From the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan to the Top of the Standard in Los Angeles to Lola’s Trailer Park in Fort Worth, Tex., musicians are banding together for The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence on Sunday, September 25th. At Trinity United Methodist Church in Ewing there will be a full day of music, food, speakers, art, and peace, as part of this national effort. more
August 24, 2016
So Percussion will offer the first of two free performances in Princeton as part of their Edward T. Cone Residency at Princeton University. On Friday, September 16, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium at Alexander Hall, the community has the opportunity to engage in a striking range of music — from John Cage’s Living Room Music transforming household items into instruments, to the world premiere of Emeritus Professor Paul Lansky’s Springs. more
Michael Kenwood, the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad member who lost his life while conducting a swiftwater rescue during Hurricane Irene, is being remembered this month by his fellow squad members. The loss of the 39-year-old volunteer on August 28, 2011 was a tragedy for his wife and family as well as for the members of the first aid squad, the EMS community, and the residents of Princeton. more
August 17, 2016
No neighborhood in historic, tradition-steeped Princeton is changing more rapidly than Witherspoon-Jackson (W-J), and amidst last week’s Joint Effort Safe Streets Summer Program celebrating W-J, the black community and its history, a group of local leaders and developers worked toward a “vision of and for the Witherspoon-Jackson Community,” in a Saturday morning panel discussion at the Hank Pannell Center on Clay Street. more
Princeton Public Schools (PPS) look forward to starting the 2016-17 school year in just three weeks with more than 40 new staff members, including three new positions, and a number of new programs and approaches.
Nearly all the new staff members are filling positions of retirees or staff taking temporary leaves. The new positions will include an additional kindergarten teacher at Community Park, where enrollment is rising, an additional guidance counselor at Princeton High School, and С still to be hired С “an innovation and instructional technology specialist to support our teachers district-wide in the use of new technologies and learning approaches,” according to Superintendent Steve Cochrane. more
The Williams Company, which installed a natural gas pipeline last year on the Princeton Ridge, is proposing to build a compressor station along an existing natural gas pipeline, possibly inside Trap Rock Quarry in Kingston.
Residents of the area who are worried about the environmental impact and noise of such a project attended a special meeting August 10 of the Franklin Township Council to air their concerns and hear from the Texas-based Williams firm. more
Local soup kitchens and food pantries will get a special crop of potatoes that were planted at Howell Living History Farm a few months ago. On Saturday, August 20, the public is invited to help the harvest crew from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Farm staff will lead the project, using horses or oxen to pull a special plow. Lemonade and cookies will be served all day. Howell Farm is on Valley Road just off Route 29 in Hopewell Township. Visit www.howellfarm.org.
“HERAT AFTER TEN YEARS OF BOMBING,” Afghanistan, 1992. Archival pigment print. Courtesy of Steve McCurry.
When I wandered out of Friday’s heavy heat into the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, there she was, Afghan Girl, the banner image of “Unguarded, Untold, Iconic Afghanistan: Through the Lens of Steve McCurry.” Taken in 1984 at a tent school in the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan, the National Geographic cover photo won world renown as a symbol of the plight of refugees everywhere. more
THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Campers at the Princeton Blairstown Center’s Summer Bridge Program count canoeing as a favorite activity. Now in its second summer, the program serves kids from Trenton, Newark, and New York City. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton Blairstown Center)
Pam Gregory has worked for several organizations that give underserved urban youth a chance to spend time in peaceful, bucolic settings. But none have impressed her as much as the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC), a 107-year-old summer camp on 264 acres of wilderness in New Jersey’s Delaware Water Gap. more
The Princeton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau and Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce have announced the second annual Toast to Tourism Awards, scheduled for Tuesday, September 13 from 8-10 a.m. at The Boathouse at Mercer Lake. The ceremony will include four award presentations, and address the importance of tourism in the region and in the state of New Jersey. more
On Saturday, August 20, historian Bonnie Halda will deliver an illustrated lecture about the centennial of The National Park Service and the 50th anniversary of the Historic Preservation. The location couldn’t be more appropriate: The historic Trent House, a landmark on the Delaware River in Trenton, built in 1719. Ms. Halda is program manager for Preservation Assistance in the Northeast Regional Office of the National Park Service. Her talk will be followed by light refreshments and tours of the house and gardens. Admission is $10 ($8 for members). The event begins at 1 p.m. The Trent House is at 15 Market Street. Call (609) 989-3027 for information.
Princeton’s history of welcoming immigrants, refugees, and new Americans is the focus of a special “Welcoming Week” planned for September 16 to 25. Designed to recognize the past and help map out the future, the tribute has been spearheaded by the Princeton Human Services department in collaboration with the Princeton Public Library and the Historical Society of Princeton. more
The Washington Crossing Park Association announces its third historic educational program, “Digging New Jersey: Colonial and Revolutionary War Archaeology” on Sunday, September 25 from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at the Union Fire Company Hall, located on River Road in Titusville. more
Anne Carrere returns to McCarter Theatre on October 17 at 7:30 p.m. to pay homage to French singer Edith Piaf. Join “the Sparrow” on a journey through the streets of Montmartre during the halcyon Paris cabaret days of the 1940s and 50s. For tickets, visit www.mccarter.org or call (609) 258-2787.
On Saturday, September 24, discover why the Battle of Princeton was a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War. Activities begin at 10 a.m. at Princeton Battlefield State Park and include live artillery demonstrations, a reenactment of the Burr-Hamilton duel, Colonial life demonstrations, tours of the Clarke House, a visit by General George Washington, and much more. more
A PROUD COMMUNITY: Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert and Dr. Bruce Johnson (center), administrator of the New Jersey Affordable Housing Management Association and National Affordable Housing Management Association Scholarship Foundation, pose with student award winners (L to R) Cindy Guzman, Alana Chmiel, Mary Ebong, and Joshua Hsieh, at last Wednesday’s scholarship awards ceremony at Princeton Community Village. Scholarship recipients not pictured include Jonas Daniecki, Vanessa Guzman, Daniel Hanna, and Christian Nazario. (Photo courtesy of planetprinceton.com)
Eight students from Princeton Community Village (PCV) have won scholarships from the New Jersey Affordable Housing Management Association (JAHMA) and the National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA). more
The Washington Crossing Park Association will present “Digging New Jersey: Colonial and Revolutionary War Archaeology,” on Sunday, September 25 at the Union Fire Company hall, River Road in Titusville from 2-5:30 p.m.
Richard Veit, Chair of the history and anthropology department at Monmouth University, will discuss his archaeological explorations at Sandy Hook this summer. His talk, titled “Searching for the ‘Lighthouse Fort and the Refugee Town’ on Sandy Hook: A Story of Archaeological Research,” will provide background on his findings. more
Mercer County has received approval from the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission for installation of a crosswalk and pedestrian-activated beacons at the Washington Road crossing, which is heavily used by pedestrians and cyclists.
This was the final step in a lengthy approval process, which, due to the proximity of proposed safety devices to the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Towpath and the potential visual impacts on the elm allee, required approval from the State Historic Preservation Office. Approvals and input from the Princeton Historic Preservation Office, Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission and Princeton University were also required. more
The Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Development Fund is accepting grant applications from local not-for-profit organizations. Established in 2013 with a gift of $500,000 from the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Development Fund is an endowed fund dedicated to supporting not-for-profit organizations located in the Chamber’s Central New Jersey five-county footprint. more
On Saturday, August 20 from 2 to 4 p.m., Dr. Richard Veit (professor, archaeologist, and presenter), will deliver a lecture on cemetery evolution and gravestone design in New Jersey Learn about the meanings of the designs, inscriptions of love and life lessons, and what it means to those who are gone and those left behind. more
“RAMESSES’ EAGLE”: Pictured above is one of the tapestries by Armando Sosa on exhibit at University Medical Center of Princeton’s Art for Healing Gallery through October 31.
An exhibit of tapestries by Armando Sosa — whose hand-woven artwork employs imagery from civilizations spanning several centuries and the entire globe — is now on display at the University Medical Center of Princeton (UMCP). more
Clare Bowen (left) and Charles Esten currently star as Scarlett O’Connor and Deacon Clayborne on ABC’s musical drama television series Nashville. The two will perform songs from the TV show and their record-topping album at the State Theatre of NJ in New Brunswick on Saturday, September 10 at 8 p.m. In addition to the TV show, Bowen and Esten regularly perform at the Grand Ole Opry House. For more information, visit www.statetheatrenj.org or call (732) 246-7469.
August 10, 2016
Princeton YMCA campers learned where their food comes from among the rows of cabbages, lettuce, scallions, peppers, herbs, and squash at Eno Terra One Acre Farm last week. (Photo by Luke Momo)
Police officers throughout the country are under unusual pressures on the job these days. Recent police shootings of black men and sniper attacks on police have dominated the news and have created heightened levels of criticism, scrutiny, concern, and fear. more
As levels of anger rise, political conflicts become more and more hostile, respect for government wanes, and support for publicly elected officials declines, who could blame young people for feeling disaffected? One local student, however, is dedicated to making his voice, and the voices of millions of other young people, heard in Washington. more