawing on his entrepreneurial spirit, Sam went on to found his own investment management firm, Starkey and Company. Under his leadership, the firm grew steadily, earning the trust of clients who valued his personalized approach and longterm vision. A respected voice in the investment world, Sam was known for balancing analytical rigor with a deep sense of responsibility to those he advised. He retired at 50 to spend more time with his family and pursue his many passions.

A lifelong sailor and proud Fleet Captain of the Bay Head Yacht Club, Sam welcomed all who wished to learn to crew or race. His openness on the water mirrored his life on land — where he could often be found walking the beach inviting friends and strangers

alike to impromptu gatherings or hosting joyous celebrations, especially for milestone birthdays.

Sam was a dedicated class agent for The Lawrenceville School and took great joy in seeing his children become fourth-generation students there. Tradition and legacy were deeply held values in his life, reflected in his commitment to his communities and the institutions he loved.

He maintained long-term residences in Princeton, NJ; Mantoloking, NJ; and Gulf Stream, FL. Throughout the years, Sam was an active member of The Bedens Brook Club, The Nassau Club, The Nassau Gun Club, The New York Yacht Club, The Brook Club, The Gulf Stream Bath & Tennis Club, and The Bay Head Yacht Club.

Sam’s love for reading and history informed his rich conversations and wideranging interests. A lifelong learner, he believed that curiosity was the key to connection — and he passed that spirit on to his children and friends alike. He is survived by his children, Emily B. Starkey, Betsy Starkey, and Sam Starkey Jr., all of whom he adored. Though separated, he held enduring affection for his former wife, Emily W. Starkey. He is also survived by his brother, Austin C. Starkey Jr.; daughter-inlaw, Anna Hayne Starkey; and grandchildren, Rett and Hallie Starkey. He was predeceased by his brothers Ross Hewson and William Hewson.

Sam’s warmth, humor, talent for dancing, and love for bringing people together will be remembered and cherished by all who knew him. His legacy is one of deep love, community, and joyful generosity.

A service celebrating Sam’s life will be held later this summer. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the New Jersey Museum of Boating Arrangements are under the direction of MatherHodge Funeral Home, Princeton.

Derek DiGregorio

Samuel Borden Starkey, Sr. March 8, 1954 – June 7, 2025

Murphy

M. Hughes

and

May 5th, 1956 - June 10th, 2025 on behalf of the people of Mercer County. His vision of government was one

in Trenton on May 5, 1956. The third youngest sibling of Richard J. and Betty Hughes’ combined family of 10 chil dren, he grew up in Trenton and Princeton surrounded by a tight-knit family deeply committed to one another and to public service. He at tended high school in Princ eton and as a proud gradu ate of Thomas Edison State University, he was a cham pion for expanding access to educational opportunities in Mercer County.

Before his time in gov ernment, Brian lived and worked in Washington, DC, where he became a lifelong fan of the Baltimore Orioles. Returning to Mercer County, he met his wife of nearly 35 years, Pamela Rago Hughes, when they worked together at the Alchemist and Barris ter restaurant in Princeton. Married on August, 25, 1990, the couple shared a long love affair that spanned nearly 35 years — an unwav ering commitment through thick and thin. Their son, Sullivan Parsons Hughes, was born in 1999, and grew up in Princeton in a home surrounded by immense love.

Having overcome his own personal struggles with addiction, Brian proudly served on the Governor’s Council for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. He was the Democratic nominee for Congress in New Jersey’s 4th District in 1992, before being elected to the County tious open space preserva

Murphy. He is survived by his wife Pamela, son Sullivan, brother John Hughes and wife Claudia, brothers Michael Murphy and Patrick Murphy, sister Mary Hughes, sister Helen Hughes Patterson and husband David, sister-in-law Michelle Rago, mother-in-law Sharon Naeole and partner Jeffrey Jost, many nieces and nephews, and his beloved dog, Nora. His legacy will live on in the countless lives he touched with his quiet confidence, dry humor, and immeasurable kindness.

A celebration of life for family and invited guests will be held on Friday, June 20, 2025. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations to the D&R Greenway Land Trust. Donations can be made “In memory of Brian Hughes” via drgreenway.org, by phone at (609) 924-4646, or by mail to D&R Greenway Land Trust, One Preservation Place, Princeton, NJ 08540. Arrangements are under the direction of MatherHodge Funeral Home, Princeton.

DIRECTORY

8:00 am: Holy Communion Rite I 10:00 am: Holy Communion Rite II 33 Mercer St. Princeton • 609-924-2277 www.trinityprinceton.org

of God Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox

904 Cherry Hill Rd • Princeton, NJ 08525 (609) 466-3058

Vespers 5pm • Sunday Divine Liturgy

Liturgy Wednesdays during Lent 6pm 930am • www.mogoca.org

Brian

Hughes, devoted husband, father,

public servant, passed away

Brian

Town Topics CLASSIFIEDS

YARD SALE +

TOWN TOPICS CLASSIFIED = GREAT WEEKEND!

Put an ad in the TOWN TOPICS to let everyone know! Call (609) 924-2200 ext. 10; classifieds@towntopics.com

DEADLINE: Tues before 12 noon tf HOUSECLEANING: Experienced, English-speaking, great references, reliable with own transportation. Weekly & bi-weekly cleaning. Green cleaning available. Call Susan at (732) 873-3168.

07-30

HOME HEALTH AIDE: 25 years of experience. Available mornings to take care of your loved one, transport to appointments, run errands. I am well known in Princeton. Top care, excellent references. The best! Call (609) 356-2951 or (609) 751-1396. tf

LOLIO’S WINDOW WASHING & POWER WASHING: Free estimate. Next day service. Fully insured. Gutter cleaning available. References available upon request. 30 years experience. (609) 271-8860.

JOE’S LANDSCAPING INC. OF PRINCETON Property Maintenance and Specialty Jobs Commercial/Residential Over 45 Years of Experience • Fully Insured • Free Consultations Email: joeslandscapingprinceton@ gmail.com Text (only): (609) 356-9201 Office: (609) 216-7936 Princeton References

• Green Company HIC #13VH07549500

tf HOME REPAIR SPECIALIST:

Interior/exterior repairs, carpentry, trim, rotted wood, power washing, painting, deck work, sheet rock/

TK PAINTING: Interior, exterior.

Power-washing, wallpaper removal, plaster repair, deck staining. Renovation of kitchen cabinets. Front door & window refinishing. Excellent references. Free estimates. Call (609) 947-3917. 07-30

HOME HEALTH AIDE/COMPAN-

ION AVAILABLE: NJ certified and experienced. Live-in or live-out. Driver’s license. References available. Please call Cindy, (609) 227-9873. 07-02

MOVING SALE

JUNE 20 & 21, 2025

9:30- 3:00 1742 STUART RD W. PRINCETON

House is filled with high-end furniture. Henkel Harris, Councill, Karges, Theodore Alexander Althorp Collection, Ethan Allen, Henredon, Light Fixtures, Decorative Accessories, Pictures can be seen on estatesales.net, MG Estate Sales.

06-18

ELAINE HARNED, B.A., M.M.

Compassionate companion, suited for elderly or special needs. Flexible hours, Mon-Sat. Have peace of mind when you are out or at home. References available. (814) 229-5656. 07-02

BUYING: Antiques, paintings, Oriental rugs, coins, clocks, furniture, old toys, military, books, cameras, silver, costume & fine jewelry. Guitars & musical instruments. I buy single items to entire estates. Free appraisals. (609) 306-0613. tf

TOWN TOPICS CLASSIFIEDS GET TOP RESULTS!

Whether it’s selling furniture, finding a lost pet, or having a garage sale, TOWN TOPICS is the way to go!

We deliver to ALL of Princeton as well as surrounding areas. (609) 924-2200 ext. 10; classifieds@towntopics.com

ESTATE LIQUIDATION SERVICE:

I will clean out attics, basements, garages & houses. Single items to entire estates. No job too big or small. In business over 35 years, serving all of Mercer County. Call (609) 306-0613. tf

WE BUY CARS Belle Mead Garage (908) 359-8131 Ask for Chris

24/7 LIVE-IN CAREGIVER SEEKING EMPLOYMENT

I was a live-in caregiver for a Princeton area family for over two years, looking for a new position. Many years of experience working in NY, NJ & CT. NY State Dept of Health Certified Home Health Aide. Complete references. Please contact Natia: (631) 332-8243. 07-02

Knotty pine bookcases a specialty!

SKILLMAN FURNITURE CO.

609-924-1881

Elevated gardens • Slat tables

Writing desks • Small furniture repair skillmanfurniture.com skillmanfurnitureco@gmail.com

tf WHAT’S A GREAT GIFT FOR A FORMER PRINCETONIAN?

A Gift Subscription!

Call (609) 924-2200, ext 10 circulation@towntopics.com

tf YARD SALE + TOWN TOPICS CLASSIFIED = GREAT WEEKEND!

Put an ad in the TOWN TOPICS to let everyone know!

Call (609) 924-2200 ext. 10; classifieds@towntopics.com

DEADLINE: Tues before 12 noon

tf

HOUSECLEANING: Experienced, English-speaking, great references, reliable with own transportation. Weekly & bi-weekly cleaning. Green cleaning available. Call Susan at (732) 873-3168. 07-30

HOME HEALTH AIDE: 25 years of experience. Available mornings to take care of your loved one, transport to appointments, run errands. I am well known in Princeton. Top care, excellent references. The best! Call (609) 356-2951 or (609) 751-1396.

tf

LOLIO’S WINDOW WASHING & POWER WASHING: Free estimate.

Next day service. Fully insured. Gutter cleaning available. References available upon request. 30 years experience. (609) 271-8860.

tf

JOE’S LANDSCAPING INC. OF PRINCETON

Property Maintenance and Specialty Jobs Commercial/Residential

Over 45 Years of Experience • Fully Insured • Free Consultations Email: joeslandscapingprinceton@ gmail.com Text (only): (609) 356-9201 Office: (609) 216-7936 Princeton References • Green Company HIC #13VH07549500

tf

(609) 947-3917. 07-30

HOME HEALTH AIDE/COMPAN-

ION AVAILABLE: NJ certified and experienced. Live-in or live-out. Driver’s license. References available. Please call Cindy, (609) 227-9873. 07-02

MOVING SALE

JUNE 20 & 21, 2025 9:30- 3:00

1742 STUART RD W. PRINCETON

House is filled with high-end furniture. Henkel Harris, Councill, Karges, Theodore Alexander Althorp Collection, Ethan Allen, Henredon, Light Fixtures, Decorative Accessories, Pictures can be seen on estatesales.net, MG Estate Sales. 06-18

ELAINE HARNED, B.A., M.M.

Compassionate companion, suited for elderly or special needs. Flexible hours, Mon-Sat. Have peace of mind when you are out or at home. References available. (814) 229-5656. 07-02

BUYING: Antiques, paintings, Oriental rugs, coins, clocks, furniture, old toys, military, books, cameras, silver, costume & fine jewelry. Guitars & musical instruments. I buy single items to entire estates. Free appraisals. (609) 306-0613. tf

Are Tree Removal Requests Acceptable in a Home Inspection?

During a home inspection, buyers often raise concerns about elements that may impact the property's safety or value. One such concern is trees located too close to the house, which may pose risks to the structure through root intrusion, foundation damage, or falling limbs. Requesting the removal of such trees can be a reasonable part of the negotiation particularly if there's clear evidence that the tree threatens the home’ s integrity.

However, not all trees near a home are inherently dangerous. An inspector's professional assessment, along with an arborist ’s opinion, should guide the decision. Buyers should avoid overreaching requests for cosmetic or speculative reasons, while sellers must understand the potential long term consequences of ignoring legitimate tree related risks.

In short, if a tree poses a clear structural threat, removal is a fair and acceptable request. It’s about balancing buyer safety with realistic seller obligations.

This stunning lakefront residence, perfectly positioned along the shores of Lake Carnegie, offers panoramic water views, a private dock, and a sparkling pool transforming everyday life into a year-round retreat Thoughtfully designed to embrace its extraordinary setting, the home features walls of glass and an openconcept layout that frame picturesque vistas from nearly every room Architectural elements blend form and function, creating generous spaces ideal for entertaining while maintaining a sense of warmth and intimacy whether you're hosting a celebration or enjoying a quiet evening by the fireplace The main level includes a large living room, family room, chef’s kitchen, open dining area, and a secluded study that offers peaceful productivity Upstairs, the spacious primary suite continues the theme of light and lake views, accompanied by two additional bedrooms The walk-out lower level expands your living options with a versatile multipurpose area, a workshop, and a full bath Experience the luxury of living in your vacation home every day of the year

Offered at $2,400,000

Judith Stier Sales Associate

Direct Line: 609 240 1232

Stunning Home

15 West Long Drive, Lawrence Township, New Jersey | callawayhenderson.com/id/JCGP6X | $1,395,000

This five-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath brick home, is situated just a mile from The Lawrenceville School within the leafy Long Acres enclave. Grand rooms have high ceilings and details you just don’t find in newer homes, including deep crown molding, charming niches and five fireplaces. The richly paneled living room is the go-to locale for entertaining, while the adjoining sunroom, wrapped in floor-to-ceiling windows, is magical in the winter and cool in the summer. The one-acre property features a sunken bluestone patio, an intimate brick patio, a parking court neatly edged with Belgian block, and beautifully landscaped garden beds, as well as a separate driveway leading to the attached three-bay garage.