Summer campS 2023

Liberty Lake

Summer Camp is Hotter than Ever!

We’re all experiencing the effects of these difficult, post-pandemic times. Especially young people. They are navigating post-lockdown life with the intense pressures of screen-based friendships, self-esteem in the volatile hands of social media, academic demands, and more.

Many have found a great way to unplug and decompress — at Summer Camp! This year has seen unprecedented numbers of campers enrolling in Summer Camp, as parents are recognizing the need to pry their kids off their screens and regain their social skills. Many high school and college students have found a similar reprieve from the weight of worldly cares by WORKING at Summer Camp too.

In my new favorite book “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure,” authors/researchers Greg Lukanoff and Jonathan Haidt bring to light the unintended consequences of how raising children has evolved in the past decade.

• Fragility: What doesn’t kill you makes you… weaker? Wasn’t it “What doesn’t kill you makes you STRONGER?” Young people have been taught and encouraged of late to be risk-averse. Attending or working at Summer Camp can be super-fun and super-challenging. Research spearheaded by the American Camp Association is showing that young people attending or working at Camp come out stronger and more resilient!

• Emotional Reasoning: Always trust your feelings? We’ve all experienced negative, and even overwhelming emotions at times. To be emotionally healthy though, we need to learn how to manage these feelings — not let them rule our lives and logic. At Summer Camp, any given day can be an emotional rollercoaster. There will be winning and losing, disagreements with friends, fear of failure, and disappointments! It’s REAL LIFE in a structured setting, preparing young people for the inevitable challenges that lie ahead of them.

• Us vs. Them: That life is a battle between good and evil people. Cancel culture has become normalized by what has transpired in the news, colleges, and the workplace — causing negativity and polarization. Meanwhile, there are huge commonalities of shared beliefs between all of us. While accepting differences in others can be difficult, good Summer Camps create a training ground to practice diversity, equity, and inclusion.

It’s been a rough past few years, but a “covid silver lining” is the that families are now recognizing the significant effects on their children of increased screen time/social media, isolation, anxiety, depression, prescription drugs, and over the top parental “safetyism.” Parents are actively seeking solutions, and they have found one in Summer Camp.

Camps are filling up quicker than ever, so do your research and reserve your spot now! It’s the ultimate learning environment for young people to develop and practice the social skills essential for success in the 21st century.

Andy Pritikin is the owner/director or Liberty Lake Day Camp, and a partner at Everwood Day Camp and Camp Southwoods. He’s the Past President of the American Camp Association, NY/NJ, and the host of the Day Camp Podcast.

Liberty Lake Day Camp, 195 Florence-Columbus Road, Bordentown. 609-499-7820 www.libertylakedaycamp.com. See ad, page 11

West WindsorPlainbsoro Soccer Association

A chance for kids to develop soccer skills

Parents of soccer enthusiasts aged 7 to 14 need to mark their calendars now for the West Windsor-Plainsboro Soccer Association (WWPSA) weeklong summer soccer camps available throughout the summer beginning July 10, 2023. Experienced soccer coaches will drill boys and girls in the skills necessary to improve their soccer play. This is a chance to have skilled trainers work with you on soccer.

Our goal in the club to develop soccer skills for players at all skill levels. We have a great coaching staff for our summer camps who provide instruction with a goal of increasing skills through a variety of teaching techniques. It is an opportunity for camp participants to improve their skills — their technical and tactical soccer skills — through a variety of exercises,” said Brent Nielsen, who oversees the program for WWPSA.

Full day camps run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a break mid-day for lunch and an option to swim at the community pool. Half-day camps run from 9 a.m. to noon. “All of our activities and games are structured for learning and fun,” Nielsen said. “Campers will play a game at the end of each day to solidify skills learned and engage in friendly competition.”

Campers learn and reinforce fundamental soccer skills of dribbling and mastery of the soccer ball with emphasis on agility, passing, receiving, and turning. Later in the week more advanced skills of attacking play, scoring, defensive moves, and preventing scoring are emphasized. The importance of teamwork is emphasized along with core exercises and personal fitness.

WWSPA’s goal is to provide youth and adults the opportunity to play instructional and competitive soccer at the highest level commensurate with their ability, potential, and interest.

In that light, WWPSA offers spring and fall soccer programs for pre-K through 12th grade students. Information about spring and fall programs can be found on the WWPSA website, adding additional opportunities for local youth.

West Windsor Plainsboro Soccer Association, West Windsor Community Park, Bernt Midland Boulevard, West Windsor. www. wwpsa.org. See ad, page 9

GraceWay Bible Church

Camp Mercyville Is a Community Favorite

If you are looking for a place for your family to thrive in their relationships with Jesus and each other, GraceWay is the church for you! With over 40 ministries, there is something for everyone! The best way to see if GraceWay is the church home for you is to visit us for Sunday Services at 9 or 10:45 a.m. Childcare and Sunday School is available. Visit our website (www.gracewaybc.org) for more information.

Summer is an especially busy time for children’s ministries. Our sevenweek summer day camp, Camp Mercyville (www.campmercyville. org), has been providing quality childcare for over a decade. Our full-day Vacation Bible School/ Adventure Camp is a community favorite! Push the Rock basketball camp helps children become better athletes, teammates, and grow in their relationship with Christ. Summer Family Nights includes familyfun, worship, and small groups for the whole family on Wednesday evenings. Visit our website (www. gracewaybc.org) or contact our office (609-586-0223) to find out more. See ad, page 10

To book a classified ad in this section, please email your text and any other information to mdurelli@communitynews.org. Classifieds run at 75 cents per word with a $20 minimum per month. For more information, call 609-396-1511, ext. 105.

SERVICES

LEGAL SERVICES Wills, Power of Attorney, Real Estate, Federal and NJ Taxes, House calls available. Bruce Cooke, Esq. 609799-4674, 609-721-4358.

Senior Concierge. Let me be your helper. In the home or on the road. Part-time/Day or evening. Very good references. Call Mary anne, 609-298-4456.

F,D,Mason Contractor, Over 30 years of experience.

Brick, Block, Stone, Concrete. No job too large or small. Fully Insured and Licensed. Free Estimates 908-385-5701 Lic#13VH05475900.

Are you single? Try us first! We are an enjoyable alternative to online dating. Sweet Beginnings Matchmaker, 215-539-2894, www. sweetbeginnings.info.

WANTED TO BUY

Wanted: Baseball, football, basketball, hockey. Cards, autographs, photos, memorabilia. Highest cash prices paid! Licensed corporation, will travel. 4thelovofcards, 908-596-0976. allstar115@verizon.net.

HappyHeroes used books looking to buy old Mysteries, Science Fiction, Children’s Illustrated, kids series books (old Hardy boys-Nancy Drew-Judy Bolton- Dana girls, WITH DUSTJACKETS in good shape), Dell Mapbacks - Good Girl Art PULPS - non-sports cards, good conditioned pre 1975 paperbacks old COLLIER’S. Call 609-619-3480 or email happyheroes@gmail.com

Cash paid for World War II military items.Helmets, swords, medals, etc. Call 609-581-8290 or email mymilitarytoys@optonline.net

Cash paid for SELMER SAXOPHONES and other vintage models. 609-581-8290 or email mymilitarytoys@ optonline.net

WANTED- QUALITY CAMERAS AND PHOTO EQUIPMENT,

FOUNTAIN PENS AND OLDER WATCHES FAIR PRICES PAID CALL JAY-609-689-9651.

COMMERCIAL SPACE

3,500 SF OFFICE SPACE, Ewing/Mercer County, FREE RENT, 201-488-4000 or 609883-7900

Space available in the Ewing Professional Park. Comfortable suite currently used by mental health professionals. Waiting room, kitchenette and restrooms in suite. Well-lighted parking lot. Available Jan 1st. For more details, email suppsoln27@ yahoo.com or call Supportive Solutions at 609-635-3751.

Hamilton/ Allentown

Border-Highly Traveled visible location. Commercial end unit in Globus Plaza1100sf+/- can be leased entirely or subdivided. Ideal for professional/medical offices, services, studio & retail store. Highly traveled visible location . Easy access to NJTP, Rt.130, I95. Call for info. DiDonato Realty, 609-586-2344/ Marian Conte BR 609-947-4222

Office Space For Rent: Pennington ground floor office space 32 N Main Street. Share with clinical psychologist and real estate management company. Private entrance, off street parking. 305-968-7308

Princeton Commercial

Retail Spaces for Lease: Various Locations in Town. Please Contact: Weinberg Management. WMC@ collegetown. Text 609-731-1630

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Florida Beach Rental: Fort Myers Beach 1br vacation condo on the beach, flexible dates available. Call 609-5778244 for further information

Hilton Head South Carolina Blue Water Resort 1 week w/7 day golf package free except cart, 2 Bed & 2 Baths, Sleeps 6. $1000 Call Sam 609-586-0037

Business For Sale

Salon for sale- excellent opportunity. Priced to sell. Relocating out of state. Large space, great potential. Available to share. Call 609462-0188.

Seeking Friends

Meet other music-loving singles before enjoying a concert by Chiaroscuro String Quartet at Do-Re-Meet: Find My Friends. Sunday, March 26th, 4:00 PM, Princeton University Campus, Presented by Princeton University Concerts and The Singles Group Tickets & Info: puc. princeton.edu/do-re-meet 609258-2800.

DATING

Meet other music-lovers before enjoying a concert by jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant at Do-Re-Meet: LGBTQ+ Single Mingle. Wednesday, April 12, 7:00 PM, Princeton University Campus, Presented by Princeton University Concerts and The Singles Group, Tickets & Info: puc.princeton.edu/do-re-meet, 609-258-2800

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For sale double depth cemetery plot. Location Princeton memorial park, Gordon Road, Robbinsville. Call 609-259-7710.

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Originally, Lombardi wanted to include a personal recipe or two, but space constraints prevented him from doing so; he thinks that could possibly be in store for a “future edition.”

Lombardi shared that instead of picking a food truck at a festival that matches his mood, he now “makes his rounds” to the trucks he has previously covered to check in and, of course, sample some more food.

He is friends with many of the food truck owners, having formed relationships through the network and even hiring Emily and Dean from Good Food = Good Mood to cater his COVID-conscious wedding from his mother-in-law’s driveway.

He recommended all the food trucks featured, gushing over everyone from Kiersten’s Creations, Chick Wings & Things, Cubano X-Press, Five Sisters, Ms. Fu’s Yummy Food Truck, Bearded One BBQ, and, of course, House of Cupcakes, which he always grabs when he is in Princeton.

Lombardi will be promoting The New Jersey Food Truck Cookbook at events like the book signing at Commonplace Reader in Yardley on March 11, Mama Dude’s on March 18, and the Lawrenceville Spring for the Arts Festival in Weeden Park on May 6.

He is also in the early stages of launching DevourNJ.com, his own website for foodies that “aims to boost independently owned food businesses throughout the state” and “highlights the best of a booming culinary scene by introducing in-depth profiles and photographical and video tours of local eateries and their owners.”

Lombardi hopes to follow this up with new collections of work in the genres of humor and horror, in which he has been dabbling since the end of last year.

By November, Lombardi had decided to stay awake after getting up with his newborn son in the morning, using that time to hone his skills and write short stories. The multigenre aficionado has a few first drafts ready to go, but always comes back to food.

“As much as I love to promote New Jersey in so many different ways, I hope that no matter where everybody [goes], they’re taking into consideration just exactly what shop they’re in, or what restaurant they’re in, and who might be behind that counter,” Lombardi said.

The New Jersey Food Truck Cookbook, Patrick Lombardi and Vincent Parisi, Arcadia Publishing. Available through Arcadia, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

“It was great, it was such an awesome feeling to take that title last year,” he said. “To have a nice title like that felt really good. The work paid off after all those years.”

It has paid off in numerous ways. On Jan. 24, Carpinelli won his second consecutive Mercer County Championship meet title with a score of 291.85. Although Lawrence could not win its third team title in four years, fellow Cardinal Beckham DiPierro (a sophomore) finished second.

“That was great, it was a lot of fun to win it again for my team this year,” Carpinelli said. “Although we did not win as a team, we really put in the work. I feel everyone dove super super well. Sometimes it just isn’t meant to be.”

One thing is certain—Carpinelli was meant to be a diver from the very start.

Tommy began his aquatic career as a swimmer for PASDA’s Ben Franklin Swim Club at age 7. His parents encouraged him to try diving, and “at the first practice I fell in love. It has been my favorite thing to do since the day I started.”

For several years, Carpinelli competed, but was mostly doing it for fun. At around age 13 he and his parents decided Tommy should start taking it seriously so he joined the famed Blue Dolphins; an organization that has since become the Jersey Diving Academy. He has remained there ever since, and now competes for JDA and the Lawrence High swimming and diving teams.

It was at JDA that Carpinelli began working with acclaimed coach Eric Blevins; who has had amazing success at the college level and is in his sixth season as head coach of The College of New Jersey.

“You could tell he had a lot of potential at the start,” Blevins said.

That potential was untapped when he arrived, and Carpnelli knew he was at the right place to get polished.

“Having a coach who has coached some really high level divers for tons of years, it was a big step up and a big eye opener to what diving is supposed to look like and what you’re supposed to really be doing,” Carpinelli said. “So there was a lot of progression really quickly. It was a blast. It was really great to have such a high level of coaching.”

Carpinelli had already been with the club for several weeks before Blevins took over five years ago. The coach watched and made mental notes, and around the time Covid hit, they decided to make some changes.

“We broke everything down,” Blevins said. “We changed his approach a little bit. He went from doing a harder dive until we kind of broke it down; so he was doing more of a basic one so he could learn that and go back to the hard one.” He’s just been improving by leaps and bounds over and over and over.”

Actually, leaps and bounds isn’t a bad way to put it. But it was more like hops and skips, which were the adjustments made to elevate Carpinelli’s skills. He said much of the adjustments had to do with his hurdle, which is the diving definition of the walk down the board to approach the dive.

“I essentially changed how I did some hops and did some steps down that board,” Carpinelli explained. “All of that was so I could then jump off the board even higher. I worked on just doing no hop to a small hop to a bigger hop to really get that board moving and get me jumping off higher.”

Lo and behold, what happened on the board translated to success when he hit the water. Carpinelli feels the “break down” is a necessary tool among divers.

“Sometimes to actually progress and get the harder dive you have to completely break down each step of the dive,” he said. “Really breaking down what you need to fix. Then, when you actually go to the harder dive, it’s more

The results spoke for just how perfected he got; starting with last year’s MCT title, followed by the state crown and, for the first time in his career, Tommy earned All-America status at the AAU Nationals with a 10th-place finish last summer.

With this year’s MCT already won, Carpinelli is hoping to repeat his double championship by winning states again. But he has become more than just a diver these past two years, returning to his swimming roots and joining the Cardinals swim team in his junior year.

“I decided to join just to help out and have fun,” he said. “A lot of my friends were already on the team and it looked like a blast. I really enjoyed the time I had with swimming.”

He was not just filling up space either. With only 11 boys on the roster this year, coach Ryan Shive was in need of more than just bodies. He needed guys who could contribute. Carpinelli has been that guy.

Swimming predominantly the 200 IM and all three relays, he picked up at least one point (usually more) in all 42 events he swam through the Cardinals 7-6 start. He won a race in the 100 breast, and was in on seven first-place relay finishes. In Lawrence’s 88-82 win over Jackson in the first round of the Central Jersey Group B meet, he made a late push from fifth place to take third in the 200 IM, providing some key points for the Cards.

“He’s been an incredible asset,” Shive said. “He’s not necessarily the fastest on the team, he’s a utility swimmer. I kind of just plug and play, put him anywhere in the lineup to help win the meet. He was one of the reasons we won the Jackson meet. That’s the kind of person he is. If he has to, he’ll do it.

“I don’t know how much anyone can understand how important he is. He’s not going out and getting firsts and seconds, but to have someone who can swim anywhere and get that third or fourth place consistently, especially in tough events, is big.”

While it’s nice of Tommy to lend his skills to the swimmers, he is a diver first and foremost. And he did not become good by accident.

“He works so hard,” Blevins said. “He was the one that made himself into what he is. I’ve had kids that have had a lot of potential that just kind of rode on it. You could tell he wanted it. He really, really worked for it.”

The result of that work is a diver who is enjoyable to watch.

“He’s so clean with all of his entries,” Blevins continued. “Even when he’s off, he looks like he’s on, pretty much. He’s been bumping up on DD (degree of difficulty). He’s not really afraid to try a lot of the harder stuff. Even if he thinks he can’t do it, he’s willing to do the learning curve. He learns from everything, takes his past experiences and improves on them.”

Carpinelli feels the key to being a good diver is to have confidence and enjoy what you’re doing. He also takes well to coaching tips; and figures that even if a new dive is intimidating, he won’t shy away from it because it’s the only way to progress. And then of course, there is the intense focus that is necessary on the board.

“Every diver is different but I definitely like to really visualize what you need to do,” he said. “I honestly feel that can help a lot. It helps you get in the zone and know what you need to do. So there’s certainly a great deal of focus when you’re standing up there.”

Carpinelli’s focus on his future will take him to Washington D.C., as he will dive for a quality Hoyas program next year.

“At summer nationals, I got an offer from Georgetown and almost immediately I knew I wanted to take it,” he said. “Georgetown was high on my list, it’s a beautiful school, great academics, and the dive team, from what I heard from the kids and the coaches, is amazing. It gave me such a great vibe. The team culture, team bonding was such a major draw for me.”

In other words, the guy who loves flipping through the air in his dives; has his feet on solid ground when it comes to life.

“I’m so excited,” he said. “I could not be happier.”

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Summer campS 2023

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