Current Bordentown
OCTOBER 2021 FREE
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
SPOrTS
ELECTION 2021
‘Backbone’ Poinsett key to Scotties’ defense
Familiar names on area ballots By Joe EMAnSKI
By RICH FISHer
At 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, Mike Poinsett is often faced with much larger ball carriers barreling in his direction. His plan of attack is direct and logical. “Nobody can run without their legs,” the Bordentown High linebacker said. “If I’m tackling a big guy, I just go for the legs.” If it’s a bigger blocker getting in Poinsett’s way, he opts for quickness over power. “I know I can use my speed and my moves to get off the block to get the tackle,” he said. It is that kind of attitude that prompts Scotties football coach Skip Edwards to say “He is the backbone of our defense and doesn’t get the credit he deserves.” “Mike is basically the quarterback of our defense,” Edwards continued. “He just puts it all out on the field. The kids respect him, they like what he is, who is and how he is. You can’t ask for a better leader. Even though he’s not one of our captains he is a leader on the team.” Only a junior, Poinsett is already a grizzled veteran. In a winless 2019 season, when Edwards played a lot of freshSee POINSETT, Page 19
Left: the head of a life-sized Jersey Devil sculpture on display at the New Jersey Pinelands Preservation Alliance in Southampton. Right: A time-washed gravestone in the Church Street cemetery, mentioned in Albinus Alba’s 1905 article claiming that the Jersey Devil was born in Bordentown.
Time to welcome the Jersey Devil home — to Bordentown By DAn Aubrey
The Jersey Devil was born in Bordentown. So claims a 1905 newspaper article written by Alminus Alba. That early 20th story appears briefly in the 2018 book The Secret History of the Jersey Devil: How Quakers, Hucksters, and Benjamin Franklin Created a Monster. Written by Kean University history professors Brian Regal and Frank J. Esposito and published by John Hopkins Uni-
versity Press, it’s a good start for this overview that leads to the Bordentown connection. That’s because The Secret History authoritatively connects the myth of a demon child that still haunts New Jersey to a feud between two prominent 18th century Philadelphia almanac publishers. One, obviously, was Benjamin Franklin. The other was a member of the Leeds family. Together, they vied for business in New Jersey and in the communities along the Dela-
ware River — especially in the Quaker region of what is now Burlington County. Although Quaker, almanac founder Daniel Leeds used his publication to criticize the church’s hierarchy and its decisions. Fellow Quakers fought back by questioning the publisher’s spiritual leanings and began to consider him demonic. At the same time, Franklin was establishing his paper using tongue-in-cheek stories See DEVIL, Page 6
(609) 379-3860 www.TitleEvolution.com See our our ad ad on on page See page 19
Voters in Bordentown Township and Fieldsboro will see many familiar names in the municipal races on their ballots this fall. In the township, two-term incumbent Democrats Steve Benowitz and Eric Holliday, currently serving as mayor and deputy mayor, are running against GOP challengers Nicholas D’Angelo and Rob Delaney. D’Angelo is a first-timer on the ballot, but Delaney served a term on the committee from 2005-2008. In Fieldsboro, incumbent Democratic Mayor David Hansell is running unopposed, while incumbent Democrat council members Amy Telford and Andrew Weber have one Republican challenger, Timothy Tyler, who has served multiple terms as the Burlington County Clerk. Bordentown City holds its municipal elections in May, but city voters have a chance to vote in the Bordentown Regional School District Board of Education election, where incumbent Mike James is unopposed. In the township, incumbents Richard Carpenter and Katherine Clark are running against newcomer Ryan Cody. For more of our election coverage, turn to page 9.
NOW OPEN! see our ad on page 20
1179 NEWARK, NJ