November 25, 2020

Hamilton Habitat for Humanity ReStore Offers Variety of Home and Building Items

SUPER SHOPPING SOURCE: “The store is open for everyone. This is a destination place, and customers are coming from all over the area, including Princeton. People know they can get a good price. There is always a good deal here,” says Annie Fox, resource development director, Habitat for Humanity Burlington and Mercer Counties. Shown are Habitat for Humanity personnel and Hamilton community representatives at the Hamilton Habitat for Humanity ReStore’s ribbon cutting in Independence Plaza, 2465 South Broad Street.

By Jean Stratton

Anew shopping opportunity is available at the Independence Plaza at 2465 South Broad Street in Hamilton.

Not only does it offer a wide variety of household items and building supplies at discounted prices, it is also a means to help the Habitat for Humanity program.

The Hamilton Habitat for Humanity ReStore is part of the retail operation, which provides funds to help support the overall Habitat for Humanity (HFH) program.

Established in 1976 in Americus, Georgia, HFH was founded by Millard and Linda Fuller, who developed the idea of ”partnership housing.”

Affordable Houses

The concept centered on those in need of adequate shelter working side by side with volunteers to build decent, affordable houses. They would be constructed at no profit. New homeowners’ house payments would be combined with no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fundraising to create “The Fund for Humanity,” which would then be used to build more homes. more

Displaying his Prowess in Greco-Roman Style, PU Wrestler Merkin Takes 3rd at Senior Nationals

LENDING A HAND: Princeton University wrestler Lenny Merkin greets Sebby the Sloth, a mascot that he created, in the Utah Salt Flats. Bringing Sebby along for the ride, senior Merkin placed third at the U.S. Senior Nationals in the 67 kilogram (148-pounds) Greco-Roman competition in October. Earlier this month, he made the semifinals in the 67 kg Greco-Roman class at the UWW(United World Wrestling) U23 and Junior Nationals. (Photo provided by Lenny Merkin)

By Justin Feil

When Lenny Merkin headed to Coralville, Iowa, for the wrestling U.S. Senior Nationals last month, he took with him Sebby the Sloth, a mascot that the Princeton University senior created.

“It’s this stuffed animal I carry around to training and tournaments and it ended up taking off internationally,” said Merkin, who maintains Instagram and Twitter accounts for Sebby.

“It blew up and now it’s turning into a side project where I’m trying to use it to grow wrestling and spread the word. I’ve been able to lean on that since I do most of my travels solo. I’ve been able to have this stuffed animal to lean on if I don’t have anyone else.”

Merkin is the rare Princeton wrestler who favors the Greco-Roman style over the college format of folkstyle. In Greco-Roman, one can only do takedowns by attacking an opponent’s upper body with leg attacks being prohibited. In both folkstyle and freestyle, a wrestler can do takedowns by either shooting or throwing.

“Since I got into Princeton, I told the coaches that my goal is to be an asset to the team, but when I have the chance to compete in Greco-Roman, I want to do so and I want to be able to have an opportunity to have an Olympic team, something you can’t do with folkstyle unfortunately,” said Merkin, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was a four-time New York prep states champion at Poly Prep. more

Waging Fierce Battle with Hunterdon Central, PHS Boys’ Soccer Loses 1-0 in Sectional Final

DEVIL OF A TIME: Princeton High boys’ soccer player Nick Petruso, left, boots the ball up the field last Saturday as top-seeded PHS battled second-seeded Hunterdon Central in the Central West Group 4 sectional final. Senior star Petruso and the Tigers generated a number of scoring chances but were thwarted as the visiting Red Devils pulled out a 1-0 win. The defeat left PHS with a final record of 9-3-1. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

A vivid memory of Nick Petruso’s freshman season on the Princeton High boys’ soccer team in 2017 came when he helped the Tigers edge Hunterdon Central 1-0 in the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional final on a bone-chilling November afternoon.

“That game was extremely difficult,” said Petruso. “We won in overtime.”

So when top-seeded PHS hosted second-seeded Hunterdon Central in the Central West Group 4 sectional final last Saturday, Petruso wasn’t surprised to see the Red Devils put the Tigers under intense pressure in the early stages of the contest.

“Those kids came out strong in the beginning, it was a battle,” said senior striker Petruso. “We made some tough tackles, they were strong.”

With its strong defense stepping up, PHS weathered the storm on the pleasant 60 degree day, thwarting Hunterdon Central as the foes were knotted in a scoreless draw at halftime.

After Hunterdon Central scored to break the ice with 36:48 left in the second half, PHS responded by generating a number of strong chances but couldn’t break through as it ultimately fell 1-0.  more

Novak Thrilled to Return for Senior Campaign, Starring as PHS Boys’ Soccer Won Sectional Semi

WILLPOWER: Princeton High boys’ soccer player Will Novak, left, controls the ball against Hunterdon Central last Saturday in the Central West Group 4 sectional final. Top-seeded PHS ended up falling 1-0 the second-seeded Red Devils. Two days earlier, senior midfielder Novak scored two goals to help the Tigers defeat fifth-seeded Hightstown 5-0 in the sectional semis. PHS ended 2020 campaign with a 9-3-1 record. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Will Novak wasn’t looking to be a hero as the Princeton High boys’ soccer team hosted Hightstown in the Central West Group 4 sectional semifinals last Wednesday.

Instead, after missing all of the 2019 season and most of the previous campaign due to injury, senior midfielder Novak was thrilled just to be on the pitch for the game.

“I was cleared at the end of last year; I spent this whole past year just training and trying to get back in shape and focusing on rehab,” said Novak, whose twin brother James and younger brother Charles also play for PHS.

“My mentality is a little different than everybody else’s. If I can be on the field, you can put me anywhere and I am going to be happy to be there. I am taking every opportunity I have to do what I can to help the team. I am loving every second of it.”

Against Hightstown, Novak seized opportunity, scoring a pair of first half goals to help PHS take a 2-0 lead and the Tigers never looked back on the way to a 5-0 triumph and a spot in the sectional final against Hunterdon Central. more

Unable to Overcome Early Deficit Against Ridge, PHS Girls’ Soccer Falls 3-0 in Sectional Quarters

SEEING RED: Princeton High girls’ soccer player Vanessa Ponce, center, slots the ball up the field last Wednesday as fourth-seeded PHS hosted fifth-seeded Ridge in the Central West C (Group 4) sectional quarterfinals. PHS fell 3-0 to the Red Devils, the eventual sectional champion, to end the fall with a 9-3-1 record. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Moments after the Princeton High girls’ soccer team fell 3-0 to Ridge in the Central West C (Group 4) sectional quarterfinals last Wednesday, several players huddled together for a group cry on the frigid afternoon.

In a season that almost didn’t happen due to COVID-19 concerns, the PHS players developed deep bonds as their time together became a daily highlight in a difficult fall.

“We were such a close group of kids and coaches, this team means a lot to me,” said PHS head coach Val Rodriguez, whose squad ended the fall with a 9-3-1 record.

“I have known some of the seniors for eight years, some of them I coached back when they were in fifth grade. Some of the families, I have been coaching for 12 years now. So this team coming together with COVID and all of that, losing the game hurts. But it hurts differently this year because now the one thing that we are in-person for and feel genuine about is over.” more

November 18, 2020

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

Representatives Emma and Vincent Traylor stand in front of HomeFront’s pop-up information and donation drop-off center at 63 Palmer Square. The center will be open on November 20 from 4 to 7 p.m. and November 21 and 22 from noon to 5 p.m. For more on the week’s events, visit homefrontnj.org. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)

COVID Case Numbers, Hospitalizations Rise

By Donald Gilpin

The Princeton Health Department reported on Monday, November 16 “a steady influx of new cases” over the weekend, with 18 new COVID-19 infections in the past week, 30 in the past two weeks, and 14 active positive cases in Princeton. New case numbers over the past weeks are the second highest in Princeton since the first-wave peak in early May.

“The majority of these cases have stemmed from organized travel sports and household contacts associated with those cases,” said Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser.

Noting New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s recent tightening of restrictions on gatherings, Princeton Press and Media Communications Director Fred Williams added, “The governor’s recent changes limiting indoor gatherings to 10 people and outdoor gatherings to 150 are due to contact tracing data that show public and private gatherings/parties/celebrations have played a role in our community spread of COVID-19.”

In his Tuesday press briefing, Murphy also warned about the harmful effects of fatigue over COVID-19 restrictions, and he mentioned the possibility of another state shutdown to combat the spread of the virus.

“The rise we are currently experiencing is not likely to peak any time soon,” Williams continued. “As was the case with our spring and summer holidays, we have again experienced a spike in cases, this time subsequent to celebrating Halloween. The trend is expected to continue with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s celebrations all occurring within a six-week time span.” more

A “Teachable Moment,” As Princeton Works to Rename Middle School

By Donald Gilpin

In the ongoing response to a stormy conflict that arose last summer over the name of the former John Witherspoon Middle School (for now Princeton Unified Middle School), Princeton Public Schools (PPS) is undergoing a year-long “teachable moment,” involving students at all levels and engaging the whole community in the process of renaming the school.

The culmination of the first phase of this project will take place this Friday, November 20, with a webinar panel discussion led by Princeton High School students and alumni, as they initiate a dialogue about the process of renaming and the social justice issues at stake.

A highlight of Friday’s webinar will be the presentation of suggestions and research prepared by US History I students under the guidance of social studies teacher Katie Dineen. Among the proposed new names that have arisen from school policy meetings, meetings with alumni, and conversations with the Historical Society of Princeton so far are John Lewis, Betsey Stockton, Paul Robeson, Silvia DuBois, Shirley Satterfield, Albert Einstein, Michelle Obama, John Witherspoon, and Arthur Tappan, as well as Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation, Powhatan Renape Nation, Ramapough Indian Nation, and Princeton Unified. more

Council Considers Creation of Electric Vehicle Charging Station Ordinance

By Anne Levin

At its meeting on Monday evening, Princeton Council heard a report on the creation of an ordinance to allow the installation of electric vehicle charging stations throughout the municipality. The governing body also approved two ordinances and voted to introduce several others, most of which have to do with the continued effort to harmonize codes of the former Borough and Township that existed prior to consolidation seven years ago. Police Chief Chris Morgan delivered a brief report on activities
during September.

A report on electric vehicle charging stations by Anne Soos, a member of the Princeton Environmental Commission (PEC), drew mostly enthusiastic responses from Council members, with a few reservations and suggestions for changes before the charging station concept is brought back to Council for a public hearing, probably early next year.

Because transportation is responsible for almost one third of greenhouse gas emissions, the state of New Jersey has set some ambitious five-year goals regarding electric vehicles and charging stations, Soos said. The PEC has been researching the best way to meet those goals, supporting them in conjunction with Princeton’s climate action plan and master plan. Following the lead of ordinances that have been created in other municipalities, including North Brunswick, the PEC made some recommendations including requiring large retail establishments, office developments more than 2,000 square feet, restaurants, theaters, hotels with more than 50 rooms, and new multi-family buildings to have a certain percentage of available charging stations. more

Sibling Duo From the UK to Make Virtual Princeton Debut

A FAMILY THAT PLAYS TOGETHER: Pianist Isata and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, members of a famous musical family from the UK, will perform as part of Princeton University Concerts’ online season. A virtual visit with their parents and a “watch party” complete with afternoon tea are also planned.

By Anne Levin

Even before the extraordinarily musical siblings of the Kanneh-Mason family gained international notoriety when cellist Sheku, the third oldest, performed at the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, they were on the radar of Princeton University Concerts (PUC) Artistic and Executive Director Marna Seltzer. But it wasn’t until the pandemic that she was able to schedule them for the long-running music series.

Sheku and his older sister Isata, a pianist, will appear on Sunday, November 29 at 3 p.m. in a live stream from the family’s home in Nottingham, England. The siblings will play works by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Saint-Saens, and will answer questions following the performance. Ten days before the concert, on Thursday, November 19 at 12 p.m., Helga Davis of WNYC radio will interview Kadiatu and Stuart Kanneh-Mason, parents of the seven classically trained siblings who range in age from 10 to 24. Talking points may include their back story and the issue of race in classical music.  more

Mills + Schnoering Architects of Princeton Awarded Industry Honor

PRESTIGIOUS AWARD: The renovation, restoration, and expansion of the Civic Theatre in Allentown, Pa., is among the projects for which Mills + Schnoering Architects has been recognized as AIANJ Firm of the Year. (Photo by Mills + Schnoering Architects/Aislinn Weidele)

By Anne Levin

Coming up on its 10th anniversary, the Princeton firm Mills + Schnoering Architects (M+Sa) has been honored by the American Institute of Architects New Jersey (AIANJ) with an especially welcome designation: Firm of the Year.

“This is very exciting for us,” said Meredith Bzdak, a partner with Michael Mills and Michael Schnoering. “We have a terrific legacy behind us, but we’ve grown some more in the last 10 years and have taken on some projects that we think are wonderful. We’ve expanded more nationally and have been incredibly lucky, doing the kind of projects we love. The decade has sped by.”

Those projects are cultural, civic, and educational. While M+Sa is known for historic preservation, it is not limited to that. “We like to consider ourselves a full-service design firm,” said Bzdak, an architectural historian by training. “We do have a very strong specialization in historic preservation, and that is a design discipline. We see it all under the same umbrella.” more

Arts at Princeton Public Schools Flourish, With Creative Responses to COVID-19

By Donald Gilpin

The pandemic has forced schools to adapt with numerous, constantly evolving manifestations of remote, hybrid, and restricted in-person learning. The particular nature of arts education has created some of the greatest challenges for COVID-era teachers at Princeton Public Schools (PPS), along with some of the most creative and effective solutions.

“The arts are alive and well at Princeton Public Schools,” said PPS Visual and Performing Arts Supervisor Patrick Lenihan. “We’ve definitely learned a lot from this situation. We’re finding creative solutions to the challenges in front of us and we’re using these to make great music and art together.”

Masks and social distancing are required, of course, but, a PPS press release reports, some special measures have been introduced to keep the visual and performing arts classes safe and on course. These include tents with flaps up to let the breeze through during outdoor rehearsals, special masks for singers and masks with flaps over the mouth for wind instrument players to allow a mouthpiece to be inserted, bell covers for the ends of trumpets and trombones, and bags that hold the woodwind instruments, blocking the aerosols but allowing students to see their fingers.

While rehearsals might be in-person when possible or otherwise by Zoom, the current plan is for performances to be virtual, like the Princeton High School Choir’s Songs from the American Songbook concert on the district website last month, or the PHS Spectacle Theater production 12 Incompetent Jurors (a spoof of 12 Angry Men) this weekend, November 20 and 21, or the Princeton Unified Middle School’s Brief Interviews with Internet Cats on December 4 and 5.

For these productions, students record tracks individually at home, and those tracks are carefully mixed together to create the live-streamed performance.  more

Looking for the Rest of Ronald Reagan: A Post-Election Special

By Stuart Mitchner

Here’s something about your old friend Ronnie,” says my wife as she hands me the Arts section of Thursday’s New York Times. In the photograph above Adam Nagourney’s article on the new Showtime docu-series The Reagans (“Parsing the Seeds Reagan Sowed”), my “old friend” is looking almost as villainous as he does playing a crime boss who arranges murders and abuses his mistress in Don Siegel’s The Killers.

How did the Gipper and I get to be friendly? And if we’re such pals, why did I vote for Carter in 1980 and work the phones for Mondale in ‘84? More to the point, why did I spend the last half of the 1980s following the highs and lows of his film career and his presidency? The simple answer: we had a fictional relationship. I was working on a novel about the owner of a rundown New Jersey “movie palace” who was writing a series of letters to a newly elected president.

My fictional alter ego was Lucas St. Clair, an ex-minor league ballplayer who’d inherited a movie house and planned to run all 53 of Reagan’s films beginning with an election week showing of Knute Rockne All-American. Thanks to Ted Turner’s purchase of the Warner archive, scores of old Reagan movies had been turning up on TNT and TCM. I taped them all, the good, the bad, and the merely mediocre, including comedies like She’s Working Her Way Through College where Ronnie performs a dynamite drunken professor scene and Bedtime for Bonzo in which he plays straight man to a monkey. I took a special interest in problematic roles like the epileptic biochemist in Night Unto Night, the well-meaning alcoholic playboy in Dark Victory, and the double amputee in King’s Row who wakes up to the reality crying, “Where’s the rest of me?”  That cry of horror from a small town ladies’ man would become the signature line of his movie life (along with “Win one for the Gipper”), as well as the title of his 1965 autobiography. That a future president would tag his life story with such an out-of-left-field title intrigued me, especially given that the author was running for governor of California the year the book was published. Reagan’s fixation on that surreal moment of existential mutilation is among the quirks of character that make him so devious a subject (“as strange a fellow as any of us had ever met,” according to his son Ron’s memoir, My Father at 100). Think of it: this is the role and the film he considered a career highlight, even to the point of showing King’s Row at the White House, to friends, staff members, and visiting heads of state. more

McCarter Presents Online Festival of “The Work of Adrienne Kennedy”; Round House Theatre’s “He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box” Begins Series

“HE BROUGHT HER HEART BACK IN A BOX”: Round House Theatre, in association with McCarter Theatre Center, is presenting a prerecorded video of Adrienne Kennedy’s “He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box.” Directed by Nicole A. Watson, the video will be available online through February 28, 2021. Above, Kay (Maya Jackson, left) and Chris (Michael Sweeney Hammond) exchange letters that reveal disturbing family histories. (Video still courtesy of Round House Theatre)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

McCarter is partnering with the Round House Theatre (which is in Bethesda, Maryland) to present an online festival, The Work of Adrienne Kennedy: Inspiration and Influence. The four-part series debuted Saturday, with Kennedy’s one-act play He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box.

In a press release, McCarter’s Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen praises Kennedy as “an African American woman … who broke convention in the face of traditional barriers that prevented a much-deserved spotlight.” Round House Theatre’s Artistic Director Ryan Rilette adds that Kennedy’s plays are “beautiful, poetic conversations on race and power that are just as necessary now as they were fifty years ago.”

Kennedy has won multiple Obie Awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement (2008). She has been commissioned by companies such as the Public Theater and the Mark Taper Forum. In 2018 she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. McCarter’s press release notes that her plays are “taught in colleges throughout the country, in Europe, India, and Africa.”

He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box depicts a young couple separated by disparate racial backgrounds, as well as distinct physical locations. Dual train rides become journeys in which each discovers the other’s troublesome past.  more

Princeton Symphony Orchestra Concludes Fall Virtual Concert Season with Stellar Violinist

By Nancy Plum

Princeton Symphony Orchestra presented the sixth and final concert in its fall “indoor/outdoor” classical season this past Sunday afternoon by digitally launching a virtual performance led by the ensemble’s Assistant Conductor Nell Flanders. Flanders, recently named to this position with the Symphony, led members of the Symphony’s string sections in a performance also featuring noted violinist Elina Vähälä. With the orchestral portions filmed at Princeton’s Morven Education Center and Vähälä’s Bach solo recorded at the Church of St. Olaf in the southern Finnish town of Sysmä, Flanders and the 11 string players of the Symphony presented a concert which was a tribute to both the Baroque era and early 20th-century America.  

Born in America’s Deep South at the turn of the 20th century, composer Florence Price emerged from the violent racial atmosphere of the time to become a musical pioneer whose music has only recently begun to receive much-deserved attention. Much of Price’s repertory was lost after her death, but was rediscovered in an attic of an abandoned house in rural Illinois. Price composed her 1929 String Quartet only as a two-movement work, and it is thought that this piece was not heard between Price’s death in 1953 and a performance in 2015. In Sunday afternoon’s concert, Princeton Symphony presented the second movement andante moderato, rooted in the vocal spiritual tradition.

The string players of Princeton Symphony began Price’s String Quartet movement with a lush melody they could really sink their musical teeth into, as Flanders conducted with broad strokes without a baton to emphasize the richness of the melodic material. This was the kind of music in which the players could load up on vibrato, however the ensemble resisted this temptation and played with a lean yet rich sound, especially in a viola sectional solo from Stephanie Griffin and Emily Muller. Flanders milked the movement’s rubatos well, and although this work was composed in a turbulent time period, the broad melodic passages were full of hope and opportunity.  

Violinist Elina Vähälä was born in the United States, raised in Finland, and has appeared with orchestras worldwide while maintaining a strong commitment to music education in Finland. The Viuluakatemia Ry violin academy, which she founded in 2009 in Finland, serves as a master class-based educational initiative for talented young Finnish violinists. Vähälä was supposed to have appeared with Princeton Symphony this season in a performance of Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, but instead presented a pre-recorded performance from a small church in the lake region of Finland. For this performance, Vähälä chose one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most well-known works for unaccompanied violin, but one which included some of the most intricate music the composer wrote. Bach’s Partita for Violin #2 in D minor, BWV 1004 was structured in a five-movement dance format common in Bach’s time. The concluding chaconne is a four-bar melodic ground bass repeated 64 times over which the upper strings spin a continuous series of variations in a close to 15-minute movement.   more

“A Christmas Carol” Film to Benefit Theaters

BAH, HUMBUG: Jefferson Mays plays Ebeneezer Scrooge in a filmed version of “A Christmas Carol,” benefiting George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick and other regional theaters affected by the pandemic. (Photo by Chris Whitaker)

George Street Playhouse and producer Hunter Arnold have announced that a special filmed version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, starring Tony Award-winner Jefferson Mays, will be released worldwide on Saturday, November 28. This streaming video event will benefit George Street Playhouse as well as other community, amateur, and regional theaters across the country which have been devastated by the pandemic.

Directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Michael Arden, adapted by Mays, Susan Lyons, and Arden, and conceived by Arden and Tony Award nominee Dane Laffrey, the filmed version is based on the 2018 production which made its world premiere at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse.

“George Street Playhouse is thrilled to join producer Hunter Arnold on this nationwide event,” said George Street Playhouse Artistic Director David Saint. “These are extraordinary times and the opportunity to present a virtual version of this acclaimed performance is exactly what we need this holiday season.”

“As not-for-profit theaters continue to produce and present high-quality virtual content, we are honored to participate in this nationwide opportunity to stream one of the holiday’s favorite titles, A Christmas Carol,” said Kelly Ryman, managing director of George Street Playhouse. “Theaters throughout the nation are offering this virtual production which promises to bring cheer to all who see it.” more

Carillon Concerts Continue

On November 22, Princeton University’s carillonneur Lisa Lonie, shown here with the instrument in Grover Cleveland Tower at the Graduate College, will perform musical tributes to Sean Connery, Alex Trebek, and a crowd favorite – “Imagine” by John Lennon. The concerts start at 1 p.m., are free, and are performed rain or shine through the holidays. The grounds surrounding the Cleveland Tower afford many opportunities to socially distance. Visit gradschool.princeton.edu for more information. (Photo courtesy of Lisa Lonie)

Princeton Dance Festival “Reimagined” This Year

CHOREOGRAPHY DURING COVID: Senior Ysabel Ayala interacts with Henry Moore’s sculpture “Oval with Points” on the Princeton campus while rehearsing a solo work she created that will be among the pieces presented in “Princeton Dance Festival Reimagined.” (Photo by Jonathan Sweeney)

The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Dance at Princeton University presents Princeton Dance Festival Reimagined, a virtual edition of its major annual concert exploring dance in the COVID era through new works, November 23 at 8:30 p.m. and December 3-5 at 8 p.m. Professional choreographers Peter Chu, Francesca Harper, Rebecca Lazier, Dean Moss, Silas Riener, and Olivier Tarpaga have worked with Princeton dance students to explore the intersections of dance and multimedia performance, digital animation, filmmaking, site-based work, and music.

Each evening is a completely different and unique experience followed by a question and answer session with the choreographers. The Dance Festival is free and open to the public with registration required for each performance. Pre-recorded content will be closed captioned and live performances and conversations will be open captioned.

Along with the entire global dance community, the Program in Dance is exploring the challenges of dance in a socially distanced world. Work over the past semester culminates in the Dance Festival to consider how dance artists can create new methods of dance and choreography for the online environment that reimagine frontiers of physical practice and the choreographic space. Participating students are currently taking their Princeton courses online from throughout the U.S. and abroad. more

Homefront’s ArtJam for The Holidays Now Open

HomeFront’s ArtJam for the Holidays, a reimagined art event in response to the current times, runs through December 12.

ArtJam for the Holidays features the work of more than 50 local and regional artists, ArtSpace, and SewingSpace artists. One-of-a-kind art is offered for sale — online and in-person at the HomeFront Family Campus in the Blue Garage in Ewing by appointment only.

Paintings, pottery, glasswork, and hand-sewn items comprise a diversity of visual art and fine crafts as well as home and holiday décor. Proceeds will help support the artists and ArtSpace programs.

For more information, visit artjamnj.org. By appointment gallery hours are Thursdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m.

Festival of Trees

The annual holiday tradition at Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, showcases a juried collection of trees and mantles displayed throughout the museum’s galleries, upstairs and down. Safe, socially distanced, and masked visits inside the museum follow CDC guidelines. On view Wednesdays through Sundays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through January 10. Timed ticketing through morven.org, limited walkups available.

Artworks Unveils Black Lives Matter Mural

BLACK LIVES MATTER: This collaborative four-panel mural can be found on the side of the Artworks main gallery building at 19 Everett Alley in downtown Trenton.

Artworks, Trenton’s visual arts center, has unveiled a collaborative four-panel mural in solidarity with the goals of justice and racial equity advanced by the Black Lives Matter movement across the country.

Each panel is executed in a black and white palette by a different artist, based on their interpretation of images taken by Trenton photographer Habiyb Shu’Aib during the summer Black Lives Matter protests in Trenton. The artists are Quentin “Kwenci” Jones, Jonathan “Lank” Conner, and Roy Haynes, all of Trenton, and Andre Trenier of Bronx, New York. The panels were framed into a cohesive whole, with lettering, by Trenton artist Wills Kinsley.  more

Winners Announced For MC Artists Exhibit

“SUN SPOT”: Tiffany Fang of Princeton won Best in Show for this graphite-on-paper work at the 2020 Mercer County Artists Exhibit, hosted by The Gallery at Mercer County Community College. The show was held virtually this year.

Tiffany Fang of Princeton took home Best in Show at the 2020 Mercer County Artists Exhibit, hosted by The Gallery at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) on Thursday, October 29, for her graphite-on-paper piece, Sun Spot. The show was held virtually using online conferencing.

Another notable winner was MCCC alumna and 2019 Best in Show awardee Megan Serfass of Princeton Junction for her oil on canvas piece, Glitch.

The exhibition, an outgrowth of a partnership between the college and the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission dating back to the mid-1990s, accepted 27 pieces from 21 artists. The show was organized by Gallery Director Alice K. Thompson, juried by Colleen McCubbin Stepanic, a mixed media artist, and sponsored by Blick Art Materials.

According to Thompson, it was initially feared that the exhibit would be one of the many events canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We decided to forge ahead and celebrate the arts at a time when we arguably need it most,” Thompson said. more

High Quality Building and Collaboration Are Hallmarks of Pinneo Construction

BETTER BUILDING: “We do everything from historic renovation to modern glass and steel projects. As we near a quarter of a century of restoring, adding on to, and building some of Princeton’s most distinguished homes, the gratification that comes from collaborating with area architects remains as strong as ever.” Tom Pinneo (far right), co-owner with Chris Myers (second from right), of Pinneo Construction, is shown with the Pinneo team at a recent project.

By Jean Stratton

Authenticity, transparency, collaboration.

These are the core values, the foundation of Pinneo Construction.

When Tom Pinneo established his company in 1996 at 372 Wall Street, these principles were uppermost. “My partner Chris Myers, who joined me in 2002, and I have been deliberate in creating a process-driven company that prioritizes financial transparency and collaboration with our clients and their architects. This sets us apart.”

A lot sets Pinneo Construction apart, including the background and experience of its owner. A graduate of Princeton High School and Middlebury College, Tom Pinneo earned an M.A. in Eastern Asian studies from Stanford University. more

After Ivy League Cancels Its Winter Sports Season, PU Coaches Focused on Maintaining Team Cultures 

LOST WINTER: Princeton University men’s basketball player Richmond Aririguzoh goes up for a lay-up in a 2019 game against Penn before a throng at Jadwin Gym. There won’t be any crowds at Jadwin this season as the Ivy League Council of Presidents said last Thursday that they have canceled winter sports for league schools during the 2020-21 season. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Normally by mid-November, fans would have already been flocking to Jadwin Gym and Hobey Baker Rink to take in Princeton University basketball and hockey games.

As of last November 17th, there had been three hoops games played at Jadwin and five hockey games at Baker in the early stages of the 2019-20 campaign.

But these aren’t normal times, and last Thursday the Ivy League Council of Presidents canceled winter sports for league schools during the 2020-21 campaign, thereby leaving Jadwin and Baker empty this season along with Dillon Gym, DeNunzio Pool, the Stan Sieja Fencing Room, and the Jadwin Squash Courts, among other venues.

In addition, the presidents announced that the league will not conduct competition for fall sports during the upcoming spring semester. Lastly, competition for spring sports is postponed through at least the end of February 2021.

In reaching the decision, which was unanimous, the presidents said that “regrettably, the current trends regarding transmission of the COVID-19 virus and subsequent protocols that must be put in place are impeding our strong desire to return to intercollegiate athletics
competition in a safe manner.”

While Princeton University men’s basketball head coach Mitch Henderson was disappointed when he learned of the decision, it didn’t come as a surprise. more

PHS Girls’ Cross Country Earns Historic Sectional Crown As Senior Medvedeva Savors Program Coming Full Circle

PACK MENTALITY: Members of the Princeton High girls’ cross country take off in a race this fall. Last Saturday, PHS utilized the depth in its pack to place first in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 sectional championship meet at Thompson Park in Jamesburg. Pictured are Yana Medvedeva (left rear), Emma Lips (left foreground), Lucy Kreipke (middle), Kyleigh Tangen (hidden in the back), Sofia DaCruz (front right), and Robin Roth (far right). (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

Yana Medvedeva felt an extra push being a senior as she competed in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 sectional cross country championship meet at Thompson Park last Saturday.

One of four seniors in the Princeton High girls’ lineup, Medvedeva closed out the Tigers scoring in 22nd place as PHS put its first four finishers in the top 10 to win their first CJ Group 4 sectional crown in school history.

“It feels so good,” said Medvedeva after a season-best 20:55.70 clocking. “It’s amazing. I’m a senior so it’s a really full circle moment. Two years ago, we couldn’t even qualify out of the section. I still can’t really believe it.”

The Tigers’ depth allowed them to edge a strong Montgomery team that had the top two individual finishers in the race. As for PHS, Charlotte Gilmore, a senior, led the way in fourth place in 19:32.50. Freshman Kyleigh Tangen – the lone newcomer to the Tigers’ top seven from a year ago – placed sixth in 19:59.30 and sophomore Lucy Kreipke was seventh in 20:04.50. Sophomore Robin Roth closed well for 10th place in 20:16.70. Medvedeva was 22nd, Sofia Dacruz was 33rd, and Emma Lips was 38th. It added up to a 49-54 win over runner-up Montgomery. Hunterdon Central was third with 100 points.

“We knew the race was going to come down to how tight our pack was,” said PHS head coach Jim Smirk.  more