May 17, 2017

The Effects of Today’s Marijuana Is Focus of “Weeding Out the Myths”

Parents: If you think the marijuana your teenagers might be using bears a close resemblance to the stuff you smoked back in college a few decades ago, the Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance wants you to think again.

The organization’s upcoming “Marijuana Awareness Forum: Weeding Out the Myths,” tackles that and other related misconceptions in a program targeted to middle and high school students, their parents, and the community. The free event will be held in the auditorium of John Witherspoon Middle School on Wednesday, May 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. more

Bike Month in Princeton Features Activities for Cyclists of All Ages

CHASING GEORGE: Following George Washington’s route to Princeton Battlefield, “Chasing George” and Ciclovia on Quaker Road this Sunday are just two of the many bicycling events taking place in Princeton during National Bike Month. (Sketch Courtesy of the Historical Society of Princeton)

May is National Bike Month, and Princeton is celebrating with an array of biking events.

Mayor Liz Lempert has proclaimed this Friday, May 19, as Bike to Work Day in Princeton, during National Bike to Work Week. Bike to School Days are scheduled on different dates throughout the month.  more

All In A Day’s Work: Andy Tamasi, Crossing Guard: “A Quiet Giant” 

FORTY-SIX YEARS OF SAFE CROSSING: Andy Tamasi, honored last week with an award of recognition from the Princeton Council, has served as a school crossing guard at various locations in Princeton since 1971.

More than 200,000 Princeton school children over the past 46 years have crossed the street under the watchful eye of crossing guard Costantino “Andy” Tamasi. There have been no injuries and no accidents.  more

Province Line Road Section Of Trail is Underway

The long-anticipated construction of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail’s (LHT) Province Line Road segment is underway, and when completed in about two months, it will add approximately three-quarters of a mile of trail to the biking and walking loop that runs through Lawrence and Hopewell Townships.

The 3,760-foot segment runs along Province Line Road from Route 206 to Bannister Drive, where it crosses into the Foxcroft neighborhood. This link ties Carson Road Woods and Bristol-Myers Squibb Lawrenceville to the north and the Foxcroft neighborhood to the southeast. With the completion of this project, 88 percent — a total of 19 miles — of the 22-mile trail will be completed by the summer of 2017. more

Screening of “Race to Nowhere” Tackles Stress on Young People

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Dress for Success Mercer County (DFSMC), started in 2007 with seed money from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), is approaching its 10th anniversary. At the Second Annual Women’s Empowerment Breakfast held recently at Trenton Country Club, DFSMC Executive Director Melissa Tenzer met with representatives from BMS. Pictured, from left, are BMS’s Andrea Gladman and Robert Voldase, DFSMC’s Melissa Tenzer, and Kathy Matriello of BMS.

It’s no secret that many of today’s high school students are overworked, overstressed, and severely sleep-deprived. A recently released study conducted by Stanford University researchers confirmed that Princeton teenagers fall right into this category. more

Spirit of Princeton to Host Memorial Day Parade

Spirit of Princeton invites the community to the annual Memorial Day Parade and dedication ceremony on Saturday, May 27. The parade kicks off at 10 a.m. at Princeton Avenue and Nassau Street and then heads down Nassau Street to Princeton Monument Hall, where the ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. The parade features veterans groups, marching bands, and civic and youth groups, all marching to honor those who have died in military service to their country. more

Living Near the Edge: Panthea Reid’s Memoir of Love and Loss

Panthea Reid doesn’t mince words in her preface to Body and Soul: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Healing (Wild River Legacy 2017). Losing her husband John Fischer, who died in 2015, “nearly destroyed” her mind. What added “fury and guilt” to her grief was the idea that “medical incompetence or indifference hastened his decline.” She’s plagued by thoughts of her “naive trust” in the doctors who misdiagnosed his illness and by the fact that she failed to assert herself and “insist on alternate medical care.”  more

Book On African American Princeton Launched at Princeton Library May 18

The Princeton Public Library will host a book launch for Kathryn Watterson’s I Hear My People Singing: Voices of African American Princeton (Princeton Univ. Press $29.95) on Thursday, May 18, at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of the Princeton Public Library. The event is part of the Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood Stories Project in collaboration with the Arts Council of Princeton and the Historical Society of Princeton.

The book includes first-person accounts of more than 50 black residents and details aspects of their lives throughout the 20th century. Daughters of three of the deceased residents will attend to read their fathers’ stories.

Residents of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, interviewed by Kathryn “Kitsi” Watterson and her Princeton University students, collaborated in the effort to preserve the community’s history. These stories — beginning with a story by a resident born in 1875 and found in the archives of the Historical Society of Princeton — show that the roots of Princeton’s African American community are as deeply intertwined with the town and university as they are with the history of the United States, the legacies of slavery, and the nation’s current conversations on race. more

Princeton University Presents “Senior All Star Show” 

“&thunk”:  This collage by Princeton University senior Aubrey Andres explores the incomplete narratives that form because humans are unable to communicate what they truly mean. Ms. Andres’s work is on display at the Lucas Gallery at Princeton University. (Photo Courtesy of Lewis Center of the Arts)

The Visual Arts Program in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University will present an exhibition of recent work in a wide range of media by 20 graduating seniors in the program. The exhibition, “Senior All-Star Show,” will highlight work by students completed as part of their senior thesis projects and will be on view from Thursday, May 18 to Friday, June 9 in the Lucas Gallery at 185 Nassau Street. An opening reception will be held on May 18 from noon-2 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public. The Lucas Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Special additional hours during the University’s Reunions Weekend will be offered on June 3 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. more

Artists of All Ages Invited To Submit Artwork

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) invites the community to express their creativity by designing artwork celebrating the ACP’s 50th Anniversary. One overall winner’s artwork will be featured on its 50th Anniversary poster and additional marketing materials. Further, winners from each age group will receive opportunities for their artwork to be shared with the community.

Applicants should ideally live or work in the Princeton or surrounding areas and have familiarity with the Arts Council of Princeton. The contest is open to individuals (all ages), companies, organizations, educational institutions, or groups associated with such institutions. more

A Turn-of-the-Century Seamstress Sews “Intimate Apparel;” Lynn Nottage’s Romantic Drama Plays at McCarter Theatre

Photo Credit: T. Charles Erickson

Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel opened at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre May 12. The program notes state that Ms. Nottage, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat is currently on Broadway, has the following artistic mission: “to tell the stories of forgotten people, those whose lives did not make it into the records through which we, as Americans, chronicle the history of our country.” Inspired by a photograph of her great-grandmother, a Barbadian seamstress who lived in New York City at the turn of the last century, Ms. Nottage succeeds with this 2003 drama.

Esther Mills, a 35-year-old African American seamstress patterned after the playwright’s great-grandmother, rents a room in a boarding house owned by Mrs. Dickson. Esther creates “intimate apparel” for affluent women such as the unhappily married Mrs. Van Buren; and for Mayme, a prostitute and talented pianist. more

PU Summer Chamber Concerts

The 50th Season of Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts begins with a performance by the WindSync woodwind quintet on Wednesday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University. WindSync includes Julian Hernandez (clarinet), Anni Hochhalter (horn), Emily Tsai (oboe), Kara LaMoure (bassoon), and Garrett Hudson (flute). Free tickets are available at the door and online at princetonsummerchamberconcerts.org. 

2017 Princeton Festival Guild Artists Round Table

The Princeton Festival Guild will present the Artists Round Table on Wednesday, May 31 at 6:30 p.m. at Princeton Theological Seminary’s Scheide Hall. Opera artists, production staff, and others from The Princeton Festival’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio will share their personal experiences with the audience during an interactive forum. Hear the pleasures and perils faced both on stage and off as the artists bring the opera to life for its opening performance. The Artists Round Table offers a rare opportunity to meet the artists up close and hear in their own voice how they develop their roles, interpretations, and insights.  more

NJSO Showcases Vibrant Soloist and A Concert of 18th, 19th-Century Music

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) closed its 2016-17 Princeton series on Friday night with the best of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as an old musical friend featured in a Romantic Sibelius violin concerto. NJSO Music Director Xian Zhang led the ensemble and violin soloist Jennifer Koh in a concert at Richardson Auditorium including music of Mozart, Sibelius, and Schubert.

Ms. Koh is an old friend to Princeton audiences; she has performed a number of times with area ensembles. Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 47 is an expansive symphonic work, and even after its 1905 revision by the composer, still demands the highest in technical facility from the soloist. more

Police Investigate Threat Against JWS

On May 11, Princeton Police received a report of terroristic threats levied against the school and students by a fellow John Witherspoon School student. The student was overheard saying he was going to obtain a firearm and “shoot up the school tomorrow.” Police were contacted immediately when school officials became aware of the threat. The investigation revealed that the student did not have access to any firearms. The investigation resulted in one juvenile being taken into custody and a monitoring bracelet being placed on the juvenile while the incident is being investigated. The school was declared safe and the police will provide additional patrols. Chief Sutter would like to thank the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance and credits the prompt and professional response by the John Witherspoon School staff. The Princeton Police Department and Princeton Schools have been working together to ensure that a secure and safe learning environment exists on all of the campuses.

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May 16, 2017

PU Women’s Lacrosse Wins Ivy Tournament, Earns No. 5 Seed and Home Contest in NCAAs

DOING GREAT: Princeton University women’s lacrosse player Anna Doherty heads upfield in a game this spring. Last weekend, senior midfielder and tri-captain Doherty helped Princeton win the Ivy League tournament. Doherty scored four goals in a 17-8 win over Penn in the semis on Friday and then contributed two goals to help the Tigers defeat Cornell 12-9 in the championship game. Princeton, now 14-3 overall, is seeded fifth in the NCAA tournament and will host a second round contest on May 14 between the winner of the Cornell/Notre Dame first round game. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Over the course of the spring, a recurring theme for the Princeton University women’s lacrosse team has been an emphasis on getting off to a quick start. more

May 15, 2017

Princeton Day School Alumni Weekend, May 19 & 20

Former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III ’59, will be amongst the speakers at Princeton Day School’s Alumni Weekend on May 19 and 20. Mueller is widely credited with transforming the Bureau from a traditional law enforcement agency to a threat-based, intelligence-led national security organization. President Obama took the unprecedented step of asking that his 10-year term be extended for two years, a request Congress readily approved. After leaving his post at the FBI in 2013, Mueller became a partner at WilmerHale in Washington, DC, where his practice focuses on investigations, crisis management, privacy and cybersecurity work. Additional speakers include Dafna Tapiero ’87, Alexandra T. Warren ’02, and Elizabeth Hollister Burks Becker ’77. Learn more at www.pds.org.

A Joint Effort

Democrats Leticia Fraga and David Cohen will run a united campaign for the two open seats of Princeton Council. Ms. Fraga, who ran for Council in the last election, chairs the town’s Civil Rights Commission and is active in the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Mr. Cohen is an architect focused on eco-friendly design and shaping livable communities. 

May 11, 2017

Steeled by Tough Competition Down the Stretch, PU Men’s Lightweights Primed for Eastern Sprints

PULLING TOGETHER: The Princeton University men’s lightweight varsity 8 churns through the water in a race earlier this spring. After ending the regular season by taking a close third behind Harvard and Yale in the annual H-Y-P regatta, the Tigers will be looking to make up the gap as they compete in the Eastern Sprints on May 14 in Worcester, Mass. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

Over the last half of April, the Princeton University men’s lightweight varsity 8 crew found itself under the gun every week. more

May 10, 2017

Morven in May

Although there was a chill in the air, last weekend’s Morven in May festival at the Morven Museum & Garden in Princeton proved once again to be one of New Jersey’s most popular spring rituals. The art, craft, and garden event featured contemporary, American-made fine art and craft items along with an heirloom plant sale including flowers, new varieties of annuals and perennials, and select plants propagated from Morven’s own garden. All proceeds from the event help fund the Museum’s exhibitions, historic gardens, and educational programs. (Photograph by Emily Reeves)

Now’s the Time to Combat Emerald Ash Borer

The emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation continues to spread in the Princeton area, and time is running out for government officials and local residents to take action.

First sighted here in August 2015, the invasive beetle is expected, within three to five years, to kill all of Princeton’s approximately 2,000 ash trees if untreated С almost 11 percent of the town’s tree population. more

Priorities of Local Citizens Clash With U.S. Government Expenditures

PENNY POLL: Participants’ priorities on spending for military, education, health care, environment, and housing clashed with the actual federal budget in an informal poll conducted by the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action, which is urging taxpayers to contact their representatives in Washington.

Participants in a “penny poll” last week at Communiversity voted for 72 percent of their tax dollars to go into education, health care and the environment, with just 13 percent to the military. In fact 54 percent of the discretionary budget for Congress for FY 2016 was allocated for military spending, and President Trump recently proposed a $54 billion increase for the armed forces. more

Tiger Softball Sweeps Harvard in Ivy Series, Aiming to Make Statement at NCAA Regional

ENCORE PERFORMANCE: Princeton University softball pitcher Claire Klausner delivers a pitch against Harvard in the Ivy League Championship Series (ILCS) last Saturday. Senior Klausner pitched a six-hit shutout as Princeton prevailed 1-0 in the opener. The Tigers won the nightcap 13-4 to sweep the best-of-three series and earn their second straight Ivy League crown. Princeton, now 25-18, will learn its NCAA assignment on May 14. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Claire Klausner is affectionately called the “ice woman” by her teammates on the Princeton University softball team and she has come to embrace that nickname. more

Faculty, Students Protest Sale of Choir College At Westminster Rally

Faced with the prospect of Rider University’s sale of Westminster Choir College and other cost-cutting measures designed to offset a projected $13 million deficit, students, alumni, and faculty members held a rally Monday afternoon on the green at Westminster’s Walnut Lane campus.

“We have a president and a board who have imagined they are running a corporation,” Rider Professor Art Taylor, president of the University’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), told the gathering. “It’s happening [in colleges] all over America, and it’s chilling. It comes down to, what is it you value? I know what they value С It’s the land you’re standing on,” he said, referring to Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo and Vice President for Finance Julie Karns. more

A Special Prom

Thanks to an army of dedicated volunteers and the Princeton Recreation Department, the May 5 spring formal for adults and teenagers with special needs at the Suzanne Patterson Center was a big success. Princeton Special Sports sponsored the event. The last dance of the season will be the annual pool party and barbecue at Princeton Community Pool on June 2. Visit princetonspecialsports.com for more information.