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Turn trash into art at The Junkyard
Andy’s world Lessons learned from a love of the game and a love of America
BY MARY GALIOTO
BY JOHN MONTELEONE
The young boy, Andy, age 8, eyed the baseball arching high in the air down the right field line into foul territory as it left the sandlot playing field. For most of the crowd watching the baseball game that summer Sunday afternoon in 1926, the ball was out of sight, out of mind. But not for Andy, the nascent baseball enthusiast — at that moment a temporary truant of St. Michael’s Orphanage, which had been established in 1896 on the edge of Hopewell Borough. It housed slightly more than 400 children on 340 acres of farmland bordering the town. In 1926, Hopewell was 150 years removed from local farmer John Hart’s signing of the Declaration of Independence and the British army’s searching the nearby Sourland Mountains for the town’s brave patriots, and just six years shy of experiencing the nation’s “crime of the century,” the kidnapping of the infant son of world famous aviator Charles Lindbergh. The Trenton diocesan orphanage was respectively hometown and home for Andy and his younger brothers, John and Charles. But now the orphanage had one child missing. Andy, his See ANDY, Page 8
The Amateur Astronomy Association of Princeton in 2019: in the front row are Rex Parker, Jen Skitt and David Skitt. In the back are Alix Bennett, Tom Swords, Bill Murray, Victor Davis, Michael Mitrano, John Masters, Gene Ramsey and John Church. Gene Ramsey died after the photo was taken.
Star attraction Astronomy group back in action after long Covid layoff BY NICOLE VIVIANO
If you’ve ever wondered about the vastness of the night sky, the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton might have just the thing for you. After being forced to pause meetings more than a year ago due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the club is finally back and looking at the stars. Founded over 50 years ago, AAAP looks to share the fascination of the night sky
with members and the public through their events and informational meetings. The club owns the Simpson Observatory in Titusville, within the New Jersey half of Washington Crossing State Park, and they were recently allowed to operate the facility under near normal conditions. There is no occupancy limit on the observatory grounds, and up to 12 people are allowed inside the building for visual observing. The observatory is home to multiple permanent large telescopes that are open to the public for free during the AAAP’s public Friday nights that run from April through
October. The club resumed its public nights last month, and people of all interest levels are encouraged to join members and other attendees after sunset at the observatory, where they can attend night sky tours led by AAAP members. Members bring along their personal telescopes to share the night sky through different lenses. Set up around the observatory, these members have varying levels of interest and different backgrounds that have led them to join the club. Contrary to what some may assume, not all members have science or technical See STARS, Page 6
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Artists will transform Woolsey Park into a temporary sculpture garden from Friday, July 23 to Sunday, July 25 at The Junkyard, an all-new outdoor upcycle art exhibition hosted by the Hopewell Valley Arts Council. Open for one weekend only, the event will aim to celebrate ingenuity while raising awareness about the need to protect the environment, proving that one man’s trash is another’s treasure. The Junkyard will feature artwork by established professional eco-artists as well as other creative participants who have reimagined “trash” materials — like plastic bottles, metal tools and nails, Styrofoam, wood pallets, discarded books, or car parts — into unique art. “In our throw-away culture, we need to rethink disposability by upcycling — a totally creative endeavour — to prolong these items’ usefulness and divert them from a landfill,” says Carol Lipson, executive director of the Arts Council. Visitors will be able to explore the five “zones” of The Junkyard, taking a tour through a wonderland of trash to treasure. Zone 1 will display entries for the Creative Team Competition, teams of artists and families up for an ecoSee JUNKYARD, Page 9
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