ELIZABETH ROMANAUX’S VISION FOR AN EINSTEIN MUSEUM INCLUDES HIS SCIENCE
BUT ALSO HIS ACTIVISM, HIS HUMANITY, AND HIS LEGACY. PAGE 6.
Summer Camps special section, see insert.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, the numeric equivalent of the irrational number pi. And in 2009, Princeton Tour Company founder Mimi Omiecinski decided that this fun coincidence called for a celebration: Pi Day Princeton was born.
This year the wide-ranging events — from pie-eating to pi-reciting, a lecture by a Nobel Laureate, tours, and more — are spread over two days: Saturday, March 11, and Pi Day itself, Tuesday, March 14.
“The residents of Princeton adore this quirky event and hope everyone will come visit our town to celebrate Pi Day Princeton,” Omiecinski says. “If you can’t make it in person, we hope you’ll celebrate online with us!”
Saturday, March 11
8 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Pie Flight Experience, $3.14, LiLLiPIES
10:30 a.m.: Youth Einstein Look-A-Like Contests, Arts Council of Princeton
11:30 a.m.: Learn to recite Pi from the first person to achieve 10,000 digits, Arts Council of Princeton
Noon: Pi Recitation Contest, Arts Council of Princeton. Pi-Rade follows.
Noon to 4 p.m.: Einstein exhibition,
Farmstead
1 p.m.: Princeton School Gardens Cooperative Fundraiser, the bent spoon & LilliPies (all day pi priced pairing)
1:30 p.m.: Children’s author Dan Gutman appears via Zoom to discuss his children’s book with Historical Society staff, Princeton Public Library
2 p.m.: Dinky Train Rides with Albert Einstein (meet at Wawa Station)
2:30 to 4:30 p.m.: Einstein Open Archives Event for families with crafts and STEM activities, Princeton Public Library 3rd Floor
3:14 p.m.: Einstein Self Guided Walking Tour (for participants in the Einstein Look A Like or Pi Recitation events)
5 p.m.: Adult Look A Like Contest & Pi Day Pub Crawl (21+), begins at Yankee Doodle Tap Room
Tuesday, March 14
1 to 5 p.m.: PSGC Fundraiser, the bent spoon & LilliPies
3:14 p.m.: Guided Walking Tour of Albert Einstein’s famous homes and hangouts. Register online.
5 p.m.: Albert Einstein Memorial Lecture, Robertson Hall, Princeton University
7 p.m.: Adult Look A Like Contest & Pi Day Pub Crawl. Starts at Winberrie’s on Palmer Square
7 p.m.: Einstein Open Archives, Princeton Public Library
CONTRIBUTING
Rebekah
News & Letters: hastings@princetoninfo.com
Events: events@communitynews.org
Website: communitynews.org
Facebook: facebook.com/princetonecho
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Register online at capitalhealth.org/events and be sure to include your email address. Zoom meeting details will be provided via email 2 – 3 days before the program date. Registration ends 24 hours before the program date.
Register online at capitalhealth.org/events and be sure to include your email address. Zoom meeting details will be provided via email 2 – 3 days before the program date. Registration ends 24 hours before the program date.
Thursday, March 16, 2023 | 6 p.m.
Thursday, March 30, 2023 | 6 p.m.
Location: Zoom Meeting
Thursday, March 30, 2023 | 6 p.m.
Location: Zoom Meeting
If you’re concerned that you are not as sharp as you used to be, there are steps you can take right now to reduce cognitive decline. DR. RAJIV VYAS from Capital Health – Behavioral Health Specialists will share strategies to keep your brain focused and reduce memory loss.
If you’re concerned that you are not as sharp as you used to be, there are steps you can take right now to reduce cognitive decline. DR. RAJIV VYAS from Capital Health – Behavioral Health Specialists will share strategies to keep your brain focused and reduce memory loss.
Thursday, March 16, 2023 | 6 p.m.
Location: Zoom Meeting
Location: Zoom Meeting
To help you take charge of your health, join DR. ASHLEE GODSHALK RUGGLES, a colorectal surgeon from Capital Health Surgical Group, and DR. MARK SAXENA from Capital Health – Gastroenterology Specialists. They’ll discuss the risk factors for colon cancer, options for screening, and how screening reduces the risk for colon cancer.
To help you take charge of your health, join DR. ASHLEE GODSHALK RUGGLES, a colorectal surgeon from Capital Health Surgical Group, and DR. MARK SAXENA from Capital Health – Gastroenterology Specialists. They’ll discuss the risk factors for colon cancer, options for screening, and how screening reduces the risk for colon cancer.
Princeton is a proud piece of the “pi” that is Albert Einstein’s life and legacy. Although many of Einstein’s monumental scientific findings preceded his time in the town where he had come as a Jewish refugee of Nazi Germany, his reputation as a physicist, humanitarian, and source of wisdom endured.
With his every casual walk through Princeton, Einstein and his signature white, wiry-haired image would challenge the almost mythological lore of what someone famous should be or do. He expressed disdain for his “celebrity” status and followed an approach as simple as the theorist’s favorite treat — vanilla ice cream in a cone with chocolate sprinkles.
Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, the date now known as “Pi Day” because of its match to the beginning digits of the mathematical constant. This time is annually observed to promote learning in the spirit of Einstein, but rather than wait to activate these atoms of education each year, Einstein’s history in Princeton is being specifically recognized through the Princeton Einstein Museum of Science, or PEMS.
Elizabeth Romanaux, the founder and
project director of PEMS (a working title), spent most of her life in Princeton before she moved to nearby Kingston. Her father, the late psychiatrist Peter Penick, was an undergraduate student at Princeton University when Einstein was still alive.
As her father and others of that era shared stories about the scientist’s daily activities or quirks, Romanaux said she almost, in a sense, “grew up with him” through these verbal snapshots.
“We felt like he was one of us, and for probably the most famous man in the world, one of the things I most appreciated about Einstein was [that] he walked among us. He was a Princetonian,” Romanaux explained. “He allowed himself to be part of the community. He reached out and talked to people, and I think we’ve lost that feeling.”
Such a sentiment has led Romanaux down the path of establishing this new boutique museum, which is currently in the “quiet fundraising phase” and is anticipated to launch in about two or three years, depending on financing.
PEMS is planned to open in the former space of Triumph Brewing Company at 138 Nassau Street and would be the first museum to highlight Einstein outside of Europe. Romanaux, who is also the chair
and treasurer, noted that Einstein’s story — the full, unedited one — is still significant for the local communities of Princeton that knew him well.
When the Nazis came into power in January of 1933, Einstein had just left Germany with his second wife, Elsa, a month earlier, for California. Einstein accepted, while still living in his home country, an invitation to work at the newly established Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, so he moved to New Jersey and remained there until his death on April 18, 1955.
While the scientist has a permanent exhibit at the Historical Society of Princeton, there are few Einstein-centric spots in Princeton, leading many to visit his former home — which has no plaque or markers indicating it as such, per Einstein’s own wishes — or the two bronze busts of him, one by Robert Burks at Monument Hall and the other by Sir Jacob Epstein at the temporarily closed Princeton University Art Museum.
Romanaux, an award-winning marketing and public relations expert with more than four decades of experience, is a selfdescribed “science nerd.” She worked for the Liberty Science Center, an interactive museum in Jersey City, prior to the facility’s opening in 1992 and until her re-
tirement in 2020. Romanaux was behind many creative advertising and promotional activities in the span of those 28 years, but she also took the time to speak with younger age groups to build their education, as well as, hopefully, their love for science.
The former Triumph building is roughly 11,000 square feet, with a 30-foot-high ceiling and a long, winding gallery entrance area where Romanaux plans to feature historical context for Einstein’s time in Princeton. This will inform guests of Einstein’s lesser-known history of “antiracist” advocacy and dispel common “misconceptions” about the scientist, such as that he worked for the university rather than the Institute for Advanced Study.
A space-time fabric optical illusion hallway floor would introduce the museum experience, while PEMS, which is also proposed to serve as a visitor’s center for the town, has a peaked roof that Romanaux intends to use as an overheard art gallery.
The exhibit concepts, suited for anyone eight and older, include interactive opportunities for hands-on experiments, an immersive theater experience visualizing his theory of light and space-time, a game on quantum entanglement, the power of
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BEST ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY BY U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
BEST ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY BY U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
We’re so proud to offer our residents the best of the best—from dining and fitness centers to social calendars—because we don’t just care for you, we care about you. As a nationally ranked Senior Living community, we’re proof that doing what you love is always worth it. So come do it here.
We’re so proud to offer our residents the best of the best—from dining and fitness centers to social calendars—because we don’t just care for you, we care about you. As a nationally ranked Senior Living community, we’re proof that doing what you love is always worth it. So come do it here.
WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY. The experts do, too.
WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY. The experts do, too.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children is a nonprofit organization committed to advocating for foster children to have their needs met and their rights protected.
You need no special background.
ATTEND AN INFO SESSION
MERCER COUNTY
March 15th @ NOON
March 20th @ 5:00 PM
Mercer County CASA O ce: 1450 Parkside Ave. Ewing, NJ
BURLINGTON COUNTY
March 15th @ 10:30 AM April
VISIT OUR WEBSITE: CASAMB.ORG
To learn more contact: Jill Du y (Mercer) JDu y@casamercer.org
Harry Cassidy (Burlington) HCassidy@casamercer.org
The month of March is the ideal time for arts enthusiasts to catch the first crop of events as they “spring” to life in music, dance, opera, and theater, so mark your calendars, Mercer County, and become a true connoisseur of the state’s creative prowess.
Editor’s Note: A number of these events ran in the winter arts preview of Community News Service’s Princeton metro area paper, U.S. 1, as “Winter Culture Calendar Forecast: Time for Shows” on January 18. The list has been edited for currency and clarity.
Princeton University’s Music Department showcases cutting-edge works by emerging composers and internationally renowned performers, which include the following acts:
~Nois is a music saxophone ensemble founded in 2016 with quartet members Hunter Bockes, János Csontos, Jordan
Lulloff, and Julian Velasco
According to the group’s website, ~Nois merges “contemporary chamber music and improvisation to connect with audiences in unique concert experiences,” such as this upcoming selection of pieces by Princeton University composers.
Taplin Auditorium, Fine Hall, Princeton University. Tuesday, March 7, 8 p.m. Free.
Alarm Will Sound, a Brooklyn-based 20-piece chamber orchestra focused on contemporary music performances and recordings, will play new works by Princeton University graduate student composers
Gulli Björnsson, Dai Wei, Liam Elliot, Hope Littwin, Soo Yeon Lyuh, Christian Quiñones, Elijah Daniel Smith, Max Vinetz, and Justin Wright, with Alan Pierson as conductor.
Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University Tuesday, March 21, 7:30 p.m. Free.
Interdisciplinary tap dance artist Michael J. Love is set to join Princeton University graduate student and faculty composers Gulli Björnsson, Rudresh Mahanthappa, James Moore, Hope Littwin, Dan Trueman, and Jason Treuting to round out a program of new compositions.
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Taplin Auditorium, Fine Hall, Princeton University Tuesday, March 28, 8
Performers appear on these Saturday afternoons from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. at this Trenton bar for the area’s real-deal jazz
James Stewart, Trenton saxophonist; March 11, Dan Kostelnik, jazz organist; March 18, Aaron Graves, Philadelphia pianist; March 25, Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin singer in the Princeton University depart ment of music; April 1, and April 8, Philadelphia saxophonist
A budget-friendly carpet that combines softness with breakthrough stain prevention
24 Passaic Street, Trenton songwriter,
a show featuring a change in tune for the group. Rather than continue their tradition of classic rock covers, which the Reock & Roll Revue has been doing together for 15 years, the members are performing their own original music.
Founded by Hamilton-based keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical maestro Tom Reock, the Reock & Roll Revue fuses “great music and historical content” in their renditions of late 1960s and early ‘70s hits, according to the band’s Facebook page.
The lineup for “Songwriters” is as fol-
Sameer Patel, above right, will conduct the Princeton Symphony Orchestra with Dibyarka Chatterjee, above left, on tabla, in the world premiere of William Harvey’s “Seven Decisions of Gandhi” on March 11 and 12. The Québec City dance troupe Cirque FLIP Fabrique soars in “Muse,” at right and below, at the New Jersey State Theater on March 22.
ARTS, continued from Page 3
Ragamala Dance Company, according to the organization’s website, features choreography “rooted in the South Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam.”
Founded by co-artistic directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy, as well as their mother Ashwini, the Minneapolis-based group presents a personal journey of spirituality and movement with “Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim.”
After the death of the Ramaswamy family’s father and grandfather “away from his homeland of India four years ago,” the show was conceptualized as a tribute to the enduring strength of familial bonds from a Hindu perspective of life and death.
Per the McCarter description, his request was for his ashes to be scattered in the city of Varanasi’s Ganges River, a sacred site.
“Through images that reflect the cosmic trinity of Varanasi, India — sacred pilgrimage routes, the Ganges River, and the patron deity Shiva, heightened by the chants of Vedic priests — the choreographers imagine a metaphorical crossing place where one may leave the mundane and enter into the world of immortality,” the website continues.
“In this theatrical reimagining, we expand upon the birth-death-rebirth continuum in Hindu thought to honor immigrant experiences of life and death in the diaspora.
The 10 performers in this full-length work dance to “an original, recorded score” on a stage enhanced by Willy Cessa, a French scenic and lighting designer.
Wednesday, March 15, 7:30 p.m. $35 to
$55.
More: 609-258-2787 or www.mccarter. org
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick
The Dublin Irish Dance’s new, original production, “Wings: A Celtic Dance Celebration,” is a taste of Irish heritage in musical motion.
According to the State Theater, the show promises a combination of “Ireland’s finest musical and vocal virtuosos” alongside champion dancers in this cultural spectacular of family fun. Tuesday, March 7, 7:30 p.m. $29 to $59.
Cirque FLIP Fabrique’s “Muse,” a night of “breathtaking artistry and athleticism” conveyed through the “playful storytelling” of the Québec City troupe, is another opportunity to see gravity-defying dance numbers.
The acrobats, donning everything from high heels to shoulder pads, become “bodies in flight” against an original score by beatmaker Millimetric and onstage vocals by singer Flavia Nascimento Wednesday, March 22, 7:30 p.m. $29 to $59
More: www.stnj.org.
“Madama Butterfly” is Giacomo Puccini’s 1904 tragic opera about a loyal young geisha whose betrayal by her American naval officer husband leads to her shame
and destruction.
Part of the company’s 34th anniversary, the performance will be directed by co-founder Joseph Pucciatti and feature the Boheme Opera chorus and orchestra, as well as original sets and costumes by Giorgio Lalov, the Maryland-based artistic director of Teatro Lirico d’Europa in Bulgaria and artistic advisor for Opera New Hampshire.
The production will be sung in Italian with English supertitles.
Kendall Theater, The College of New Jersey, Ewing. Friday, March 24, 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 26, 3 p.m. $15 to $75.
More: www.bohemeopera.org. ***
The next concert of PSO’s season passes the baton to Sameer Patel, who conducts the world premiere of William Harvey’s “Seven Decisions of Gandhi.”
Harvey is not only the piece’s composer but also its violin soloist, and he will be joined by Dibyarka Chatterjee on the tabla, a traditional “Indian subcontinent” percussion instrument with two drums of contrasting size and pitch.
Also on the program are Alexander Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances,” from the opera “Prince Igor,” and Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony.
Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University. Saturday, March 11, 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 12, 4 p.m. $30 to $112. Youth (ages 5 to 17) pay half-price.
Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University
The Richardson Chamber Players present “March of the Women” at the Richardson Auditorium. The afternoon program of mixed chamber works, inspired by Ethel Smyth’s 1911 composition of the same name, will feature members of the Princeton University Glee Club.
Other performances for the faculty, guest artists, and student musicians are to follow. Sunday, March 5, 3 p.m. $20
Tenor Lawrence Brownlee and pianist Kevin J. Miller share their talents onstage in “Rise,” a program of “new settings of Harlem Renaissance texts by contemporary Black composers.” Wednesday,
March 8, 7:30 p.m. $25 to $40
The Performances Up Close series, in which small audiences are invited to sit on the Richardson stage, continues with a visit from the Chiaroscuro String Quartet, who are set to perform “a program rooted in love” with the sounds of violins and cellos.
The concert features Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95 “Serioso,” and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13. Sunday, March 26, 3 and 6 p.m. $40.
The Jupiter Ensemble presents an all-Vivaldi program starring artistic direc-
Cultural performances bring on the vibrant colors with the Ragamala Dance Company’s “Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim,” left, and Dublin Irish Dance’s “Wings: A Celtic Dance Celebration,” right.
tor Thomas Dunford on lute and Lea Desandre, a mezzo-soprano, joined by fellow musicians to help make hearing Vivaldi all the more vivid. Thursday, March 30, 7:30 p.m. $25 to $40
Award-winning Italian violinist Lorenzo Mazzamuto and the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey serenade audiences into
spring in a rendition of Vivaldi’s “The Seasons” at the Trenton War Memorial’s Patriots Theater.
After being chosen out of the 15 local pianists who auditioned for CPNJ’s inaugural “Youth Concerto Competition” in January, winner Angela Zhang will perform Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” in C minor with the orchestra that night.
Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton. Saturday, March 18, 7:30 p.m. $10 to $50.
More: www.capitalphilharmonic.org
Mill Hill Playhouse, 205 East Front Street, Trenton
“Clean Slate,” a new musical about “radical empathy,” introduces the audience to “a group of disaffected high school students” in “a rehabilitation camp that may, or may not, also be haunted by the souls of former” missing campers.
The work by “Alien 8” creators—with a book by New Jersey playwright David Lee
White and lyrics and music by Kate Brennan—is a co-production with Passage Theatre and Rider University. Passage artistic director C. Ryanne Domingues directs, while Louis Danowsky oversees the musical direction. March 10 through 12. $33.
“
Rendition: A Night of PlayLab Readings” centers on two new works by area playwrights with a community discussion
about the development process. Saturday, April 22. $15 to $25.
More: 609-392-0766 or www.passagetheatre.org
“Wuthering Heights” is a freewheeling and irreverent theatrical interpretation
of British novelist Emily Brontë’s famed 1847 novel of passion, love, and revenge in the wilds of Yorkshire.
Presented in association with the Berkeley Repertory Theater in California, the work featuring original music and movement was written and directed by Britain-based Emma Rice, performed by her company, Wise Child, and co-produced with the National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, and York Theatre Royal. Matthews Theater, 91 University Place, Princeton February 23 through March 12. $25 to $60.
Old City Hall, 13 Crosswicks St., Bordentown
“Bordentown’s Dramatic Future” is an evening with David Lee White, Bordentown’s nationally produced playwright, whose new musical, “Clean Slate,” is currently having its world premiere at Trenton’s Passage Theater, and Peter Alexander, the founder and artistic director of Bordentown’s nonprofit professional Pegasus Theater Company. Dan Aubrey, U.S. 1 Newspaper editor and past theater producer, will host. Saturday, March 4, 4 p.m. Free
The Pegasus Theater then presents “Every Brilliant Thing,” directed by Bordentown theater artist Jonathan Martin and starring Peter Alexander. March 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, and 26. Tickets $30 to $35.
Bordentown’s theater scene brings together “Clean Slate” playwright David Lee White, above left , with Pegasus Theater Company’s founder and artistic director, Peter Alexander, left , on March 4, for an event titled “Bordentown’s Dramatic Future.”
The musical “Clean Slate,” above right, is a co-production of Rider University and Passage Theater and will be performed at Trenton’s Mill Hill Playhouse from March 10 to 12.
Original Artwork by Alia Bensliman.
The Most Affordable Summer Camp in Mercer County
Boys & Girls Clubs (BGC) has the most affordable Summer Camp in Mercer County! BGC provides quality curriculum, great themes and exciting trips for youth ages 5-14. Register for just one, or all ten weeks of Summer Camp. Early bird rates are available until April 29th and scholarships are available to those who qualify.
Campers age 5-10 go on one trip per week and Tween Travel campers, ages 11-14, participate in three weekly trips. Campers of all ages enjoy a new theme each week, and participate in swimming, STEM, sports, art, reading, outdoor education and other fun activities onsite while combatting summer learning loss.
Two convenient locations:
212 Centre Street, Trenton
1040 Spruce Street, Lawrence
For more information or to
We get that all kids (and families!) need a break from the school year. But taking a complete break from academics this summer won’t help the fall go any better. A summer learning program can help!
Here are three reasons why adding supplemental learning to your summer schedule will make all the difference in the fall!
1. Fill In Skill Gaps While Moving at Your Child’s Pace. During the school year, teachers need to move quickly, whether your child fully understands a topic or not. Your child is constantly chasing a moving target.
strong foundation for the next grade level — or better yet, get ahead!
2. Head into Big Transition Years
With Confidence. Throughout your child’s academic journey, there are certain grade transitions that represent BIG jumps in responsibility and independence.
These big transitions include going from:
-2nd grade into 3rd grade
-Elementary to middle school
-Middle school to high school
-High school to college/university
register go to www.bgcmercer.org/ summercamp or call a membership office 609-695-6060 or 609-392-3191, and select option “0”.
See ad, page 11.
Mini
For pre-schoolers through rst grade. Features themes like Disney Princesses, Mermaids, TikTok Dances. Dancing, arts and crafts and fun! Technique
For the dancers looking to keep their skills up in ballet, jazz and contemporary.
Over the summer, though, your child can move at his or her own pace. There’s no chasing other students. You don’t have to worry about the class getting way ahead.
This summer your child can spend the time needed to fill in gaps in learning from the school year and build a
Why 2nd to 3rd grade, you wonder? Third grade is the year that the training wheels come off. Your child will go from learning to read, to starting to read to learn. If your child isn’t ready for that transition, he or she will have trouble making that jump with the rest of the class.
We’ve seen that virtual or hybrid school hit young students the hardest, so getting your kindergartner, 1st or 2nd grader ready for the new challenges and harder concepts will be critical.
For older kids, the transition to high school and college/university academics can be a shock, particularly the rigors of advanced-level reading and writing assignments.
With a tutor, your son or daughter will be well prepared and eliminate the risk of stumbling.
3. Raise SAT® or ACT® Scores
With Summer Help. Summer is the most popular time to get a tutor for SAT or ACT preparation!
Over the summer, your teen can focus on test-taking strategies and finetuning skills without all the stresses and distractions of school.
If you have a soon-to-be senior, your teen has likely taken the exam already. Your tutor will be able to look at the results and know exactly where focus to help your teen improve results on the next exam.
One of the subjects that we see teens struggle with on the ACT and SAT is algebra. Why? Their skills get rusty. (Use it or lose it, right?) Your tutor can make sure your teen gets an awesome refresher before the big test in the late summer or early fall.
Get
This Summer at Sylvan. Not sure where your child really stands after this school year? We can help.
Our Sylvan Insight™ assessment will give you deep insights into your child’s strengths and skill gaps. Then, our team of experts will create a personalized plan that for your child’s exact needs.
If your child is on pace with school, he or she will get awesome skill practice to make sure skills stay sharp over the summer.
If your child is ahead, he or she will get enrichment activities, so he or she can move further and faster in the upcoming grade level.
If your child is behind, your child will get the instruction and practice to get up-to-speed.
And it’s even easier to schedule learning over the summer. We will work around your plans!
And it’s even easier to schedule our tutors over the summer (many of them are teachers who are off from school), so you can easily work around your summer plans.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if your child headed back to school with the same enthusiasm he or she had for the start of summer?
Sylvan Learning, 3635 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton. 609-5889037. www.sylvanlearning.com. See ad, page 13
July 24th - 28th
9:30am - 11:30am
Ages: 3-7
Each day your child will enter a world of imagination where story time becomes an adventure with music, art, crafting and dance.
Cost: $185.00
Pre-registration required. Last day to register: July 17th
Performance: July 28th
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL
(609) 883-8083 189
EARLY REGISTRATION
$370/wk for full-day & $230/wk for half-day
Deadline: May 1st, 2023
REGULAR RATE $385/wk
• Boys & girls, ages 7-14
• Monday-Friday camp
• Full-day ($385/wk) and half-day ($240/wk)
• Early drop-off & late pick-up options (at an additional cost)
• Technical, tactical, physical, & psychological soccer game components, in addition to fun activities & games
• Positive learning environment
CAMP DATES
Camps begin the week of July 10th and run weekly through the week of August 14th.
Registration and Information at www.wwpsa.org
At Sawmill Summer Day Camp we have 50 acres of outdoor space, the largest pool in Mercer County, fun activities ranging from sports to crafts and STEM, special events, fun themes and new initiatives! 5 fun-filled days for campers to find their spark, find their sense of wonder, find their friends and FIND THEIR ADVENTURE!
• Find Their Spark. Y camp is a place where kids can develop skills, confidence and new friendships. While camp is a summer rite of passage for kids to play outdoors and learn to swim, they are unknowingly rewarded with personal development skills by participating in their favorite activities and by trying activities they have never tried before. In general, they will leave camp with a stronger sense of identity and a better idea of what they love, which may help them in the classroom, in their relationships and to choose a career path in the future.
• Find Their Sense of Wonder. Kids get to discover all the wonders of the outdoors while making friends and forming memories that will last a lifetime. A recent article from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia stated:
“Scheduling time to actively play outdoors sets a natural limit on the amount of time your child can spend with a device (such as TV, smartphone or video game). “It promotes active engagement with their peers and the natural environment, and helps them develop respect for the
world and consideration for others around them.” Camp provides kids the perfect opportunity to discover the outdoors and get their bodies and imaginations more active.
• Find Their Adventure. Summer is a time for kids to explore new things and expand the limits of their imagination. At Y summer day camp, every day is a new adventure! Creativity can’t be stifled at camp because campers don’t have to worry about getting a failing grade. By limiting this kind of restriction, kids can let their
creativity flow.
• Find Their Friends and Fun. At Y day camp, your kids will make new friends and have tons of fun as they explore new adventures each day. Camp is a social center away from home and school where kids learn to work with each other and adult mentors, build relationships and manage conflict.
Children look at camp as a fun way to spend the summer in the sun and splashing in the pool, but parents understand that camp allows kids to reap many life benefits that will follow them through their lives long after the sun has set on their summer camp days.
We have worked hard to plan an exciting summer full of theme weeks, special events and new experiences! Campers will be immersed in arts and crafts, music, science, dance, sports, swimming and so much more! Our counselors are second to none, having had extensive training to welcome your children for the summer. For more information, visit hamiltonymca. org/camp. See ad, page 12
Camp Mercyville
Where Kids Meet Jesus
Where Kids Meet Jesus
June 26 - August 11 • M-F•8:30am-5pm
Register by March 31st with code EARLY to save 10%
(Early & After care available, 3 or 5 day options)
Open House DatesMarch 25 12-2pm | April 24 6-8pm | May 22 6-8pm
Push The Rock - July 24-28 8:30am-3pm
Basketball Camp for Boys & Girls, - July 24-28 Ages 9-16
Vacation Bible School - August 14-18 9 am - 12 pm
For children ages 4 yrs thru 4th grade
More details at www.gracewaybc.org/camps
1934 Klockner Road Hamilton, NJ 08619 609.586.0223
www.gracewaybc.orgoffice@gracewaybc.org
For more than 120 years, YMCA Camp Mason has welcomed campers to be a part of our caring, inclusive community. We strive for excellence and innovation and believe that every child deserves the opportunity to discover who they are and what they can achieve. Our proven programs and trained counselors engage and encourage young people and deliver meaningful and memorable experiences.
We offer archery, swimming, boating, arts and crafts, drama, music, a climbing tower, zipline, dance, digital photography and movie making, basketball and court sports, a skateboard park, mountain biking, hiking and countless other activities. Campers can even sign up for FREE off-site trips to explore our fantastic natural surroundings. There is something for everyone!
If you are ready for your child to thrive, develop a positive sense of self and have THE BEST SUMMER EVER, go to our website at www. campmason.org, call 908-362-8217 or email information@campmason.org to register today. See ad, page 8.
Lawrence Hamnett Soccer Association (LHSA) has opened up their Rec Soccer registration for the upcoming Spring season. LHSA provides a soccer environment that stresses a relaxed, fun-oriented approach to the game where we focus on basic soccer skills and provide a fun competitive approach to games with a high standard for good
sportsmanship and fair play.
The recreational soccer program is open to any child from any town ages 3 and up. The program offers Friday Night training sessions led by trainers from the New York Red Bulls along with games on the weekend. Each session is roughly 1 hour long where kids will have fun learning the game, competing in games and meeting new friends.
To register or find more information on the program or times for specific age groups, visit us at lawrencehamnett.com.
See ad, page 10
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
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
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.
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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
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gravitational pull as seen through black holes and wormholes, as well as others that can be found on the PEMS website, princetoneinsteinmuseum.org, with accompanying artwork.
PEMS has been the recipient of multiple donations and grants thus far, including gifts from the Stephen & Ann Jasperson Charitable Fund and the McCutchen Foundation. According to the early calculations of Romanaux’s team, she expects “about 130,000” people to come to PEMS a year, with that figure composed of students on field trips, families, and “a surprising wave of international visitors.”
Romanaux observed that families who come to town with their children often “walk up and down” Nassau Street before returning home, noting that many “just want a casual, drop-in visit somewhere” that is not currently available.
“There are some barriers to just doing a very simple, fast, family fun activity here,” she said, and with the traffic from Princeton University alone able to attract those in town for a conference or campus trip, Romanux thinks there is “pent-up demand to find out about Einstein.”
“[PEMS] is an asset for people. It’s a visitor asset, it’s a resident asset, it’s a student asset, and it’s a workforce asset, so I think this little, tiny museum aspires to do a lot of things,” she added. “I need people to understand what this is going to do for Central New Jersey and for the town. It will be a wonderful asset.”
By featuring interactive environments and less of the traditional atmosphere of a museum with historical artifacts that need to be preserved and then maintained, a boutique style appeals to Romanaux’s strengths while helping her achieve her goal of championing science for younger audiences. She also wants to communicate to parents, whose perception of science matters to impressionable youth, that an adolescent love of science can blossom
into a successful career.
“If you were to get a kid interested in any science at all, it doesn’t really matter where they start; what you need to do is get them to think that science is fun and interesting, and then they want to join the coding club, the robotics club, or sign up for another science course in high school. It’s a process,” Romanaux said. “What I want to do in this museum is just get people to think that science is fun. You don’t necessarily need them to walk out the door understanding quantum physics. You’d like them to know something about what it is, but I think people instinctively understand a thing a little bit if they do the activity.”
From her time with LSC, the director noted, she “came away with a set of principles,” one of which is that museumgoers have a vested interest in themselves, “so if you can get exhibits to reflect the visitor themselves, you’re going to get a lot more connection with them.”
In an activity about E = mc2, Romanaux said, users will be able to calculate their own potential for atomic energy after manually inputting their own weight. Then, that will be converted to mass “and show you how much energy is contained within the atoms in your body. It’s something enormous; these are huge numbers, and that will be about you, the visitor. You will get to see how much energy is in your atoms, which I think is fun.”
Influenced by the philosophy of science centers, Romanaux explained that encouraging people of all ages to figure out and work through the science can help them better understand the core principles of it.
Because of the simplification of science education in Romanaux’s youth and many others, associations with the subject have suffered. Instead of lectures, she recognized the importance that content “hav-
ing a relationship with people’s lives” can have, using the example of seeing a teacher draw a leaf’s stomata on the board versus venturing outside to pick a specimen, then examining it under a microscope.
That “ah-ha” moment of connection, as Romanaux explains, is like “brain candy.”
“It’s something sweet for your brain, when you get that sudden perception of something in a new way, I think it feeds into a very positive impact for people,” she said, equating it to completing a satisfactory puzzle.
In earnest, Romanaux acknowledged that she has an “affinity for old Princeton” and wants to keep Einstein’s image alive by promoting the areas of STEAM, or science, technology, engineering, art, and math, to children.
Einstein could picture problems in his head, “for example, the new view of gravity, not as a force between two objects, but bending of the space-time continuum,” as Romanaux explained. “Einstein couldn’t prove it. He could do the math. He could think of the idea, but then it was proven in 1919, and that’s really when he became famous.”
Einstein and his theory of general relativity “ousted” Sir Isaac Newton as the prevailing expert when scientists corroborated Einstein’s findings during a total solar eclipse on May 29, 1919, thus launching him into stardom and bending the scientist into a figure of fame.
“The way they proved it was they measured this light coming from a star, and then during a full solar eclipse, as the sun moved closer to that star, they measured where the starlight came from, and sure enough, it shifted a little bit. The starlight was being attracted by the sun as it went by before it came to us, just by a tiny amount, and by the amount that Einstein predicted,” Romanaux said. “What was going on in his head that he could figure that out walking around town and with a piece of paper? It’s extraordinary. It really is.”
PEMS hopes to “recreate” that event in a
See EINSTEIN, Page 8
theater experience that uses lights to guide guests in their understanding of how each person’s mass can affect gravitational space-time. Guests will also be able to simulate the aging process in an exhibit on gravitational time dilation, “learn about the behavior of atoms and molecules,” and explore the photoelectric effect, which Einstein received the Nobel Prize for in 1922.
“People are always trying to prove Einstein wrong. They haven’t done it yet. It’s kind of amazing, considering he just did it in his head. He was a little old guy shuffling around town without his socks, thinking of amazing things,” Romanaux explained. “We want to paint a little portrait about him as a person in addition to a scientist.”
Romanaux comes from a family of Princeton graduates, while her grandfather was on the university’s Board of Trustees. She moved permanently to Princeton in 1963.
Romanaux grew up in a “rural setting” by River Road where her mother, Margen, a native of Eureka, California, wanted to ensure her children would form a connection with the natural world.
Romanaux and her siblings wandered through the fields and woods, where she built bird blinds, caught frogs, and embarked on canoe journeys or skated across Lake Carnegie.
On her mother’s orders, Romanaux would ride her bike or walk to Littlebrook Elementary School. She played sports with others in the neighborhood and graduated from Princeton Day School, always in constant motion — an energy she has since applied to her work.
While her siblings both became attorneys, because of this “quintessential country childhood,” Romanaux was drawn to science, an interest that surprised even her par-
ents.
Margen, a graduate of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, also pursued law school, but stopped after her husband’s sudden death.
While she would never return to school, Margen used her legal knowledge as chairman of the Princeton Regional Planning Board in the 1980s. According to Romanaux, she considered her mother to be an “early environmentalist” for her part in projects dedicated to “saving” the Princeton Battlefield and D&R Canal Park from further development.
“It was actually fun to watch her,” Romanaux admitted. “I would go sometimes, and these young people would come in, and they would want to do some vast development or something in town, and she would just let them talk,” with Romanaux noting that her oft-blunt mother did not dress fancy, causing her to appear “unassuming to others.”
“At the end of the conversation, she would tell them the three legal mistakes they had made and ‘no, they couldn’t do this,’ ‘they couldn’t do that.’ I think they were a little astonished. She was brilliant,” Romanaux recalled. “[My parents] were both absolutely brilliant people and very committed.”
“My dad worked really long hours as a psychiatrist because so many people needed him,” she said, noting his “big waiting list” and late-night hours.
Romanaux received her bachelor’s in anthropology from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, “one of the four remaining Seven Sisters,” with a minor in geology. While she originally wanted to study the science behind earthquake predictions, the math involved was a deterrent to pursuing it as a career.
Before Liberty Science Center, Romanaux worked at the Kreisberg Group, a boutique PR firm in New York City for major museum projects. In representation of architects Beyer Blinder Belle, Romanaux was a part of the opening of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. She is also a former president of the networking and professional development membership group known as the NJ Association of Museums.
Romanaux, who has always been drawn to Einstein, first formulated the idea of a museum after retiring during the COVID pandemic, and when she told Princeton Mayor Mark Freda about it, he encouraged her to take it on as a potential project.
“I had not really expected to take this whole thing on myself, but I thought about it, and I realized it plays into all my strengths. I want to do this. I’m interested in this. I have the time to do this,” she said, then called Dr. Joseph H. Taylor, the winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics and a professor emeritus at Princeton University, whom she knew through working with his wife at the Bryn Mawr-Wellesley Book Sale.
He agreed to help and be on the advisory committee, bringing in other advocates who would join from the varied backgrounds of academia, science, history, business, etc., which now includes another Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Dr. James Peebles, the recipient of the 2019 award and Albert Einstein Professor of Science Emeritus at Princeton University, in addition to other professors from Harvard and M.I.T.
Romanaux spent about six months researching, consulting, and talking with people to get “back end” questions about the museum process answered. She taught herself how to shoot and edit videos like the one on the “About” page of the PEMS website, which she also maintains.
Romanaux recruited Robert Landau, the retired owner of Landau’s Einstein Museum, a collection of Einstein memorabilia and ephemera that closed in 2020 alongside his longtime clothing store, as a secretary and board member.
The items have since been relocated to the Historical Society of Princeton’s permanent “Einstein Salon and Innovators Gallery,” where the materials, including 65 pieces of furniture from his former home donated by the Institute for Advanced Study, are cared for.
“I think Einstein was such a humanitarian, and he was such a mild person. He was so modest. I heard a great story recently which said that when he came to Princeton, the Institute for Advanced Study asked him how much money he wanted, and Einstein named a figure so low that the Institute was embarrassed to pay him that much, and they gave him a lot more money. He didn’t need much. He needed to just be comfortable and be in his mind.”
And in his mind he was, whether walking down the street in an L.L. Bean sweatshirt and without both or any shoes, down to earth with a Princetonian affect. Einstein liked to garden and sail, although, according to a story Romanaux heard, he was not exceptionally skilled in the latter, “because I’m told that he would start thinking about something and just quietly run into the shore on the other side. He was very much living in his head a lot of the time.”
During these trips of thinking and leisure, Einstein would get his ice cream from the Baltimore Dairy Lunch, colloquially referred to as “The Balt,” at 82 Nassau Street in Princeton, which closed in 1963 and is now the home of the newly opened Nassau Diner.
Most of these “old Princeton” businesses have since moved on with the shuttering of doors and signing of contracts, transforming the town into an increasingly modernist landscape. However, Einstein’s house is still owned by the Institute for Advanced Study, yet it attracts so many curious onlookers that people have mistaken nearby homes for his and accidentally trespassed.
Romanaux wants PEMS to highlight Einstein’s history of civil rights activism that went, by and large, unre-
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Sherri L. Warfel
For more than 15 years, Ms. Warfel’s practice has focused on assisting victims of nursing home abuse and negligence. She has been a featured speaker and panelist regarding issues in nursing home litigation and has worked to obtain favorable decisions on behalf of nursing home residents, including a notable case involving forced arbitration. Her efforts have resulted in millions of dollars for her injured clients. Together, PR&A and Ms. Warfel will provide unrelenting representation to nursing home clients to ensure they are compensated fairly.
ported in the press but was widely known in Princeton’s historically Black Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood.
Romanaux is in the process of co-developing a moving pop-up exhibit with historian educator and Shirley Satterfield of the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society, which is intended to debut on Juneteenth of this year. With 12 panels and corresponding audio recordings, the project will share the stories of “the four remaining people in Princeton who knew Einstein as children,” including Satterfield, according to Romanaux.
In conversations with her, Romanaux said that Satterfield mentioned that the media’s lack of attention on this topic made it so white people at the time, both nationwide and in Princeton, were completely unaware of Einstein’s historical presence there. Romanaux called this an “information gap” that she will strive to address through PEMS.
“There is a lot of value to our history,” she said. “We need to further embrace and expand our history, but we also need to think about the world and where we’re going; oddly enough, Einstein is part of that, even though he’s been dead for so long.”
Einstein was longtime friends with Princeton native, entertainer, and activist Paul Robeson, as well as singer Marian Anderson, who would come stay with Einstein after he offered his “personal home” for her to stay at when the Princeton hotels refused to give her a room. Anderson would take him up on that when she came to town to perform at McCarter Theatre.
He also volunteered as the “star character witness” in the 1951 trial of sociologist and historian W. E. B. Du Bois after corresponding with him for two decades; once Einstein made this announcement, the case against Du Bois was dropped.
In 1946, Einstein visited Lincoln University, which was the country’s first Historically Black College and University, or HBCU, to award degrees. There, he
delivered a commencement speech with the following quote, albeit with wording reflective of the era, that Romanaux referenced as being a powerful statement.
“There is separation of colored people from white people in the United States… That separation is not a disease of colored people. It is a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it,” Einstein was reported to have said.
In addition to these famous names and historical moments, Romanaux explained, Einstein also chatted up the “local people in the center of town,” visiting the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood multiple times a week to sit on people’s porches for hours of sharing cookies, conversation, and companionship.
This association is “a source of local pride” for the community, Romanaux said.
“I think it’s important to tell the whole history. We have in the past, as a nation, focused on the history that was convenient, and now we need to have the realistic history of Einstein being Jewish and having escaped from Nazi Germany.”
Einstein, who was persecuted for his religion and was never able to return to his home country, would later have a German bounty on his head and was the subject of constant surveillance from the FBI, which had more than 1,400 documents on him.
According to Romanaux, when Einstein arrived, he was “shocked” at the level of anti-Black racism in America, as detailed further in Matthew Francis’ March 3, 2017 article for the Smithsonian Magazine, “How Albert Einstein Used His Fame to Denounce American Racism.”
“The irony of ending in Princeton, one of the most racially segregated towns in the northern U.S., was not lost on Einstein. While no town was free of racism, Princeton had segregated schools and churches,
generally following the Jim Crow model in practice if not by law,” and the institution did not admit any Black students to the University “until 1942,” Francis wrote. There are also plans for another pop-up exhibit featuring “prototypes of the exhibits,” which might launch in the two years or 18 months before PEMS can officially open.
AtLSC, Romanaux was instrumental in coordinating the installation of new wayfinding signs at Liberty State Park with NJ Transit leading passengers to the site and had the chance to experience zero-gravity weightless in NASA’s KC-135A “Vomit Comet,” a zero-gravity simulator aircraft, at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston in 2004. One of her favorite publicity stunts, she said, was the construction of a 20-foothigh vinyl Rubik’s Cube, which went out on a barge on the Hudson River. When LSC opened the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, the largest in the Western Hemisphere, in 2017, Romanaux promoted it with the painting of a building-wide mural, accentuated by selfie spots for maximum social media circulation.
These whimsical projects, most of which were “off-the rails” in idea, according to Romanaux, have become special ways of showing her enthusiasm for science education.
Joined by HSP and the Princeton International School of Math and Science (PRISMS), PEMS will be at the Princeton Public Library’s “Einstein Open Archive for Families” event Saturday, March 11, in the Princeton Public Library’s CoLab Space from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. (See page 2 for more information on Pi Day events.)
“It’s funny, because Pi Day is really about a number, and it’s grown to encom-
pass physics — because of Einstein’s birthday — and math,” Romanaux said.
She added that Einstein’s eccentric nature gives him a unique appeal to younger audiences, so with a host of activities, stations, puzzles, challenges, and more, a Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory scientist will also be available for inquiries.
She has confidence in her ability to appeal to global media, but explained that rather than take on the role herself, she is looking to hire a director and staff, as well as volunteers. Romanaux is looking to bring in anyone with an interest in making PEMS a reality, noting that her current team has united for this common goal despite coming from different credentials.
“I just want to get people turned on to science. I really do believe that for as many issues as science has caused us, that we are on the path to science and technology really making our lives better,” Romanaux explained.
As the fundraising process moves forward, PEMS will continue to draw from Romanaux’s core belief that everyone “should enjoy” what they are doing in life. Such an ambition, in her opinion, reanimates the principles that Einstein embodied in physics and daily practice, thus “reflecting who we are in Princeton” by emphasizing the equal value of pursuing happiness as in every intellectual pursuit.
While a capital campaign will be announced in the future, any individuals or entities looking to donate larger amounts of money can do so at several themed levels, starting with “quark,” then progressing to electron, neutron, proton, and atomic.
Her idea for PEMS takes inspiration from Quark Park, Princeton’s temporary outdoor exhibit joining landscape architects, sculptors, scientists, engineers, and more to create a downtown garden display with aesthetics featuring form and light.
“It was a physical representation of the scientific work that people were doing, and it was kinetic, and it was neon, and it was moving, and it was huge,” she said, finding the installation “mind-blowing” for its ingenuity, then tucking away the value of such an explosion of brilliance in her mind for future reference.
The former vacant lot where Quark Park, named after the subatomic particle, once stood has since been developed into new residential housing. But because of the collaboration’s strong influence, Romanaux is striving to “make a nod to Quark Park” by sharing that Princetonian vision “to recreate that sense of wonder about the natural world.”
As the boutique museum becomes “internationally known,” according to Romanaux, she predicts PEMS will not only benefit the town but guarantee that “Central New Jersey, in general, is going to get this sparkling new jewel,” she said.
More information: princetoneinsteinmuseum.org.
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