DOWNTOWNER MARCH 2019 |
TRENTON’S CITY PAPER
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TRENTON GO BRAGH Beating the drum for the capital city. Page 8.
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Important Information About Lead in Your Drinking Water Trenton Water Works (TWW) found elevated levels of lead in drinking water in some homes/buildings. Lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and children 6 years and younger. Please read this notice closely to see what you can do to reduce lead in your drinking water.
Health Effects of Lead Lead can cause serious health problems if too much enters your body from drinking water or other sources. It can cause damage to the brain and kidneys and can interfere with the production of red blood cells that carry oxygen to all parts of your body. The greatest risk of lead exposure is to infants, young children, and pregnant women. Scientists have linked the effects of lead on the brain with lowered IQ in children. Adults with kidney problems and high blood pressure can be affected by low levels of lead more than healthy adults. Lead is stored in the bones and it can be released later in life. During pregnancy, the child receives lead from the mother’s bones, which may affect brain development.
Sources of Lead in Drinking Water Lead is a common metal found in the environment. Drinking water is one possible source of lead exposure. EPA estimates that 10 to 20% of a person’s potential exposure to lead may come from drinking water. Infants who consume mostly formula mixed with lead-containing water can receive 40 to 60% of their exposure to lead from drinking water. In Trenton, lead was commonly used in water service lines until 1960 and for indoor plumbing solder until 1986 when it was banned. Brass faucets, fittings, and valves, including those advertised as “lead-free,” may also contribute to lead in drinking water. The law up until 2014 allowed brass fixtures, such as faucets, with up to 8% lead to be labeled as “lead free.” Current standards for “lead free” fixtures allow for no more than 0.25% of lead content. The Delaware River is the water supply source for TWW’s Filtration Plant. When treated water leaves TWW’s Filtration Plant, it is lead free. The water mains in the street that transport water from the Filtration Plant are made mostly of iron and steel and do not add any lead to the drinking water. In TWW’s service area, galvanized steel pipe lined with lead was commonly used until 1960 for water service lines which transport the water from the street to homes and buildings. When water is in contact with these pipes, lead solder or plumbing fixtures that contain lead for several hours, the lead may enter the drinking water. Homes built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes or lead solder than newer homes. The lead from a home’s individual service line or plumbing a ffects only the tap water inside that home since water travels only one way in home plumbing. 2Trenton Downtowner | March 2019
STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO REDUCE YOUR EXPOSURE TO LEAD IN YOUR WATER 1. Run your water to flush out lead. Run water for 1 to 3 minutes to flush lead from interior plumbing or until it becomes cold or reaches a steady temperature before using it for drinking or cooking, if it hasn’t been used for several hours. Also, regularly remove and clean your aerators. 2. Use cold water for cooking and preparing baby formula. Do not cook with or drink water from the hot water tap; lead dissolves more easily into hot water. Do not use water from the hot water tap to make baby formula. 3. Do not boil water to remove lead. Boiling water will not reduce lead. 4. Look for alternative sources or treatment of water. You may want to consider purchasing bottled water or a water filter. Read the package to be sure the filter is approved to reduce lead or contact NSF International at 800-NSF-8010 or nsf.org for information on performance standards for water filters. Be sure to maintain and replace a filter device in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions to protect water quality. 5. Test your water for lead. Please contact the Trenton Water Works at 609-989-3055 or by email at twwleadprogram@trentonnj.org to find out how to get your water tested for lead at a local laboratory. 6. Get your child’s blood tested. Contact your local health department or healthcare provider to find out how you can get your child tested for lead if you are concerned about exposure. 7. Identify and replace your water service line, plumbing with lead solder or plumbing fixtures containing lead. > Find out how to check your water service line material at twwleadprogram.com/check-your-line > Purchase EPA-approved lead check swabs to determine if you have lead solder or brass fittings with high lead content. For more information, visit twwleadprogram.com > Visit www.nsf.org to learn more about lead-containing plumbing fixtures
What Happened? What is Being Done? During the monitoring period of July 2018 to December 2018, TWW conducted routine water sample testing for lead. Lead levels at customers’ taps in the distribution system exceeded the Lead Action Level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) for the 90th percentile based on samples of water in homes with lead service lines and/or copper piping with lead solder. Water from 11 out of 105 homes sampled contained lead above the action level. All of these homes have known sources of lead.
TWW continues its efforts to upgrade the water treatment process and water distribution system to meet the State and Federal drinking water regulations and to make the drinking water less corrosive. TWW is taking immediate and long-term measures to minimize lead levels throughout the service area which includes Trenton, and parts of Hamilton, Ewing, Hopewell and Lawrence. Specifically, TWW is currently: > Replacing lead service lines from the water main to the curb for those who have previously replaced the homeowner’s side to copper. > Undertaking a Lead Service Line Replacement Program to prioritize the replacement of approximately 2,600 lead services by mid-2020 including the portion of the service line from the curb to meter, owned by the homeowner. The remaining lead services will be replaced in later phases of the program. Visit www.twwleadprogram.com to learn more about this program. > Expediting the construction of a temporary corrosion control treatment (CCT) system which will add zinc orthophosphate to the water system. The addition of zinc orthophosphate will help minimize the process of lead leaching into the water from the service pipes and lead solder. The temporary CCT system will treat water that reaches the majority of TWW customers in the short term until a long term plan for corrosion control treatment for 100% of the water system is implemented. > Regularly flushing and cleaning the water distribution system. > Holding public meetings throughout the service area to answer TWW customer questions.
Trenton Water Works is committed to providing safe and clean drinking water to its customers For more information, contact Trenton Water Works: phone: 609-989-3055
email: twwleadprogram@trentonnj.org web: www.twwleadprogram.com
For more information on reducing lead exposure around your
home/building and the health effects of lead, visit EPA’s Web site epa.gov/lead Trenton Water Works: Water System ID# NJ1111001 Distributed: February 15, 2019
March 2019 | Trenton Downtowner3
UP fRoNt Connecting to the Internet
U
nited Way of Greater Mercer County (UWGMC) is partnering with TDI Connect (TDI) to help foster expanded and effective usage of the internet. TDI — aka the Trenton Digital Initiative — refurbishes donated computers and supports low-cost access to the internet through Comcast Essentials. TDI has distributed computers to students of the Trenton Literacy Movement and other nonprofit programs in and around Trenton. TDI is always seeking new partnerships for computer donations and distribution. The United Way of Greater Mercer County connects people with resources to help individuals and families to
reach their fullest potential and create a thriving community. Mark Iorio, chairman of the TDI Connect Advisory Committee, said in a statement: “Our partnership with United Way of Greater Mercer County will help TDI Connect grow in several ways through awareness and marketing, through donations, and improved distribution of computers and the internet in the greater Trenton area.” UWGMC president and CEO Sandra Toussaint said TDI’s effort to provide struggling families with access to computers and the internet matched her organization’s focus of helping families develop financial stability and to have the tools to do so. For more information: www.TDIConnect.org.
Art All Night will be back
The scene at the Roebling Wire Works during a previous t’s coming. With rumors and lawsuits and uncertainty about Art All celebration of Art All Night.
I
Night, we decided to ask Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora for a statement about the future of the successful and popular Trenton event that took a blow when a few young men decided to bring their feud to the site, resulting in a shooting at last year’s event. His response is as follows: “This year’s Art All Night will be bigger and better than ever! I’ve been meeting regularly with event organizers, our police and fire departments, and state law enforcement to adapt our
security measures and make sure the event this year is safe and fun for all. This is a celebration of local art and culture, and we are confident that Art All Night will show the best of what Trenton has to offer. I will be there, and I encourage visitors to come out and celebrate with us.” So the greater Trenton community has a little over three months to get artwork finished for “Art All Night,” scheduled to take place Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16.
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4Trenton Downtowner | March 2019
The results are in: Water Works fails again By Rob Anthes
T
he results are in, and they’re not what Trenton Water Works customers had hoped. For the third time in the last four testing periods, TWW has violated the federal action level for lead. More than 11 percent of samples taken by TWW in the second half of 2018 had elevated lead levels. The highest sample, from a home on West Paul Avenue in Trenton, was 1,430 parts per billion — nearly 100 times the federal limit. TWW officials, for their part, say they continue to take steps needed to correct the problem. TWW assistant director Kristin Epstein said TWW has fast-tracked the installation of a system intended to prevent lead in corroding pipes and fixtures from leaching into water. Epstein said she expects the system to be online for 80 percent of TWW’s service area, including the entire suburban portion, this spring. To prove they are working in good faith TWW officials pointed to data released by the City of Trenton last month that show the amount of potentially dangerous disinfectant byproducts in the water has decreased significantly since the summer and now is well below state limits. Half of the DEP violations TWW has received since September, 2018, have been due to excessive disinfectant byproducts. The other half have been because of lead. But for TWW’s 225,000 customers in Ewing, Hamilton, Hopewell Township, Lawrence, and Trenton the bureaucratic reality is that violations, notices, and countermeasures often come too late. TWW, for example, will not directly inform customers until March that water from the system had elevated levels of lead four months earlier. And customers won’t know until August whether they are consuming water now that the state considers at standard. This is not an issue with TWW, but merely how the water quality reporting and enforcement works in the United States. In the case of lead this kind of delay can cause issues because doctors, researchers, and even government agencies agree that there is no safe level of lead for human consumption. Lead is a neurotoxin, and the human body cannot process it. Instead it is absorbed by the teeth, bones, and body tissue. Lower levels of exposure, like those in water, cause no obvious symptoms but can affect children’s brain development and can cause anemia, hypertension, renal impairment, and immunotoxicity. Pregnant women, in particular, need to be careful, as lead stored in their bodies can be released into their system during pregnancy, causing harm to the child. The effects
State of the city of lead are believed to be irreversible. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has set a long-term goal of having no lead in the water but has given water systems leeway in the meantime by allowing them to distribute slightly impure water. It sets up discrepancies like the federal Centers for Disease Control recommending a lead limit of five parts per billion while the EPA — which is responsible for actually setting the guidelines — enforces a limit three times as high. The EPA, in a statement, said its lead action level of 15 ppb was set “based on EPA’s evaluation of the levels of lead that could be reliably attained through corrosion control treatment in water systems serving homes with lead service lines and plumbing mate-
Lead service lines have led to another DEP violation for Trenton Water Works: more than 11 percent of samples from the second half of 2018 had elevated lead levels. rials.” Water becomes contaminated with lead primarily through contact with lead pipes or lead solder, either in the distribution system or inside a home. Even with the more lax standards utilities across New Jersey — from Newark to Hackensack to Trenton — have grappled with lead issues in recent years. Thanks to its most recent struggles TWW has five DEP violations already in 2019, the worst start to a year in its history. In the last 26 months TWW has received 29 DEP violations. Ewing Township business administrator Jim McManimon, in a February 20 interview, worried that the steady flow of official violation notices to residents have had the effect of either scaring people unnecessarily or making them so jaded that they just toss TWW correspondence aside. “The people here, they don’t know who to get angry at,” McManimon said. “They don’t know who to believe.” TWW officials said they recognize the public’s desire for more communication, especially in non-bureaucratic language. Since Reed Gusciora took office as mayor of Trenton in July, 2018, his administration has made an effort to improve communication and transparency with elected officials and customers in its service area, TWW spokesman Michael Walker said. Walker said the utility notifies the
mayors and health officers of affected suburban towns, as well as the property managers of state office buildings, whenever a violation occurs. TWW also submits a monthly report to each of the suburban municipalities. Walker said TWW relies on the suburban officials to help the utility get word out about what’s going on with the water. “We are in constant contact with our stakeholders,” Walker said.
P
art of that communication will be informing the public, through publications and public meetings, what exactly TWW is doing to improve. One of those solutions involves introducing orthophosphate to the water during treatment. Orthophosphate forms a film that can prevent lead in corroding pipes and fixtures from leaching into water. Epstein said she expects the system to be online for 80 percent of TWW’s service area, including the entire suburban portion, this spring. The remaining 20 percent — buildings in Trenton connected to the gravity portion of TWW’s system — requires additional engineering and should be completed in 2020. The Bordentown Water Department, which has lead woes of its own, started to add orthophosphate to its water this past fall. The amount of lead in the water dropped 35 percent after orthophosphate was introduced. But TWW officials cautioned orthophosphate does not get rid of lead and merely masks the problem. For that reason they do not want to rely on orthophosphate to be the solution. The solution, in their view, is to replace all the lead service lines in the system. Service lines connect a building to a water main. TWW controls the part of the line from the main to the curb. From the curb to the home is the
responsibility of the homeowner. The DEP has required TWW to replace 7 percent of the lead service lines in the system every year. The utility received a violation in July, 2018, because it had failed to meet this obligation for the last year. At a rate of 7 percent per year it would take TWW 14 years to replace all its service lines. TWW has started a lead service line replacement program in the hopes of swaying customers to help the utility in ridding the system of lead. TWW will help customers determine if they have lead lines and swap them out if so. TWW has received a grant and plans to use the funding to replace 2,600 lines in the next 18 months. It can cost up to $5,000 to replace a lead service line, TWW director Shing-Fu Hsueh said, but TWW will only charge $1,000 with grant money to defray the remaining portion. Hsueh said the fate of the project beyond the next year-and-a-half depends on if TWW can secure more funding and what crews find once they start doing the work. “Nobody knows how many we have or how long it will take,” he said. Gusciora hand-picked Hsueh, a former DEP water quality expert, to assumed control of TWW in July, 2018. Since Hsueh took control parts of the filtration plant and distribution system have been cleaned to make sure no dirt or debris entered the water, and new chlorine regulators have been installed to minimize human error. One of TWW’s chlorine contact basins has been cleaned, while another is in the process of being replaced. All the changes should give customers confidence in TWW, Walker said. The spokesman added that TWW customers are “blessed” to have “quality drinking water” being delivered to them by such an impressive facility. For more information about Trenton Water Works’ lead service line program: www.twwleadprogram.com
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OUTSTANDING AgEnTs. OUTSTANDING REsulTs. March 2019 | Trenton Downtowner7
Greater Trenton Pipes and Drums: More than the sound of the season By Susan Van Dongen
N
ero may not have fiddled while Rome burned after all — he could have been playing the bagpipes, some form of the instrument, anyway. The bagpipes, so much associated with Scotland and Ireland, are said to have roots in ancient Mesopotamia and North Africa. The pipes made their way to Rome, and it was the Romans who subsequently brought bagpipes to Britain some 2,000 years ago. However, it was the Scots who added the third “drone pipe” and really amplified the sound. Kind of like Dylan going electric at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1965. Ewing resident Patricia Downey, president of Greater Trenton Pipes and Drums (GTPD), could tell you even more about the bagpipes: for example, the bag is made of a synthetic fabric, no longer animal pelts or a sheep’s stomach; there are four reeds that need to be in proper condition and place for the instrument to function. And there are only nine notes available through the chanter or “blowpipe” of the instrument, so any elaboration or articulation has to be done with a series of complex grace notes. People used to learn the pipes only by ear, not by the notated manuscripts
Patricia Downey, president of Greater Trenton Pipes and Drums. modern band and classical musicians are familiar with. The GTPD’s oldest member, 86-year-old Jamesburg resident Gordon Fraser, was taught this way in his native Scotland. Downey, a musician and longtime music educator, is a font of information about traditional Scottish music, the pipes themselves, and her fellow participants in the group, many of whom she has recruited. She says the group had a little time off over the winter holidays, but now the members of the GTPD are shaking the dust off their kilts and prepar-
ing for the busy Saint Patrick’s Day season, which will launch the group into some nine months of activity. The GTPD will next perform at the Saint Patrick’s Day parade in the seaside community of Belmar on Sunday, March 3, at 12:30 p.m. Closer to home, the group will march in the Hamilton Saint Patrick’s Day parade, Saturday, March 9, at 1 p.m., starting at the Nottingham Fire House. The actual weekend of Saint Paddy’s, the GTPD will be part of the festivities in Robbinsville, on Saturday, March 16, at noon, with a parade start-
ing at the Foxmoor Shopping Center. All the parades are free. A recent frigid night visit to the GTPD at the Carslake Community Center in Bordentown, where the group has been practicing every Thursday for 15 years, opens the door to the behind the scenes of a group usually on public display. “We started out rehearsing at a school in Springfield Township, but we really needed a larger space. So we started looking around for a rental hall,” Downey says. “Bordentown is a somewhat central location for most of our members, so we decided to call it ‘home.’” The extreme cold wreaked havoc on the intonation of the bagpipes and delayed the arrival of whoever had the key to the equipment room where the drums are kept. So the drummers sat around a table and warmed up on practice pads, coached by GTPD member Gordon Bell of Shark River, one of the area’s top percussion instructors. Among those drummers was George Zienowicz, Trenton’s venerable sign maker, musician, and arts supporter, who first joined the GTPD as a bagpiper, having played the instrument for decades. Influenced by his Scottish-born mother, Zienowicz was just one mem-
Wishing You A Pot O’ Gold And All The Joy Your Heart Can Hold! 3RD ANNUAL MAKE A BLANKET DAY Saturday, March 9, 2019 10am-2pm
Join us in making blankets for children in need! Rose Hill Assisted Living is a designated collection location for completed blankets, yarn, fleece, quilting materials, and money for our chapter every day of the year. For more information please contact Cynthia Rosen at 609-575-2001, projectlinusmercercounty@gmail.com or visit us on Facebook @ Project Linus Mercer County.
609-371-7007
Call for Lunch and a Tour! 1150 Washington Boulevard, Robbinsville, NJ 08691 located across from Foxmoor Shopping Center www.rosehillassistedliving.com
DePaul Healthcare Systems
8Trenton Downtowner | March 2019
ber of the extended family that played the bagpipes. He also played the fiddle and spent some 15 years in a Celtic rock band. Before the GTPD Zienowicz was in the Tir Na Nog Pipe Band based in Hamilton, and in fact became pipe sergeant, second in command of the pipe corps. Downey met him in Tir Na Nog and found him to be a patient teacher. “I was just a novice player, but George was always very kind, encouraging, and supportive of me in those early days,” she says. “He’s still that way with beginners in this band. Even though he wasn’t a founding member of the GTPD, he is an integral part of the unit.” Meanwhile at the rehearsal, GTPD’s current pipe major, Tom Fortis, a retiree from Avondale, Pennsylvania, led a sectional at another table, walking the players through “Men of the West,” a familiar march tune. This is the quieter part of the rehearsal, before the pipers attach their chanters to the bag and drone pipes. Once the instruments are all put together and the drummers have their actual drums, the action moves to the Carslake Center’s gymnasium, and whoa does it get loud. (Full disclosure: years ago, this reporter first heard the GTPD practicing while sitting at a traffic light, blocks away on Route 130.) It makes sense that they’re loud, since the bagpipes were originally used to scare off enemies on the battlefield, and it is the only Western musical instrument that is/was deemed a weapon of war. Marking its 16th year, Greater Trenton Pipes and Drums was formed in the early summer of 2003 by a small group of experienced pipers and drummers, including Downey. The band debuted at the 2003 Anchor House Ride for Runaways ceremony at the former Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton. A 501(c)3 non-profit pipe band, the group has a mission to preserve the music and culture of the Great Highland Bagpipes. (Incidentally, there are many other kinds of pipes, including the traditional Irish Uilleann pipes, but the GTPD plays Highland bagpipes.) In the last 16 years the group has grown to perform at more than 25 parades, charitable events, and private functions each year. Current personnel total is 25, ranging in age from 15 to 86 years old, with men slightly outnumbering women. The GTPD is family oriented and inclusive in several different ways, Downey says. “We even like to have kids in the band,” she says. In addition to the parades, the GTPD performs and educates within the Burlington County School District, conducting different history and culture assemblies around Saint Patrick’s Day. They are fixtures in area Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades, as well as 9/11 memorial ceremonies,
On the cover: From left, Patricia Downey and Doug Ranson of Greater Trenton Pipes and Drums. John MacDonald is at far right. Halloween celebrations, and Civil War uated from LaSalle University with a reenactments at Camp Olden and the degree in chemistry. While Downey’s Abbott House in Hamilton Township. mother raised the large family, her faThey have played for the College ther worked as a chemist at RCA and of New Jersey’s alumni veteran fes- Princeton Gamma Tech Instruments tivities, Trenton Titans hockey games, in Rocky Hill before starting his own and Princeton University’s P-rade. company producing radiation detecDowney says that the GTPD has tors for use in radon monitoring. also helped welcome home numerThe Downey kids attended parochious returning veterans from overseas, al schools in the area, including Notre and that she and other solo players Dame High School in Lawrenceville. perform at weddings, private parties, Along with her brothers, Downey senior events, and funerals. played music throughout her childThe group’s fee for an appearance hood and carried her interest into colat a parade or public event runs from lege, majoring in flute at Trenton State $1,000 to $1,200, but they also make College (now TCNJ). She graduated many charitable with a bachelor’s appearances. degree in mu“Charity events sic education in ‘We’re happy to be would include the 1988. part of the community,’ Relay for Life at “We were defiMercer County nitely brought up Downey says. ‘Our Park, Princeton with music in the University Ivy home,” she says. mission as a band is League Mental “My mother is to provide musical Health Conferan accomplished ence, and the pianist with a seperformances to the ARC Walkathon,” rious devotion to public and superior Downey says. Chopin. We were “We’ve played at exposed to it all instruction to our fund raisers for (classical, folk, the Hamilton Pojazz, popular, etc.) members.’ lice K9 unit, inand developed a cluding one that loving appreciaraised money to tion for music as buy bullet proof vests for the dogs.” children.” “We’re a non-profit. We only want After graduation, Downey taught to maintain the group, maintain our for one year in the Burlington County needs,” she adds. “We take care of School District as a substitute teacher everything for our members, instru- before returning to TCNJ to particiments, music, kilts, etc.” pate in a program the college offered “We’re happy to be part of the com- for re-certification in mathematics. munity, in fact, that’s part of our by“Basically, there was a need for laws — to give back anytime we’re mathematics teachers in New Jersey, able, especially when police and fire- so the college created a program that fighters pass away,” she says. “Our allowed education majors to achieve mission as a band is to provide musi- certification in a secondary subject cal performances to the public and area,” she says. superior instruction to our members.” She then taught music at the forBorn in Ohio in 1966, Downey mer Harmony School in Trenton and moved with her parents and five broth- at Springfield Township Elementary ers to Ewing in 1968 when her father School, where she remained until 2006. found work in central New Jersey. Downey received a master of arts in After serving in the Air Force during education/curriculum from the Unithe Korean War, Downey’s father grad- versity of Phoenix in 2007, and then
accepted a position as a math teacher in Burlington City Junior/Senior High School. Downey calls herself “pre-tired” (not quite retired), and lives with her mom in her childhood home. She has one son, Patrick, a civil engineer at Dynamic Engineering in Belmar. Reflecting on what drew her to the bagpipes, Downey says it was hearing them at local parades when her high school band was also participating. Since she is half-Irish, there might have been some Celtic spirit stoking her interest as well. “Playing the bagpipes seemed like a challenge, and I was interested in seeing what it was all about,” she says. “I received a practice chanter (the first step in the learning process) as a Christmas gift in 1989, and after trying unsuccessfully to learn on my own decided to get serious and seek out lessons.” One of her brothers worked with someone who was taking bagpipe lessons at the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) Msgr. Crean Division 1 on Kuser Road in Hamilton, and he invited Downey to join in on Monday evening rehearsals of that group’s band. Sitting alongside Downey at the rehearsal, you could hear that she is one of the musical leaders in the group. Her skills in playing the flute certainly have given her a jump on the tricky technique of the bagpipes. Musical instruction is a cornerstone of the GTPD’s mission, and the group is known for mentoring inexperienced players, like Downey once was. Trenton’s Wills Kinsley — bicycle artisan, bass player, and arts supporter — is one of those newbies, having only recently joined the group. Zienowicz is not only coaching him in drumming: Kinsley is working alongside Zienowicz in his Trenton sign shop. “Wills just joined the band and will be marching in his first parade with us in March,” Downey says. “Our membership could be higher, and we have a few folks in their 70s, so we’d love some ‘new blood,’” Downey says. “Pipe and drum bands ebb and flow, and we’re always recruiting. The band is always looking for new members, and all ages and ability levels are welcome. I like to think that everyone has the right to play the bagpipes.” Belmar/Lake Como Saint Patrick’s Day parade, Sunday, March 3, 12:30 p.m. www.belmarparade.com Hamilton Saint Patrick’s Day parade, Saturday, March 9, 1 p.m. www.hamiltonparade.com Robbinsville Saint Patrick’s Day parade, Saturday, March 16, noon. www.robbinsvilleirish.org. Greater Trenton Pipes and Drums rehearse at the Carslake Community Center, 207 Crosswicks Street, Bordentown, Thursdays at 7 p.m. 609-635-7458 or www. gtpipeband.com.
March 2019 | Trenton Downtowner9
A music lesson and a lesson in music in Trenton By Lou Chen
G
ive Melki Garcia-Perez a microphone, and he’ll struggle to get out a single word. Give him a violin, and he won’t stop playing. “Everyone can speak,” he says, “but not everyone can play.” Learning to play has been difficult for Garcia-Perez, a 19-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who lives on the outskirts of East Trenton, and whom I met while I was working to establish the Trenton Youth Orchestra. When he began the violin his family couldn’t afford lessons and his school didn’t offer specialized string instruction. Without a private teacher, he taught himself. YouTube became his conservatory and videos his coursework. He spent hours a day watching tutorials on how to grip a bow or play on open strings. Music has helped Garcia-Perez develop self-confidence and a drive to succeed. He is now honing his skills at Mercer County Community College and wants to become a professional musician. Even though many of his peers don’t get the same chances he’s had, the reality is that music education helps low-income youth get ahead. According to a 2012 report by James Catterall, a UCLA education professor, low-income high school students with arts-rich experiences had higher grade point averages than students without those experiences. These same students were three times as likely to earn a bachelor’s degree, and more than twice as likely to become lawyers, doctors, and other such professionals. Garcia-Perez’s story shows how music can be a life changer. Trenton’s educational leaders have been trying to strengthen the music curriculum. In 2012 the school district won support from the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, providing $695,000 worth of musical instruments and equipment to 20 elementary and middle schools — with each school receiving about 50 new instruments.
But most of those schools chose band instruments instead of the string instruments that students like GarciaPerez needed. A shortage of music teachers and overpacked classrooms were another handicap. In wealthier communities like Princeton, students who want to move at a faster pace outside of school buy high-quality instruments and take private lessons. Students like Garcia-Perez can’t afford that. Still, Trenton is seeing results. For example, Cesar Gonzalez, a senior and tenor saxophonist at Trenton Central High School, spent last summer at a two-week music program in Italy, where he participated in masterclasses and performed Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Meanwhile Garcia-Perez hopes to play in a professional orchestra some day — a dream that stretches back
Garcia-Perez hopes to play in a professional orchestra some day — a dream that dates back to hearing the orchestral music in the background of ‘Looney Tunes.’ to his childhood in Guatemala. While watching “Looney Tunes” and “Tom and Jerry,” he fell in love with the sounds of the orchestra. The “Rabbit of Seville” was his introduction to “The Barber of Seville,” with Bugs Bunny’s antics choreographed to Rossini’s frenzied score. In the fifth grade he attended his first orchestra concert in Guatemala City. His favorite cartoons were projected onto a large screen, and beneath it the orchestra played live music. “I couldn’t take my eyes off the people playing, especially the violin-
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ists,” he says. When Garcia-Perez was 14, his family immigrated to Trenton. He enrolled at Trenton Central High School and took Intro to Music. Six months after choosing to learn the violin Garcia-Perez was recruited by Joseph Pucciatti, the director of the school orchestra, to join the violin section. On his first day Garcia-Perez sat all the way in the back. He played two notes; then four notes, says Pucciatti. Then all the notes. Garcia-Perez grew more ambitious, bringing the violin part for “The Barber of Seville” to class and surprising Pucciatti with his ability to play the difficult piece. He also did his best to learn vibrato. “It sounded terrible,” Garcia-Perez says. “I could barely shake my finger.” In his spare time, he began to teach himself a variety of other instruments — piano, guitar, and flute, among others. After 40 years spent teaching music in the Trenton public school system, Pucciatti has seen his fair share of students who are passionate about music, but he was particularly impressed by Garcia-Perez and his resolve. Pucciatti is a bear of a man and conducts like one too, his large paws waving wildly as he towers over his orchestra. “A lot of people make that mistake of thinking, ‘Well, they’re inner city kids, they have different focuses,’” Pucciatti says. “No, they don’t. They have the same wants and desires as anyone else in the world. They want it worse.” Last February Pucciatti was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Educator Award, which recognizes teachers with a demonstrated commitment to maintaining music education in schools. The nomination came with $2,000, which he plans on using to repair broken instruments. Garcia-Perez’s violin is what Pucciatti likes to call a “junker” — a lowquality instrument that even the best musicians would struggle to make music with. Its shoddy construction makes it almost impossible not to touch multiple strings at the same time. Occasionally, it will even cause Garcia-Perez to mess up in the middle of a performance. It’s the best his family can afford. “One day he came into the house and said, ‘I love the violin. Can you buy one for me?’” says his mother, Mayra, who raised him on her own. She works as a server at Prospect House, the private faculty dining club at Princeton University, where she makes $14.46 per hour. A good violin goes for $1,000 or more; she settled for a cheaper model that cost $150. Whatever his disadvantages, Garcia-Perez’s music has helped him. “He used to be so angry all the time,” his
Despite his ‘junker’ violin Melki Garcia-Perez’s talent shines through in Trenton’s high school orchestra. mother says, scrunching her face up into an exaggerated scowl. “But once he decided to play music, he changed. He started talking more and making friends.” Whenever Pucciatti bellowed a command during rehearsal (which was often), Melki would whisper a joke to his stand partner — but in Spanish, just to make sure Pucciatti didn’t overhear. Members of the string section would occasionally feel something sharp poking their leg, only to look up and find Garcia-Perez wielding his bow with an impish grin on his face. And sometimes, when Garcia-Perez started practicing a piece by himself, his classmates would form a circle around him, and the cramped rehearsal room would suddenly become a hushed concert hall. In January, 2017, Garcia-Perez joined the Trenton Youth Orchestra. As its concertmaster, he was given the opportunity to perform a solo with the orchestra. He selected “Allegro” by J.H. Fiocco, a piece that takes the average violin student six years to become advanced enough to play, but that he learned after just two years. In May of that year he performed it during the orchestra’s debut concert at Princeton University, in front of an audience of students, faculty, and community members. As soon as he lifted his bow off the final chord, the audience broke out into cheers and applause. He was frozen to the spot — a deer caught in the brightest lights of his life. “It didn’t feel real,” he says. Lou Chen, Princeton Class of 2019, established the Trenton Youth Orchestra. It meets Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Woolworth Music Building, Princeton University. For more information, go to www.trentonyouthorchestra.org.
CAPITAL AREA YMCA: FOR A BETTER US Serving Trenton, Ewing, and Lawrence
Now Offering Programming in Lawrence and Trenton! Programs begin March 2019 – see the following page for details.
Y Camps 2019: What Summers Are Made Of! The Capital Area YMCA this year has many great options for you to choose from – children from Pre-K through 9th Grade will all have a great time this summer!
CAMP YMCA at Rider University
Camp Adventures held at 431 Pennington Avenue
Camp SMALL Adventures
located with convenient access to Rt. 206, Rt. 1, I-95 & I-295
held at 110 Prospect Village
June 24 - August 16 www.yridercamp.org
June 24 - August 23 www.capitalymca.org
7:30 am to 6:00 pm | Full Day Rates Only AGES: Entering 1st – Entering 6th grade LIT program: Entering 7th – Entering 9th
7:30 am to 5:30 pm | Full Day Rates Only AGES: Entering Pre-K through Entering 6 (no LIT program)
YRider Camp Features
Adventure Camp Features
Academic Enrichment Arts & Crafts | Field Trips Sports | STEM Swimming
WHAT SUMMERS
Academic Enrichment Arts & Crafts | Field Trips Sports | STEM Swimming
For more information or to apply, contact Jeff Hirschman
MADE OF
For more information or to apply, contact Victoria Gist
609.599.9622, ext. 303 or jhirschman@capitalymca.org.
ARE
609.599.9622, ext. 218 or vgist@capitalymca.org.
• Winter 2018-19 • www.capitalymca.org GREATER TRENTON Y11
New Programming Available in Lawrence All programs begin April 1 and run for 8 weeks at the Lawrence Community Center, 295 Eggerts Crossing Road. All Parent Child and Pre- School programs are $55 for YMCA members. Non-members fee $80.
Y Not Sing
Little Hip Hop Monday 9:30am-10:15am 6 months-2 years
Monday 10:30am-11:15am
Songs and games are incorporated to make memorable fun for both you and your child.
Get moving and be energized in this upbeat class. Your child will learn the fundamentals of Hip-Hop and how to move to the music with ease.
Little Movers
3-5 years (Preschool)
Little Kickers Tuesday 9:30am-10:15am Walking-3 years
Tuesday 10:30am-11:15am 3-5 years (Preschool)
Through a series of creative exercises and games, you and your child will work together to get fit and have fun.
Soccer classes are designed to have fun and be fast paced! Learn the basics of the world’s most popular sport. Footwear: sneakers
Little Hands Arts & Crafts Wednesday 9:30-10:15am 1-2 years
Little Picassos Wednesday 10:30am-11:15am 3-5 years (Preschool)
For the youngest artists, these classes focus on fun, creativity and spontaneity. You and your child will create masterpieces together while having an emotionally rewarding and nurturing experience.
Discover art through coloring, drawing, painting and more. Each week will be a messy good time.
Tiny Tutus Ballet Thursday 9:30am-10:15am Tiny Tutus is a special class for children from 16 – 36 months where grownups (be that a Mommy, Daddy, Grandparent or any other special grownup) actively participate with their ballerinas. Participating grownups need to be dressed comfortably to be able to dance and move with their ballerina. Appropriate footwear is recommended. Grownups must be prepared to be hands on and encourage their ballerina to dance for the whole class.
Ballet Tap Combo Thursday 10:30-11:15am 3-5 years (Preschool) Students will be taught the basic positions of ballet and learn how to tap to the beat. Proper Attire: Ballet and tap shoes. For Girls: Leotard and tights. For Boys: Comfortable attire. For more information contact Jeff Hirschman at 609.599.9622, ext. 303
431 Pennington Ave. & 359 Pennington Ave. • Trenton 08618 • 609.599.9622 12GREATER TRENTON Y
Youth Sports 431 Pennington Ave.
Healthy Kids Day Apr. 27
Starts Week of March 12 • 8 weeks $30 members and $60 non-members per 8-week class. (Non-member fee includes Youth Program Membership)
2019 Healthy Kids Day® Activation Guide
Monday and Thursday • Intro To Martial Arts Fitness Our Karate Program will help instill values in your children and help them do better in school, life, and at home. Ages 4-10 years: 6:00 pm to 6:50 pm Ages 11 & up: 7:00 pm to 7:50 pm $35/month for facility members • $55/ month for program members
Saturday April 27
Free & open to the public!
NATIONAL SPONSOR
2019 Healthy Kids Day Activation Guide
Tuesday • Youth Basketball
Junior Clinic ages 6-9 > 6:00-7:00 pm Intermediate Clinic ages 10-14 > 7:00-8:00 pm Designed to develop fundamental basketball skills while learning teamwork, strategy and sportsmanship. Children will learn basketball rules, shooting, passing and ball handling. They will also learn offensive and defensive skills like rebounding, and team play.
Wednesday • Little Kickers Ages 3-6 > 6:00-6:45 pm Soccer classes are designed to have fun and be fast paced! Learn the basics of the world’s most popular sport!
Nothing charges up kids like summer – and Healthy Kids Day is the Y’s official start to the best summer ever!
Rock Wall • Bounce House • Healthy Snacks Balloon Sculptor • DJ/Entertainment Make sure your kids get the most they can out of this summer… in spirit, mind and body. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the fun. Let’s charge into the best summer ever together! Join us for Healthy Kids Day 2019!
TRENTON • SAT., APR. 27 • 431 Pennington Ave.
Wednesday • Indoor Soccer Ages 6-9 > 6:50-7:50 pm This soccer game is played 5v5 on basketball-sized courts without the use of sidewalls. All levels of players are welcome. Players will learn shooting, passing, and kicking in a fun relaxed atmosphere!
10:30am – 2:30pm • rain or shine
LAWRENCE • Date & Location TBA
Check out our website for details & be sure to join us!
WHAT SUMMERS ARE
CAMP YMCA at Rider University
MADE OF
June 24 - Aug. 16 | www.yridercamp.org • AGES: Entering 1st thru Entering 6th grade LIT program: Entering 7th thru Entering 9th • TIME: 7:30 am to 6:00 pm | Full Day Rates Only • COST: January 1st to March 31st $200/week Starting April 1st $235 per week (LIT Program $160) • LUNCH: Parents are encouraged to pack a healthy lunch for their child(ren), however a box lunch plan is available for an additional $30 per week (daily rates not available). For more information or to apply, contact Jeff Hirschman 609.599.9622, ext. 303 or jhirschman@capitalymca.org.
Camp Adventures held at 431 Pennington Avenue
Camp SMALL Adventures held at 110 Prospect Village
June 24 - Aug. 23 | www.capitalymca.org • AGES: Entering Pre-K thru Entering 6th (no LIT program) • TIME: 7:30 am to 5:30 pm | Full Day Rates Only • COST: Tuition $160 per week • Breakfast and lunch included • Transportation available from select areas For more information or to apply, contact Victoria Gist 609.599.9622, ext. 218 or vgist@capitalymca.org.
Serving Trenton, Ewing and Lawrence • www.capitalymca.org GREATER TRENTON Y13
For Youth Development. For Healthy Living. For Social Responsibility.
The Y Feeds Kids!
Farmers Market
Does your program already offer great enrichment activities but the kids are always hungry? Greenwood Ave. Farmers Market will re-open for its FIFTH season in June 2019!
Healthy Meals for Kids Capital Area YMCA can sponsor your program to receive affordable healthy meals for kids and reduce your program costs.
Watch the website for information: www.GreenwoodAveFM.org.
After School Program: Dinner and Snack Available Summer Program: Breakfast, Lunch, Snack and Dinner Available Delicious hot and cold menu items All meals are USDA approved Easy application process No financial risk to your organization
Feeding the spirit, mind, and body – let’s end child hunger together. To learn more please contact Food Access Department, Khadijah McQueen, kmcqueen@capitalymca.org • (609) 599-9622 ext. 202
We’re grateful for our local sponsor!
Fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, and more – all at affordable prices! • Free Parking – Corner of Hudson & Greenwood • Fresh Produce, Vegetables, and Tropical Fruits • Bread, Meat, Seafood, and Eggs • Free Health Screenings • Nutrition Education • Physical Activities • Music
It’s a Great Time to Join the Capital Area YMCA! Your YMCA membership allows you to become a part of a community, make new friends, and enjoy your favorite activities at a price you can afford. Our memberships are designed for men, women and children interested in using the wellness facilities and program offerings at the YMCA. You can terminate your membership at any time with a 30-day notice.
FULL FACILITY RATES
Capital Area YMCA Serving Trenton, Ewing and Lawrence 431 Pennington Ave. 359 Pennington Ave. Trenton , NJ 08618 www.capitalymca.org 609.599.9622 14GREATER TRENTON Y
Current Join Fee* $15/mo $0 $20/mo $0 $24/mo $24 $15/mo $15 $30/mo $30
Youth 17 years and younger Young Adult 18 – 24 years Adult 25 – 61 years Senior 62 and up Single Parent Family Including four dependent children**
Couple
$40/mo
$40
$47/mo
$47
Residing in the same household
Two-Parent Family
PROGRAM MEMBER RATES Program Membership only entitles members to take programs that they have pre-registered for. It does not include facility usage such as the pool, gym, wellness center, or group exercise.
Youth ages 5 to 17 Adult ages 18 and up Family
$20/yr $30/yr $90/yr
Including six dependent children** ** A dependent is a child who is up to or including age 24 and who lives in the same household.
NON-MEMBER DAY PASSES Youth Pass Senior Pass
$ 5/day $ 7/day
Adult Pass $10/day College Student* $10/wk
*must have current college ID
Visit our website or the Welcome Center at 431 Pennington Avenue for more about membership benefits and programs!
Music, Mill Hill, and Strife in the city and his friendship with members of the Trenton band Honah Lee. ne night during an album “Honah Lee is the greatest band release party at Mill Hill of all time. When I first heard them I Saloon, Trenton punk/emo thought it was some sellout pop/punk rapper Wade Wilson took the stage to bullshit, but a year later I heard them perform a few songs. At one point, he again and said, ‘This is the greatest asked Ray Strife to grab the mic and band I’ve ever seen!’ I just want to be do a duet with him. And from behind down with these dudes!’ A lot of power the bar — the same bar he was tend- pop bands can’t recreate the energy of ing for the event that night — Strife the studio, but Honah Lee is way betrocked out hard while the crowd ter live than in the studio.” Another brotherly musical bond is yelled with approval. with the aforementioned Wade WilAnd why wouldn’t they? Strife is son. During a benefit show at Trenton Trenton’s punk/rap ambassador and, Coffee House and Records on Cass according to some, the undisputed Street in June, Wilson stood right in King of the ‘Burg.’ front while Strife performed. He likes “Maybe I’m the only one there doto jump around, make a mess onstage, ing music,” he says self-depreciatingly. and just be theatrical and get rowdy. Exuding both modesty and confiThere was so much energy coming dence over a plate of chicken parmefrom Strife, and Wilson knew every san at the Mill Hill Saloon, he talks lyric and every musical inflection. about his career and new recording — Looking over the past few years and all the time keeping an eye on the time changes within himself and the growto make sure he heads downstairs to ing music scene, Strife says, “You can tend bar during hate someone DJ Enki’s regular and be enemies Tuesday night and then the next ‘I know I’m going to EDM event. they beBorn Rayhave a great show if the year come your best mond Novak III, That’s place reminds me of Mill friend. to a roofer and how Trenton is. an ETS adminHill,’ Strife says. ‘Our The last couple istrator, Strife, years have been 37, was raised basement scene here is positive.” in Lawrence. He Strife says 100 percent for people graduated from some of that Lawrence High who do music, for change came School, where from bicycling people who are on tour, around town. “It he performed in his first band. He really did change for our DIY ethic.’ was a member of my life to start the band, named riding my bike Crack Filler, for everywhere. It makes me work out my 10 years. problems. I can relax on the bike. The After a move to New Brunswick to more you move, the happier you are.” pursue an eclectic career as a nonRecently Strife has been moving commercial music artist and then ahead steadily with hip-hop DJ and some time in New York, he moved to producer Darnell Storey, otherwise Trenton to cultivate his special brand known as Ill Omega, of the DoJo DJ of punk/hip-hop and create several events every first Sunday at the Mill digital albums. Hill Basement. “Playing live got me into punk more Another Lawrence native, Storey than I was before. I rapped back then produced Strife’s latest effort, a fulltoo. That’s the only way you start to do length collection called “Go For The shows. It got way more punk. It’s the Gusto.” He also is touring with Strife only way — the DIY — to book shows — Michigan a few months ago, Euhere. Then you start to learn the punk rope this spring. culture,” he says. “Darnell is the reason there’s a lot The DIY — the grassroots apof good stuff on the album that almost proach to booking and performing got buried because he gives me the music without the controlling greatright opinion,” says Strife. est common denominator formula of Storey later provides his own acmainstream record labels — appeals count, “(Strife) doesn’t know I call him to Strife, a huge fan of longtime undera genius when he’s not around, the ground bands like the Dead Kennedys way he comes up with the concepts for and the Angry Samoans. each track. I have to remind him that According to Strife, he doesn’t bond he’s just got to relax and to remember with people easily (a partial clue to his we just created this from nothing.” adopted name). So music is a good Storey also appreciates the artistic way to do that. And spending time in collaboration. “He lets me be creative. the same spaces promoting the same Engineering sometimes feels like work events leads to a natural bond. That inwith certain artists. With Ray it’s fun.” cludes an appreciation of local groups
By Kellie C. Murphy
O
Regarding the tour’s performing venues, Strife and Storey prefer places where they can mix it up with likeminded grassroots, punk rock people. And the edgier and more Trenton-like the venue, the better. “I know I’m going to have a great show if the place reminds me of Mill Hill,” Strife says. “There’s nothing else like Mill Hill. Bars aren’t usually run like that. Our basement scene here is 100 percent for people who do music, for people who are on tour, for our DIY ethic, no one’s a middle man here. No one’s pay to play, we promote off our own money, we welcome people here, we let people sleep on our couches. And there are places like this all over the country, but the difference is it’s a bar. It’s a bar that’s run like a house. (Mill Hill manager) Dave Locane is a huge part of that. He’s been working hard to keep the basement doing shows since like 2005. Dave has a good heart. He’s got a family and real life, but he’s still here every weekend. That’s the way it should be,” he says. Strife, who in addition to booking bands and bartending at Mill Hill and Championship Bar also picks up odd
At top, Ray Strife, left, and Ill Omega, photographed by Habyb Shu’Aib. Above, Strife’s ‘I’m Sorry I’m Broken’ album cover. contracting jobs, says he sees a lot of positive things happening in Trenton. “Every time I book a band or a rapper here who’s never been here before, even if a show tanks, they fall in love with the city. I see it on their social media newsfeed and all their friends go, ‘What?! Trenton, New Jersey?!” “Another thing about Trenton that I’m really happy for, is the support from the city,” he says. “I feel like it took a long time of paying dues. We’re more recognized. I’m just happy to be around creative people all the time because otherwise I’d be miserable.” For more information on the upcoming tour and an upcoming event at the Mill Hill Basement: raymondstrife. bandcamp.com. Mill Hill Saloon and Mill Hill Basement, 300 South Broad Street, Trenton. For events look for Millhill Basement on Facebook.
March 2019 | Trenton Downtowner15
Ellarslie exhibit explores the past, present, and future of print
‘F
rom Durer to Digital and 3-D: The Metamorphosis of the Printed Image” opens at the Trenton City Museum in Cadwalader Park on Friday, March 8, and remains on view through April 28. The exhibition curated by Princeton-based artist and printmaker Judith Brodsky involves both prominent New Jersey and American artists who explore the impact and metamorphosis of the printed image in three thematic sections. The first features examples of the work by eight contemporary artists in residence at the Brodsky Center — founded by the curator — who are creating new work using traditional printmaking modes: wood cut, lithography, and etching. Represented in this section are Eric Avery, a New Hope-based artist and psychiatrist creating work that promotes health; Willie Birch, a New Orleans resident who uses handmade paper and collage to commemorate the Million Man March; Frank Bowling, a Guyana-born artist who uses abstract images of post-colonialist geopolitics; Willie Cole, the nationally recognized New Jersey-based artist who incorporates themes from his African-American heritage. And Maria Gutierrez, an artist teaching in New York City and using Egyptian imagery to explore themes related to women and the arts; Barkley Hendricks, the late Philadelphia-born black artist who created images of accomplished Americans of African heritage; Margo Humphrey, a Californiabased printmaker known for her bold, expressive use of color and freedom of form; and Kiki Smith, an internationally known American artist raised in New Jersey and known for her multidisciplined expressions related to gender, nature, and the human condition. The second involves three photographers exploring various uses of photography. They include Princeton photographer Eileen Hohmuth-Lemonick, whose photographic essays on aging were part of a major exhibition at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia; Wendel White, a New Jersey-based photographer whose “Small Towns, Black Lives” and “Schools for the Colored” examine the history of Americans of African ancestry; and Evan Wolarsky, a Pennington-based retired surgeon and photographer exploring aspects of the human condition, the cultivated landscape, and family. The third section includes artists experimenting with new forms of printed images, such as holograms (lenticular imaging), video prints, installation, and 3-D printing. The participating artists are: Diane Burko, the Philadelphia-based painter and photographer focusing on climate change and its impact on the environment; Anna Tas, a British-born artist living in Philadelphia whose work has been described
Clockwise from above, Eileen Hohmuth-Lemonick’s ‘Hair and Eye’; Eric Avery’s ‘Paradise Lost’; Evan Wolarsky’s ‘Capitoline Hill’; and Wendel White’s ‘Baby Dolls.’ as “ambiguous and conceptional” and who strives to stimulate “discussions about how we see and how images persist in our minds.” And Judy Gelles, a Philadelphia artist who transforms personal records and social documents; Helen Zajkowski, a Polish-born and former New Jersey artist who creates series exploring social concerns and creates using current and mass production technologies; and members of N-e-r-v-o-u-s S-ys-t-e-m, Inc, a design studio that works at the intersection of science, art, and technology. Curator Brodsky is a artist, activist, professor emerita at Rutgers University, and founder of the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, renamed in her honor. She also cofounded the Rutgers Center for Women in the Arts and Humanities and the nationally recognized Feminist Art Project. Her works are included in national and international collections, including Harvard University Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Bibliotheque nationale in Paris, and more. The exhibition opens with a reception on Friday, March 8, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., with Brodsky providing a talk at 7:15 p.m. A panel discussion featuring Diane Burko, Anna Tas, Judy Gelles, Anne Spalter, and Wendel White, is Sunday, April 14, at 2 p.m. Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Cadwalader Park. Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., Sunday 1 to 4 p.m. Free. 609-9893632 or www.ellarslie.org. -Dan Aubrey
16Trenton Downtowner | March 2019
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MEDICAL GROUP March 2019 | Trenton Downtowner17
MaRch heaDLiNeRS
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Public Artwork Tours, New Jersey State House Annex, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609-847-3150. Guided tour of New Jersey’s capitol complex and its artwork, including stained glass, paintings, murals, tilework, sculptures, and marquetry. Free. 1:30 p.m. David Bosted, The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, 299 Parkside Ave, Trenton. www. ellarslie.org. Discussing Mark Twain, the Gilded Age in Trenton, and more. Free. 2 p.m. Jay Daniels, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. Performing a Great American Songbook sampler. $20. 8 p.m.
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Monnette Sudler, Mike Boone, and Byron Landham, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton.com. $10. Includes free buffet. 3:30 p.m. Open Mic Night, Starbucks, 102 South Warren Street, Trenton. Music, spoken word, poetry, comedy, storytelling, and more. 3 p.m. Liz Hogg, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. The singer-songwriter and classical guitarist performs. $20. 8 p.m. Harlem Globetrotters, CURE Insurance Arena, 81 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton. www.cureinsurancearena.com. Elite dunkers on the planet, exceptional ball handlers, and Guinness World Record holders put on a basketball show. $26 to $112. 2 p.m.
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The Art of Historical Sculpture, The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, 299 Parkside Ave, Trenton. www.ellarslie.org. Sculptor Zenos Frudakis presents. Free. 2 p.m.
Red Door Chamber Players, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 3 p.m.
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CASA Information Session, CASA of Mercer and Burlington Counties, 1450 Parkside Avenue, Suite 22, Ewing. www.casamb.org. CASA for Children is a non-profit organization that recruits, trains and supervises community volunteers who speak up in family court for the best interests of children who have been removed from their families due to abuse and/or neglect. 5:30 p.m. Art Chill Night, Championship Bar, 931 Chambers Street, Trenton. www.championshipbartrenton.com. Crayons and drinks. Art supplies provided. Free. Every Monday. 8 p.m.
Rock Your Socks Off Dance Party Celebrating World Down Syndrome Day Down Syndrome Association of Central New Jersey 5th Annual “Our Dreams Are Taking Flight” Fundraiser
Bring your friends, neighbors, relatives, dance troupes, teams, classmates, teachers, coaches, therapists, and community leaders of all ages!
Rho Waterfront 50 Riverview Plaza, Trenton, NJ 08611 Saturday, March 23, 2019 12pm to 4pm Free Admission and T-shirts for those with Trisomy 21
$21.00 Admission for Dancers 3 and older. Free Admission for Dancers under 3. Exciting Silent Auction items, DJ, Dancing, and Free Caricatures Buffet Lunch and Refreshments with Cash Bar *All attendees 18 and younger receive free Rock Your Socks Off Socks * *Party is in a private and accessible space *
Register, sponsor, or donate at https://ryso.eventbrite.com For more information about our group please visit https://dsacnj.shutterfly.com. For more event information or questions email: dsacnj@arcmercer.org
18Trenton Downtowner | March 2019
3/9
3/6
3/6
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Jazz Jam, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton. com. $5. 6 p.m. Open Mic Night, Trenton Social, 449 South Broad Street, Trenton. www.facebook.com/ trentonsocial. Hosted by Benny P Every Tuesday. 8 p.m. CASA Information Session, CASA of Mercer and Burlington Counties, 1450 Parkside Avenue, Suite 22, Ewing. www.casamb.org. 10 a.m.
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La Feminista Soy Yo?, Mercer County College James Kerney Campus Gallery, 100 North Broad Street, Trenton. www.mccc. edu. Opening reception for the photography
and video exhibit by Trenton’s Tamara Torres exploring the concept of feminism across cultures and generations. Running through Thursday, April 4. 5 p.m. Jazz and Sushi Night, Trenton Social Restaurant, 449 South Broad Street, Trenton. 609989-7777. Dick Gratton, a solo jazz guitarist, performs. Free. 6 p.m. Nate Philips, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. $20. 7:30 p.m.
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Blues Jam, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton.com. $5. 6 p.m.
3/9 Camp Olden Civil War Round Table, Hamilton Township Public Library, 1 Samuel Alito Way, Hamilton. www.campolden.org. Presentation and meeting. For more informaiton, send an email to kdaly14@aol.com. Free. 7 p.m.
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Peter and the Starcatcher, Kelsey Theatre, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, 609570-3333. www.kelseytheatre.net. $20. Through March 17. 8 p.m. Public Artwork Tours, New Jersey State House Annex, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609-847-3150. Guided tour of New Jersey’s capitol complex and its artwork, including stained glass, paintings, murals, tilework, sculptures, and marquetry. Free. 1:30 p.m. The Metamorphosis of the Printed Image, The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, 299 Parkside Ave, Trenton. www.ellarslie.org. Curator Judith K. Brodsky showcases an exhibition on the history of printmaking techniques. Free. 7 p.m. Toney Rocks, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. $20. 8 p.m. Basile the Comedian, Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, 1200 Klockner Road, Hamilton, 609-306-3022. Comedy show and mezedakia, desserts, coffee, and tea, plus cash bar. Proceeds benefit AHEPA Service Dogs for Warriors. $50. Register. 7 p.m.
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Capital Philharmonic Orchestra, Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, 215-893-1999. www.capitalphilharmonic.org. Celebrating harp music with Cheryl Cunningham. $30-$65. 7:30 p.m. Jerry Rife’s Blue Skies Quartet, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 2 p.m. Daryl Yokley, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www. jazztrenton.com. $10. Includes free buffet. 3:30 p.m. Tom Tallitsch, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. $20. 8 p.m. Second Saturday Open Mic, VFW Post 491 Yardville, 9 Fisher Place, Hamilton. www. vfw491.org. Aspiring musicians and comedians perform. Free. 7:30 p.m. St. Baldrick’s, Amalfi’s, 146 Lawrenceville-Pennington Road, Lawrence. www.stbaldricks. org. Volunteers shave their heads to show solidarity with infants, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancer. 11 a.m. Spring Fest 2019, Boys and Girls Clubs of Mercer County, 1040 Spruce Street, Lawrence, 609-695-6060. www.bgcmercer.org. Family event. Meet Miss New Jersey for autographs. Free. 10 a.m.
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Voices Chorale, Trinity Cathedral, 801 West
State Street, Trenton. www.voiceschoralenj. org. Performing a program called “Shakespeare in Love.” 8 p.m. Joe Holt with Cody Leavel, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 3 p.m.
3/10 Bonomo, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. Performing acoustic indie-folk fusion. $20. 2 p.m.
Shenanigans, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. Performing Irish folk and roots music. $20. 8 p.m.
See EVENTS, page 20
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The Sunshine Boys, Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe Street, Bristol, 215-785-6664. www.brtstage.org. Neil Simon’s play about an estranged vaudeville duo. $10-$50. Through March 31. 7:30 p.m. The Gods of Comedy, McCarter Theater, 91 University Place, Princeton, 609-258-2787. www.mccarter.org. A young Princeton Classics professor puts her career and her love life in peril, and calls on the gods of Ancient Greece to save her. When the gods who show up are the gods of Comedy, things don’t go according to plan. By Ken Ludwig. Through March 31. 7:30 p.m. Jazz Jam, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton. com. $5. 6 p.m.
ADVANCED HEART CARE A HEARTBEAT AWAY
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Youth Art Month Student Show and Performance, Trenton Free Public Library, 120 Academy Street. www.trentonlib.org. Through Friday, April 26. 4:30 p.m.
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Blues Jam, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton.com. $5. 6 p.m. Get Growing Workshop, Trenton Coffee House and Records, 750 Cass Street, Trenton, 609341-4729. www.facebook.com/islesinc. Learn about ways to get involved in gardening, either in your own backyard or in a school or community garden. Free. 5 p.m.
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Public Artwork Tours, New Jersey State House Annex, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609-847-3150. Guided tour of New Jersey’s capitol complex and its artwork, including stained glass, paintings, murals, tilework, sculptures, and marquetry. Free. 1:30 p.m. Bill O’Neal and Andrew Koontz, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. Performing Irish folk and roots music. $20. 8 p.m.
YouR HEART iS iMpoRTANT. So iS FiNDiNg THE RigHT CARDiAC TEAM. You can be confident that your heart is in the best of hands at St. Francis Medical Center. Using leading-edge diagnostics and technology, St. Francis offers patients the highest level of cardiovascular care including:
• Mercer County’s only open-heart surgery center • Mercer County’s only electrophysiology lab • One of the region’s most experienced cardiothoracic surgery teams
• A hybrid room that integrates a cardiac catheterization lab with an operating theater
• A nationally-certified vascular lab Advanced cardiovascular care that’s convenient and easily accessible.
That’s St. Francis Medical Center.
S������� 3/16
Distance and Happiness, Dreams and Time,
Artworks, 19 Everett Alley, Trenton, 609394-9436. www.artworkstrenton.org. Local artists and curator Jeff Evans present paintings of women. Free. 7 p.m. Bolts and Stitches, Artworks: Trenton’s Visual Arts Center, 19 Everett Alley, Trenton, 609394-9436. www.artworkstrenton.org. Peggy and Gene Hracho, two artists from Pennsylvania, showcase their projects. Free. 7 p.m.
St. Francis Medical Center • 601 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, NJ
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March 2019 | Trenton Downtowner19
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COMMUNITYNEWS COMMUNITYNEWS com munitynews.org
Looking for more Trenton news? Visit our website or follow us on Facebook to get updates about your community all month long.
COMMUNITYNEWS
Celebrate Passage Theater
P
assage Theater’s annual Spring Benefit takes place at the New Jersey State Museum on Friday, March 15. The event includes cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, entertainment, and an acknowledgement of honorees. This year Passage honors internationally known poet, playwright, and Trenton
EVENTS, continued from page 19 Joe Ford, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton. com. $10. Includes free buffet. 3:30 p.m. Open Mic Night, Starbucks, 102 South Warren Street, Trenton. Music, spoken word, poetry, comedy, storytelling, and more. 3 p.m. Twenty Years of Music Making: Trenton Music Makers’ 20th Anniversary Party, Springdale Golf Club, 1895 Clubhouse Drive, Princeton. www.trentonmusicmakers.org. The Trenton Music Makers honors El Sistema USA for 20 years of support. $125. Register. 6 p.m.
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Jeff Dunham: Passively Aggressive Tour, CURE Insurance Arena, 81 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton. www.cureinsurancearena. com. With Peanut, Walter, Jose Jalapeno, Bubba J, and Achmed the Dead Terrorist. $52.50. 3 p.m. Back Home Again Dinner, Donauschwaben Verein Trenton, 127 Route 156, Yardville, 609-586-6109. www.trentondonauschwaben.com. Featuring a choice of fisch paprikasch, rindsgulasch, or roasted chicken, plus coffee, tea, and dessert. Register. 1 p.m.
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Jazz Jam, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. $5. 6 p.m.
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COMMUNITYNEWS /TrentonDowntowner 20Trenton Downtowner | March 2019
resident Yusef Komunyakaa, pictured above, for his important artistic partnership and involvement with Passage; and the Princeton-based Mathematica Policy Research for its vital ongoing philanthropic support of the company. The festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $125. For more information, visit www.passagetheatre. org.
Blues Jam, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton.com. $5. 6 p.m. Community Garden Kickoff Meeting, Community Garden, 33 Tucker Street, Trenton, 609341-4729. www.facebook.com/islesinc. For beginners and experts alike. Discuss community gardening or get help connecting with a garden. Free. 5 p.m.
3/16 ‘Couple’ by Gary Giordano, on view at Artworks.
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The Sound of Music, Kelsey Theatre, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, 609-5703333. www.kelseytheatre.net. $20. Through March 31. 8 p.m. Public Artwork Tours, New Jersey State House Annex, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609847-3150. Guided tour of New Jersey’s capitol complex and its artwork. Free. 1:30 p.m.
See EVENTS, page 22
March 2019 | Trenton Downtowner21
3/17 EVENTS, continued from page 21 Open Mic Night, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. Free to perform and listen. 7 p.m.
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Art Making Day 2019, Artworks Trenton, 19 Everett Alley, Trenton. www.artworkstrenton.org. Painting and crafting for parents and children. Free. Noon. Jack Furlong Trio, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 2 p.m. Lars Haake, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton.com. $10. Includes free buffet. 3:30 p.m. Monika Ryan: Changes, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 8 p.m. Open Mic Night, Starbucks, 102 South Warren Street, Trenton. Music, spoken word, poetry, comedy, storytelling, and more. 3 p.m.
WRRC
Rock Your Socks Off 2019: Our Dreams Are Taking Flight, Rho Waterfront, 50 Riverview Plaza, Trenton. www.arcmercer.org. The Down Syndrome Association of Central New Jersey celebrates World Down Syndrome Day with a dance fundraiser. $21. Noon. Art Making Day 2019, Artworks Trenton, 19 Everett Alley, Trenton, 609-394-9436. www. artworkstrenton.org. Families and children make murals and upcycled projects. Free. 12 p.m.
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Alexandre Djokic and Roburt Gajdos, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. Performing chamber music for violin and piano. $20. 3 p.m. 20th Annual Spring into Song, Central Church, 2015 Pennington Road, Ewing. www. hopewellvalleychorus.org. Featuring the Trenton Children’s Chorus and the Hopewell Valley Chorus. 2 p.m.
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he annual Trenton Film Festival gets rolling at the Mill Hill Playhouse from Thursday through Sunday, March 28 through 31. The juried festival features a program of international films ranging from narrative to documentary, animation to new media, and shorts to
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Jazz Jam, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton. com. $5. 6 p.m.
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Trenton Water Works Public Meeting, Hamilton Township Senior Center, 409 Cypress Lane, Hamilton, 609-890-3834. www.hamiltonnj.com. Trenton Water Works conducts a question and answer session for Hamilton residents in regards to water quality issues. Free. 6 p.m.
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Trenton Film Festival, Mill Hill Playhouse, 205 East Front Street, Trenton. www.trentonfilmsociety.org. Juried festival featuring narrative, documentary, animation, experimental, music video, spoken work, and new media screenings. Continues through March 31. See website for details. 6 p.m. Blues Jam, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton.com. $5. 6 p.m.
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Public Artwork Tours, New Jersey State House Annex, 145 West State Street, Trenton, 609-847-3150. Guided tour of New Jersey’s capitol complex and its artwork, including stained glass, paintings, murals, tilework, sculptures, and marquetry. Free. 1:30 p.m.
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feature length. Included in the screening is the short “Ways to Look at the Moon” (pictured) by Katherine Clark, a Philadelphiabased filmmaker and co-founder of the PopUp Anthology that promote Trenton and regional filmmakers at Artworks Trenton. For a full list of films, go to www.trentonfilmsociety.org.
3/23 An Evening with John SaFranko featuring Yvonne, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary. org. $20. 8 p.m.
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Jerry Weldon, Candlelight Lounge, 24 Passaic Street, Trenton, 609-695-9612. www.jazztrenton.com. $10. Includes free buffet. 3:30 p.m. Alex Hiele Paris Jazz Combo, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609-392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. $20. 8 p.m. Open Mic Night, Starbucks, 102 South Warren Street, Trenton. Music, spoken word, poetry, comedy, storytelling, and more. 3 p.m. Boys and Girls Club Centre Street Clubhouse, Boys and Girls Club, 212 Centre Street, Trenton, 609-392-3191. www.BGCMercer.org. Families and children draw and craft. Free. Noon.
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Hannah Murphy and Phil Goldenberg, 1867 Sanctuary, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, 609392-6409. www.1867sanctuary.org. Performing songs on classical guitar. $20. 3 p.m. Requiem for the Living, Sacred Heart Church, 343 South Broad Street, Trenton, 609-4342781. www.capitalsingers.org. Featuring Sinfonietta Nova, the Trenton Children’s Chorus Training Choir, and Capital Singers of Trenton. 4 p.m.
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*** Interest bearing account. No minimum to open account. No qualifications. No minimum balance required to earn .75%Percentage AnnualYield Percentage Yield.as ofAccurate of Rate, 05/25/2017. *Annual (APY) is accurate February 8,as2019. terms, and conditions are subject to change without notice. Limited time only. APY assumes interest remains on deposit to maturity. NO Rate Penaltyguaranteed for early withdrawal beginning seven days after funds have been through May 31, 2018, after whichreceived rate for mayyour CD. No withdrawals are permitted during the first six days following the receipt of funds. $1,000 minimum balance required to obtain APY. Maximum $75,000 per tax ID. New Money Only, which is defined as money not on deposit with Grand Bank within three months prior to the date of account opening. No account opening change without No interest activities fees.your Unlimited CheckIRA deposits are subject to rules for IRA accounts. or maintenance fees. Daily notice. compounding to maximize earning potential. writing. No minimum usage levels. Personal accounts only.
March 2019 | Trenton Downtowner23
Save better with a 7.50% APY* Savings Account.
* Annual Percentage Yield. 7.5% APY will be paid on the daily balance in your account up to the first $500.00. A dividend rate of 0.05% will be paid only on the portion of your daily balance between $500.01 to $9,999.99 with an APY range for this tier of 7.500% APY to 0.423% APY depending on the balance in the account. A dividend rate of 0.10% will be paid only on the portion of your daily balance between $10,000 and $250,000 with an APY range for this tier of 0.423% APY to 0.113% APY depending on the balance in the account. All rates are subject to change, after account opening, without notice. Maximum deposit amount is $250,000. Membership in good standing and a Regular Share account with a $5 minimum deposit is required. Requires a $50.00 minimum balance. Fees could reduce earnings. Additional savings accounts established under the same member name, and related tax identification number, are not eligible for these special terms. APY is effective as of June 1, 2018. One 7.5% Savings account per member.
Federally Insured by NCUA. Additional coverage up to $250,000 provided by ESI Corporation, a licensed insurance company.
24Trenton Downtowner | March 2019