Around Town Scouts adopt Bordentown Station in revived NJ Transit program

On Wednesday, April 19, Bordentown’s Boy Scout Troop 13 helped clean up Bordentown Station as part of New Jersey Transit’s newly relaunched Adopt-a-Station program, helping to fulfill their commitment to community service.

Through the Adopt-a-Station program, community groups can “adopt” their local train station to maintain its character as a focal point of their neighborhood, through activities such as planting flowers, performing light landscaping, or removing litter.

“It’s cool to help out and see the results of our work. A lot of people come through this station, and hopefully they’ll have a good first impression of Bordentown,” said Luke Williams, a scout in the troop.

Troop 13 has a special tie with NJ Transit. Vaughan Williams, father of two scouts in the troop, serves on the Troop Committee, and works as the chief marketing officer for NJ Transit. He helped relaunch the Adopt-a-Station program in December, and always had Troop 13 in mind.

“We really want our stations to be cel- ebrated and featured as hubs and focal points in their neighborhoods. Thanks to a generous donation from American Express, which pays for the materials, like vests, gloves and trash bags, we’re excited to bring this to life,” Williams said in a media release.

“The fit with Scouting is natural,” said Troop 13 Scoutmaster Rich Dzieglewski.

“It’s a great way for the scouts to help our community, build camaraderie, and it doesn’t require a huge amount of work.”

Groups that are interested in adopting a station can go online to njtransit.com/ adopt to learn more or submit an application. There is no cost to participate in the program.

PorchFest set for May 6 return

Bordentown PorchFest, a free, citywide, family-friendly musical event, is set to return for its second year on Saturday, May 6 from noon to 5 p.m.

On the day of PorchFest, local resi- dents offer up their porches to musicians who give mini-concerts to passersby. People are invited to stroll from porch to porch, taking in as many of these concerts as they desire.

Host porches for this year’s PorchFest will be located on the following streets in Bordentown City: East Burlington Street, East Union Street, Elizabeth Street, Farnsworth Avenue, Mary Street, Myrtle Avenue, Park Street, Prince Street, Second Street and West Chestnut Street. A complete list of addresses and showtimes is available online at btownporchfest.org.

Artists set to perform include: Talking in Cursive, Leo Silverman, Fake Pockets, The Over the Counter Collective, Paper Geese, Daniel Mosovich, Bordentown Parlor Pickers, Blues and Then Some, Knick and the Kutt, Midnight Masqueraders, Love? said the Commander, The DeMasi Brothers, Slugger O’Toole, The Justin Lee Duo, Anna Madden, Atlas Cypress, Wednesday Jam, Gabriel PB, Dread Pilot Roberts, Kristin Mount and Friends and Zoe’s Diary.

Live Music

Proceeds from the Street of Dreams Car Show will bene t the Foundation for Bordentown Traditions email: bordentowntraditions@gmail.com

Also set to perform are The Successful Failures, Denny Slavin, Fred Stein, Lora McQueen, The Grouser Girls, Thomas Duffy, The BordenTones, Meptitude, Vincent Inciong, Prince Street Punks, Lori Klugman, Alpha Rabbit, Rightous Jolly and the M.E.N., Mya Rose Tozzi, Skelly, John Magill, Alex Pepiak/Lost Art, Sensoren, The Amorphous Blob Orchestra, Crossing Yardley, Uncle Satellite, Jester of No Court, Acoustic Mixtape, John Wilkey, Duly Noted Quartet, Johnny Showcase and Rumi Kitchen, and Bad Leather.

PorchFest is organized by Bordentown Arts, a Bordentown City-based, independent, nonprofit foundation. The rain date is Sunday, May 7.

Bordentown Street Fair set for May 20

The 44th Bordentown Street Fair is set to take place this year all along Farnsworth Avenue, offering a variety of shopping, dining, entertainment and family fun opportunities.

The one-day event is scheduled for Saturday, May 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The rain date is Sunday, May 21.

Scheduled to appear on stage during the fair are School of Rock Princeton (10:15 to 11:30 a.m.), Harmonie Dance Performance (1:30 p.m.) and The Successful Failures Band (2 to 4 p.m.) A 10:30 a.m. parade honoring the U.S. Armed

Forces is also planned, along with an 11 a.m. wreath ceremony at the City Veterans Memorial.

The fair is hosted by the Burlington Mercer Chamber of Commerce. Free shuttle buses will be available to provide transportation. For more information, go online to bordentownstreetfair.com.

Laundromat hosting Spin Fest charity drive

Spin Doctor Laundromat is running its annual Spring Spin-Fest through May 31.

Spin Doctor, 1070 Whitehorse-Mercerville Road at Kuser Road, Hamilton Township, says it is pledging $2 from every comforter washed April 1 through May 31 to the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, John T. Dempster Jr. Division, a nonprofit organization located in Lawrence Township, Mercer County. The organization’s mission is to foster teamwork and self-confidence and teaches leadership skills to young men and women ages 11 to 17 years old.

The division has supported events at Rutgers University, marched in parades, and trained with members of the military and law enforcement. The charity drive will also feature a prize giveaway of a king-size bed set. On the Web: spindoctorlaundromat.com or call (609) 981-7746.

Author to chat about new book on historic New Jersey taverns

Author Michael C. Gabriele is scheduled to appear at the Bordentown Historical Society Meeting House on May 6 to discuss his book, Colonial Taverns of New Jersey: Libations, Liberty and Revolution.

Gabriele’s lecture and book signing event is scheduled to take place from 1 to 2 p.m. at the meetinghouse, 302 Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown.

Gabriele, a New Jersey-based author, has written four other books on Garden State history, all published by Arcadia Publishing/The History Press. His previous books are, in chronological order: The Golden Age of Bicycle Racing in New Jersey (2011), The History of Diners in New Jersey (2013), New Jersey Folk Revival Music: History and Tradition (2016) and Stories from New Jersey Diners: Monuments to Community (2019).

A lifelong New Jersey resident, he is a 1975 graduate of Montclair State University and has worked as a journalist, free- lance writer and author for more than forty years. Gabriele will discuss many New Jersey colonial taverns in his lecture, including Bordentown’s Washington House. ners are set to take part in the “Three Pint Challenge,” a five-mile trek starting at The Blend Bar and Bistro on Route 33 in Hamilton and ending at Tír na nOg. The route will take the runners by another local bar, Killarney’s Publick House in Hamilton, and the runners have pledged to drink a pint of beer at all three locations before continuing to the finish. bartender at Tír na nOg since the year it opened.

Also scheduled to take place at the meetinghouse this month is a lecture, “Past and Future Archeology at Joseph Bonaparte’s Point Breeze Estate,” to be presented by Rich Veit.

Veit, author and professor of anthropology and associate dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University, will offer perspective on the archeology of Point Breeze, the estate in Bordentown in which Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s older brother lived from 1816 to 1839. Veit has conducted 2 archeological digs at Point Breeze: the first in 2007-2008 at the site of Bonaparte’s first mansion, and the second in 2021 at the Gardener’s House.

The lecture is scheduled for 3 to 4 p.m. The events are free to attend with a recommended donation of $10. To register, go online to bordentownhistoricalsociety.org.

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Tír na nOg owner Todd Faulkner is among those set to take part. Also planning to run are Dennis Griffin, John Knapp, Toby Oberg, Eoin O’Reilly, Natalie Wilson, Justin Lotter, Eric Nutt, Bryan Wible and Katie Gallagher. Many of the runners are either Division 10 members, Tír na nOg regulars, or both.

Faulkner says he and wife Maureen have always looked for more ways to support a scholarship that bears the name of the person who created the pub that they now own.

“It’s a great way to keep his name going strong in memory of him, and sending two kids to Ireland to learn what Billy was so passionate about,” he says.

Griffin and his wife, Caroline, have another daughter, Alanna, a musician who performs regularly at Tír na nOg and who regularly takes part in Irish music competitions in Ireland.

A cybersecurity engineer, Griffin seems a little trepidatious about the commitment to down pints at each stop on the run. “I told people I would, so I think I have to,” he says. “The first one is going to be the hard one I think, and the second one will probably be easy because I’ll be thirsty. The third, fourth and fifth ones at Tír na nOg will definitely go down easy.”

The run is scheduled for Sunday, May 7. Though McFadden and Tracey won’t be taking part in the run, they are certainly supporters of the event, whose runners look to raise more than $6,000 to help cover the costs of the scholarship program.

The scholarship is open to high school seniors who either attend school in Mercer County or who have a parent or grandparent who is involved in a local IrishAmerican organization such as the AOH. Applicants are asked to submit essays with the theme, “My Irish Heritage and What it Means to Me.” smires & associates would like to welcome our new agents

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“It was Todd’s idea,” Tracey says. “He reached out to us and said we would love to do this and give the money to the Billy Briggs Memorial Scholarship. Todd has kept Tír na nOg exactly the same (as it was when Briggs owned it), and I think Billy would be really proud.”

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A panel of judges select two winners from all applicants to receive a threeweek trip to Coláiste Bhun An Inbhir, an Irish Cultural College in County Donegal. Winners stay with a host family and are exposed to the language, culture and sports of Ireland. This year’s winners, Christopher Whalen of Hamilton and Matthew Guhl-Erdie of Lawrence, are set to depart for Ireland on July 15, returning home on Aug. 7.

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Faulkner says he and Eric Nutt, another Tír na nOg regular, first had the idea to do a fundraising run a few years ago. This year, they finally turned those plans into reality, recruiting eight other people to do the run with them.

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“I reached out to people I thought would be interested, that I know enjoy running and that support the pub and would support the scholarship,” he says. “There are a couple people too that I wouldn’t classify as runners, but they’re sacrificing and doing it with us.”

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McFadden and Tracey became cochairs of the program in 2020. As the first recipients of the scholarship, McFadden and Tracey are able to share firsthand experience with each year’s winners.

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“We know the environment, we’ve been on the trip,” Tracey says. “Doing this for 13 years, we’ve grown a great relationship with the school. They look forward to having the Americans there every year.”

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Division 10 hosts an annual golf tournament that supports the scholarship as well as local nonprofit organization City of Angels. The Hibernians and Tír na nOg also host guest bartender nights and raffles to raise money.

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The Three-Pint Challenge is not open to further participants. The route from The Blend to Tír na nOg would be difficult, if not impossible, to close down for an organized event, so the runners will be out on the road with just the other nine for company. Those interested in supporting the runners or the scholarship are welcome to join them at Tír na nOg in the afternoon, after they conclude their five-mile journey.

He was a naturalized Irish citizen and a co-founder of the Luke Dillon Division of Irish Northern Aid. He received an Irish Patriot award from Sinn Féin vice president Pat Doherty. Briggs married an Irish woman, Margaret O’Donnell, with whom he had two children, twins Mairéad and Ellen. After his death, Briggs was buried in Ireland in accordance with his wishes.

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Tracey and McFadden, both first generation Irish-Americans, say that when their fathers, Jude and Mark, immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland, they sought out Billy Briggs. Jude Tracey has been a

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McFadden says kids who go on the trip often come back with a newfound sense of independence, having made lifelong friends in the process. “Me and Lauren, when we go back to Ireland, we meet up with the kids we met on the trip,” she says. “In fact, we were recently both just bridesmaids at one of their weddings.”

Dennis Griffin is among the 10 who are training to run in the Three-Pint Challenge. Griffin, a Pennington resident, has also set up a GoFundMe page for fundraising for the event(search for “Three Pint Challenge” on gofundme.com).

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The Three-Pint Challenge is by no means the only fundraising effort for the Billy Briggs Memorial Scholarship. AOH

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Griffin was a regular at Tír na nOg and a friend of Billy Briggs. Briggs was godfather to Griffin’s daughter, Rosemarie, and Rosemarie was among the first recipients of the scholarship.

“Being teenagers, it’s a good time to meet up with people from another culture,” Griffin says. “My daughter met

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“My hopes are we do it as an annual thing and each year we do it better. That way it takes pressure off the committee to raise funds every year,” Faulkner says. “If we can help them by raising money, that’s one less task they have to do, and the Tír na nOg is all about helping out. Being a Div 10 Hibernian, I love to support this, and it’s a great idea that our division came up with.”

More information about the Billy Briggs Memorial Scholarship is online at aohdiv10.com or on Facebook (search for