Volume LXXVI, Number 31
Westminster Alumni Return to Campus to Perform Concert Honoring Late Composer . . . . . . 5 Plotting Chess Strategies In the Park While Fostering Friendship, Community . . . . . . . . 7 Not In Our Town Recognizes Students with Unity Awards for 25th Year . . . . . . . . . . 8 PU Alum Currier Helps Canada Win World Sixes Lacrosse Gold Medal . . 21 PHS Grad Lis Primed to Start Career with Lehigh Women’s Soccer. . . . . 23
A New York Lunch with Novelist Dawn Powell . . 12 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 19 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 28 Education & Recreation . . 3 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 20 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 26 Performing Arts . . . . . 13 Readers’ Choice Awards . .15 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 28 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Massive Fire Guts Rosedale Home of Tea Parlor Owners About 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, Doria and Calavino Donati were busy with customers at Tipple & Rose, their popular 210 Nassau Street tea parlor, when they got a call from a neighbor saying dark smoke was pouring out of their Rosedale Road home. Calavino rushed to the property while her wife, Doria, stayed behind at the shop. “I was hoping it was something small,” Doria Donati said this week. “When I finally got through to her, I said, ‘Please tell me everything is okay.’ She said, ‘I can’t do that.’” The back of their 1950s house was engulfed in flames. The top of the building was sheared off. According to Lawrence Township Fire Marshal Edward C. Tencza, the cause of the fire remains undetermined and is still under investigation. Because there was no fire hydrant near the house, hoses had to be threaded together to reach a hydrant down the street. In the 20-plus minutes it took for the firefighters from Lawrence Township, Princeton, Hopewell, Ewing, Pennington Borough, West Windsor, Plainsboro, and Trenton to start working on the blaze, much of the building was obliterated. “It’s devastating,” Doria said. “We’ve gone back every day trying to find anything we can salvage. It’s just overwhelming.” Lylah Alphonse, a friend of Doria from her student days at Princeton Day School, quickly organized a GoFundMe fundraiser for the couple. As of Tuesday afternoon, $22,264 had been contributed. The Donatis do not currently have homeowners insurance, so the money is key to them getting back on their feet. The family includes two recently acquired puppies, who escaped the fire because they were in an attached apartment when the blaze broke out. The family has been alternating bunking with friends and staying at hotels. “We’re cobbling housing together and looking for something more permanent,” Doria said. “You go through all the whatifs — what if we had been there, could we have stopped it? But we were told it was very hot and very fast, and we might not have been able to get out.” Since the fire, Tipple & Rose has been operating as usual. “We had some high teas on the books, so we had to come Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Joint Effort Safe Streets 2022 Begins Aug. 5 Starting with its Community Kick-Off Reception on Friday evening, August 5, at Studio Hillier on Witherspoon Street and continuing through Sunday, August 14, Joint Effort Safe Streets has something for everybody — with its hub in the Witherspoon-Jackson community and its impact throughout Princeton. “It’s always good when Joint Effort Safe Streets comes around, because it gives the community a chance to come together for good discussion and camaraderie,” said Princeton Councilman and Witherspoon-Jackson resident Leighton Newlin. “Joint Effort started with the kids and the basketball camp. The recreational part of Safe Streets brings our youth together with fun things to do. Joint Effort has since morphed into discussions and dialogue over critical issues here in Princeton. These forums open up the dialogue. They put topics on the table that are seldom discussed in Princeton with the same kind of focus.” Highlights of the Joint Effort Witherspoon-Jackson Community Princeton Safe Streets Summer 2022 Programs, which are “Dedicated to the Memory of Our Ancestors,” include reflections on the past of the community and the presentation of awards to individuals, families, churches, and other institutions that have contributed to the rich history of the
neighborhood. Also in the spotlight will be commentary from civic leaders and others; a gospel fest, meet and greet gatherings, a community block festival, and other entertainments; a free basketball clinic and the Pete Young Memorial Basketball Games for all ages; and, perhaps most importantly, a series of three discussions on important current concerns, featuring commentators and panelists, leaders in local government, politics, business, public safety, and education.
Joint Effort Safe Streets Founder and Event Coordinator John Bailey emphasized the significance of the Hot Topics discussions, particularly those focusing on the issue of race in Princeton. “It’s important to me that we’re having a conversation about race,” he said. “A lot of people don’t want to have those conversations, but there is a need for us to think deeply about what we’re trying to do.” He continued, “We’ve had some issues Continued on Page 9
Princeton University Graduate Students Continue Volunteer Fire Service Tradition With degrees in chemical engineering, and graduate study at Princeton University’s Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Maximillian Nguyen thought that becoming a volunteer firefighter was out of his “normal wheelhouse.” But he considers himself “a resident of the town of Princeton and not just a University student,” so he decided to give back to the community in appreciation for enjoying what Princeton has to offer. Nguyen is one of four Princeton University graduate students who recently became members of the Princeton Fire Department, and who continue a longstanding cooperative effort that has
helped the municipal department supplement its ranks through the University’s staff and students’ desire to serve the community. The four are the largest group of graduate students to join at one time, according to Princeton University. In addition to Nguyen, Johana De la Cruz, Jonathan Lowry, and Shua-Kym McLean, all graduate students in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, are among the 11 new members of the Princeton Fire Department who were sworn in on May 25. Nguyen is assigned to Princeton Engine Company No. 1; Continued on Page 10
MUSIC ON THE GREEN: Ess Gees performed on Saturday afternoon as part of the Palmer Square Summer Music Series, which continues every Saturday from 12 to 2 p.m. through August. Attendees share their favorite things to do in Princeton in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Sarah Teo)