TRIUMPHANT AT THE FINISH: A team celebrates completing the R2C relay just beyond the finish line in Manasquan. (Photo by Paul Mecca: PaulMecca.com)

Early on Saturday morning, 44 teams comprising over 300 runners will gather in Lambertville, on the banks on the Delaware River, and head east across the Garden State, winding 72 miles through Mercer and Monmouth counties before arriving at the beach in Manasquan late in the day. This year will mark the 22nd running of the River 2 Sea Relay, an event that for many participants has become a beloved annual tradition. Each team of seven divides the course’s nine stages between its members in an event that embodies teamwork to an extent that is rare in the world of distance running. The teams are required to have two support vehicles both to ferry the runners along to their next stage, but, crucially, also to bring cold drinks and energy bars to the runners along the route, towels and sunscreen for those between stages.  more

Princeton Day School has welcomed the following new trustees to its board: Ashley Aitken-Davies, Lucy Englander van den Brand ’78, Karen Law, Oye Olukotun, and Lorraine Sciarra.

Ashley Aitken-Davies works as a financial consultant and private investor, in addition to volunteering at local nonprofits. She worked in the investment banking and fixed income divisions at Goldman Sachs for nine years, and holds a BA from Colgate University. She is the co-chair of the PDS annual fund leadership gift committee, and the mother of three PDS students in the Lower School. more

Terhune Orchards’ Just Peachy Festival is August 5 and 6 at the farm on Cold Soil Road. A summer harvest, farm-to-fork tasting, and ice cream social are planned along with kids’ activities including tractor rides, pony rides, face-painting, interactive tumbling, and barnyard animals. Live music includes Borderline on Saturday and Dixie on Sunday. From noon to 4 p.m. both days, a special tasting is held ($12), and cooking demonstrations will be held along with Pam Mount’s free canning and freezing class (10 a.m. Saturday, registration necessary). Visit terhuneorchards.com for details.

The Trenton Museum Society is pleased to announce “Bosted on Olmsted” on Sunday, August 13 at 1:30 p.m. at the Trenton City Museum. The talk will focus on Olmsted’s two designs in Mercer County. There are exhibitions about Olmsted during the Summer of 2017 on both floors of the Trenton City Museum. The exhibits run to September 17. more

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for a program, in partnership with the federal government, to reduce organic certification costs as part of the Christie Administration’s ongoing efforts to promote New Jersey-grown and marketed organic food products.

Through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Certification Cost Share Program, each qualified producer or handler of organic products is eligible for a reimbursement of up to 75 percent of its costs of certification not to exceed $750. Certification costs include fees and charges levied by the certifying agent for certification activities. more

The Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce (PRCC) has launched a new website. The newly-designed site offers quick and easy access to essential information and features that allow a comprehensive view of Chamber events, benefits, and member businesses that facilitates an interactive and more engaging user experience, while offering their members substantially more visibility.

The PRCC is unique because its central location enables the organization to actively engage individuals, businesses, and communities throughout five New Jersey counties and as far as New York, Philadelphia, and Canada. Leading the website redesign is the Chamber’s Marketing and Communications Manager, Robert Blanda. more

Come and enjoy the pleasure of singing the best Jewish music. Dr. Elayne Robinson Grossman, music director of Sharim v’Sharot, will hold auditions for all voice parts during August and September. Rehearsals are Tuesday evenings from September through June in Ewing. The choir performs throughout Central New Jersey and the Delaware Valley, including a concert at Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center as part of the Leonard Bernstein Bicentennial Celebration. Other concerts will be held in synagogues, concert halls, museums, and community centers. Sharim v’Sharot performs an extensive repertoire of Jewish music of many eras, styles, and languages. To schedule an audition, email sharimvsharot@gmail.com.

The annual Princeton Community Night Out, sponsored by the Princeton Police Department, PBA Local 130, and the Princeton Recreation Department, will take place on August 1 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Community Park Pool. Activities will include Zumba dancing, free use of the pool, and a rock-climbing wall. There will also be hot dogs, ice cream, souvenir giveaways, and police and emergency tools and equipment on display. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton Recreation Department)

Delphinium Books will publish Princeton resident Katherine Nouri Hughes’s novel The Mapmaker’s Daughter next month. Although the author will not be appearing at Labyrinth until October 9, the book has been receiving impressive advance notice.

According to Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Emeritus, Princeton University’s Bernard Lewis, “When the fiction is good, the history is usually distorted, and on the rare occasions when the history is good, the fiction is usually less interesting than the straight historical narrative. This novel is a remarkable exception…part history, part fiction, it is enthralling.” more