Packet Magazine August 2015

PMfineliving.com

August 2015

Back to School Special Visiting the Cotsen Children’s Library

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Learning Beyond the Classroom: Building on kids’ education The Importance of Vaccinating Your Children A Voice of Leadership: Matthew R. Shaftel is the new dean of the Westminster College of the Arts

On the Cover: Tatumn and Troy Menzies of Allentown take some time to read at Cotsen Children’s Library. See Anthony Stoeckert’s story on Page 7.

Cover photo by Phil McAuliffe. | Packet Magazine | August 2015

Now Featuring Outdoor Audio Systems

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furniture gifts home decor interior design

the

farmhouse

store

Come visit our NEW EXPANDED SHOWROOM 609-688-0777 43 hulfish street • palmer square | Packet Magazine | August 2015

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What’s New: The latest and the greatest Favorite Things: Getting ready for back to school Good Taste: Late summer grilling On the Block: Private and spacious On the Vine: Public Wine buyer Gene Bodemer 4052906.RepoSciCntr.QtrP.indd

Advertorial

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Women’s Health

ust like you, many post-menopausal women are experiencing changes that can affect a woman’s quality of life in unexpected ways, leading to many unpleasant symptoms.

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Locally, this treatment is being offered by Dr. Helen Until very recently, women’s health care providers had Simigiannis at Antheia Gynecology in East Windsor. limited treatment options, such as hormone therapy “Dr. Helen” as she is called because of her warm and which is not an option for all patients or for women caring demeanor, specializes in providing gynecological who have been treated for breast cancer. care to Adolescent, Adult and Menopausal women.

A recently FDA approved therapy to treat vaginal She is a board certified Gynecologist that offers many dryness and painful intercourse is about to change in office procedures as well more complex surgeries in many couple’s lives. The Mona Lisa Touch is a fractional local hospitals. Dr. Helen is a passionate believer in CO2 laser which is similar to what is used for other this new laser treatment and wants to share the positive skin treatments. This particular laser helps regenerate impacts of this treatment with you. the elastin, collagen and vascularization of the vaginal

Compassionate personalized healthcare for woman Adolescent - Adult - Menopausal Dr. Helen Simigiannis, FACOG Dr. Helen is committed to providing you with compassionate, personalized and modern healthcare. Should you require a gynecologic procedure or surgery, Dr. Helen will thoroughly explain all of your options to develop a personalized treatment plan. Choices may include minimally invasive and office based procedures to resolve your gynecologic needs and ease your recovery so that you can get back to your daily routine.

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JAMES B. KILGORE President and Publisher MICHELE NESBIHAL General Manager AUBREY hUSTON Editor DEE SCARPATI Magazine Manager ANTHONY STOECKERT Managing Editor Gerri Rieckhoff Production Contributing Writers FAITH BAHADURIAN PHILIP SEAN CURRAN KEITH LORIA SALLY STANG STEPHANIE VACCARO PATRICK WALSH

PHIL MCAULIFFE Staff Photographer

JIMMY ELLERTH JOE KANASKA MINERVA TRINIDAD Art & Design LET US KNOW! Packet Magazine welcomes your feedback, suggestions and story ideas about notable people and places, trendy hot spots and upcoming events happening in the Princeton area.

MERWICK Care & Rehabilitation Center is a state-of-the art skilled nursing center now located in Plainsboro, NJ, just 12 miles from the Robert Wood Johnson Hospital.

Choosing a skilled nursing facility is an important and sometimes difficult decision but at Merwick you can rest assured that no matter what your care or rehabilitation needs are you and your loved ones will be receiving the highest quality individualized care.

| Packet Magazine | August 2015

• Private rooms available • Long-term stay • Short-term rehabilitation • Orthopedic rehabilitation provided by Kessler Core • Congestive heart failure program • Respite stay • Hospice and palliative care • Personal concierge services

Contact us: E-mail: astoeckert@centraljersey.com Mail: 300 Witherspoon St., Princeton, NJ 08540 Telephone: 609-874-2159 © 2015 the Princeton Packet Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Packet Media Group 300 Witherspoon St. Princeton, NJ 08540 To advertise: 609-874-2193 • pmfineliving.com

For the Love of Books Cotsen Children’s Library gets kids reading, and writing

By Anthony Stoeckert Photos by Phil McAuliffe

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arents who take their children to Cotsen Children’s Library are bringing them into a world of reading.

Located at the Princeton University Library, Cotsen’s “Bookscape” reading area is charming and whimsical. Visitors are greeted by topiary-like statues of animals. To the left of the entrance is a faux fireplace and mantle surrounded by books (those books are fake but there are plenty of real books in Cotsen). Above the mantle is a group of clocks, one of which gives the local Princeton time. Another clock from Cinderella’s land is always approaching midnight, and the clock of the Connecticut Yankee from King Arthur’s Court runs backward.

There’s a “living room,” tastefully decorated with comfortable chairs and windows. Outside the living room is a garden, with a wishing well and a tree.

The tree is not to be believed. Crawl into the opening at the base of the tree and you’ll find books and a place to sit and read.

Notice that characters from Winnie the Pooh have carved their names into this hollow. The tree has an upper level, another place to play or escape with a book. Other literary characters, such as Frog and Toad and Eloise, have made their marks here.

It’s an amazing place for kids. It’s open to the public, seven days a week, so bring your children and let them explore (there are countless details from various stories to be discovered), read and relax. It’s a great place to cool off as summer enters its last stretch, and it’s the perfect place to visit during the school year to encourage a love of reading.

The library is part of Princeton University’s Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. It is the vision of Lloyd E. Cotsen, a member of Princeton’s class of 1950. According to Andrea Immel, the library’s curator, Mr. Cotsen wanted to donate his collection of books and toys, which at that point in 1994, consisted of about 50,000 items. He wanted to make that collection available for research, and to create a gallery that was free and open to the public in order to foster literacy activity.

Dana Sheridan, education and outreach coordinator for Cotsen Children’s Library, organizes reading and writing programs for kids ages 3 to 17.

| Packet Magazine | August 2015

Cotsen Children’s Library’s “Bookscape” area is the perfect place for kids to explore the joys of reading.

“He wanted the two things to be proximate,” Ms. Immel says.

“And that’s always been something of a challenge because, usually, rare book collections and children are seen as antithetical. So one of the challenges from the beginning has been to try and figure out how we can share a rare children’s book collection with modern children and their families without endangering the collection, and giving (people) exposure to books they normally would not be able to see.”

The collection is shared through exhibits at the library, an upcoming show will be devoted to books about flight.

Information about the collection, including virtual exhibits, is available at the library’s website.

Visitors also are able to bring images from the collection home with them. One idea of Mr. Cotsen’s, according to Ms. Immel, was that all visitors to the library would get a free book.

“In theory that sounded like a great idea and it would be really easy,” Ms. Immel says. But the kind of books they could afford to buy for giveaways wouldn’t be special. So Ms. Immel came up with the idea of the library making its own books, inspired by the Cotsen collection.

Available to all visitors are three small books. Those are Paint Like Peter Rabbit, which is a coloring book of featuring the characters of Beatrix Potter, an author who is well represented in the collection.

Another is On the Road, a small picture book devoted to images about travel: cars, bicycles, even one of kids pretending a suitcase is a taxi.

And this being Princeton, there’s a book titled More Tigers, pmfineliving.com |

featuring drawings of tigers from books in the collection. This volume opens accordion style and offers various images of the orange-and-black-striped cat.

Ms. Immel describes the books as small exhibitions that visitors can bring home with them.

The Cotsen collection, some of which is housed in an upper level of the library behind glass, got its start when Mr. Cotsen and his late wife began buying older children’s books at garage sales, library sales and used book stores to read to their kids. Mr. Cotsen, the former CEO of Neutrogena, also brought home many books from his business travels.

The Cotsen collection includes books in more than 40 languages, with the main ones being English, French, Russian, Hebrew, Chinese and Japanese.

“We’re very proud of our East Asian collection,” Ms. Immel says. “The Chinese and Japanese holdings are probably the best of anywhere in the world, especially the Chinese books. People of East Asian studies are coming to use those books, from all over the world.”

The other element of Cotsen is its outreach programs, which are run by Dana Sheridan, the library’s education and outreach coordinator. Programs begin with Tiger Tales, for kids as young as 3. Tiger Tales is a story time that takes place on Fridays. Ms. Sheridan reads a picture book to the kids, who then make a craft designed to bring the book to life.

Next is a chapter-book program for kids ages 6 to 8. Upon finishing a book, kids work on a project or activity inspired by the book.

Cotsen Critix is an admission-based program for children 9 to 12. Kids in the program work with Princeton University 10 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

undergraduate students on projects involving writing, acting, and other areas. According to Ms. Sheridan, one student performed pieces from the opera of Hansel and Gretel, and talked about translating a story to an opera.

Ms. Sheridan also visits schools within a 10-mile radius of Princeton, bringing programs to classes in grades kindergarten through 5.

The library hosts special programs on Saturdays, with recent programs devoted to Manga and the chemistry of magic. The library’s website includes a blog, titled Pop Goes the Page, and Ms. Sheridan hosts a podcast, titled The Bibliofiles, during which she interviews authors such as Jacqueline Kelly, Trenton Lee Stewart, Philip Pullman, and Sharon Creech. Another writing program is 350 for 50, a contest in which students are giving a sentence, then must include that sentence in a story of 350 words.

New this year is First Draft, a program for children ages 13 to 17, who will submit their creative writing for Princeton University students to read and offer feedback on. This is for creative writing, not school writing, and will start in October.

“This is Mr. Cotsen’s vision,” Ms. Sheridan says. “And I’m taking his vision of creative literacy. I believe that literacy is fiction and non-fiction. It’s also becoming a writer yourself, to contribute further to literacy; to write books and write other things. That’s why we have things like 350 for 50 and First Draft. And in Cotsen Critix we work on four writing pieces during the academic year that go through an editing process. I really believe in providing those skills for future writers, so that they can turn around and write the amazing things that we love to read. And just become better scholars, because if you write well, you also think well.”

For more information on programs and events at Cotsen Children’s Library, go to www.princeton.edu/cotsen.

Advertorial

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The Lewis schooL and cLinic of PrinceTon 53 Bayard Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540 www.lewisschool.org Year Established: 1973

Grade Levels: Pre-K Through Post-Graduate Tuition: varies according to student’s placement level What makes it unique: The Lewis School, accredited by the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools has created one of the only proven models in the country where a diagnostic and research clinic and school are integral parts of the same educational entity.

The Lewis School integrates the perspective of evidence based multisensory educational practices in the classroom and clinical research into the brain’s learning processes.

Ideal Student: Bright, talented “Twice – Exceptional” students with language based learning difficulties. The Lewis School educates and empowers students whose gifts have been underserved in mainstream education. Lewis offers Full Time Enrollment, Summer Study, Afternoon Education, College Preparatory, Financial Planning and SAT courses, Athletics and Speech and Language Programs.

One in Five Bright Children Has a Language Based Learning Difficulty

One in Five Children Needs Specialized Educational Repair The Proven Advantages of Multi-Sensory Education and Tutoring at Lewis Help “Twice– Exceptional” Students Who Learn Differently Achieve Success!

We invite you to visit us and learn how Lewis can help your child thrive academically.

53 Bayard Lane, Princeton, NJ 609-924-8120 www. lewisschool.org

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4052579.StuartCountyDay_L.HP.indd Advertorial

Stuart Country Day SChool of the SaCreD heart 1200 Stuart Road. Princeton, NJ 08540 www.stuartschool.org 609-921-2330

Tuition: $13,900 - $35,400 What makes it unique: Stuart girls become self-confident and capable young women, ready to take their place in the world while making their mark on it. Stuart offers a superb education tailored to the way girls learn and personalized for each and every girl. From preschool through senior year, as part of our supportive community, girls are given the freedom to follow their passions and explore new interests in the arts, humanities, STEM, and athletics.

Ideal student: Girls who are much more than simply strong students and who want to become active participants in all aspects of school life. Stuart girls contribute as much to the Stuart community as they take from it.

Notable Alum: : Anne Murray Patterson, Nell Merlino, Ellen Spencer Susman, Lauren Morford, Ashley Anderson Loren, Michelle Nicastro Stark, Gia Fruscione Loizides, Anna Jaffe and Georgienne Bradley.

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PRINCETON DANCE AND THEATER STUDIO 116 Rockingham Row, Forrestal Village Princeton, NJ 08540 www.princetondance.com Established 2003

Age 3-Adult

Why Princeton Dance and Theater Studio for ballet? All of our ballet instructors are certified in the American Ballet Theatre速 National Training Curriculum, a breakthrough 8 level program that combines high quality artistic training with the basics of dancer health and child development. The ABT速 National Training Curriculum consists of a comprehensive set of age-appropriate, outcome-based guidelines to provide the highest quality ballet training to dance students of all ages and skill levels.

Why Princeton Dance and Theater Studio for all other dance?

Our tap, jazz, hip hop, flamenco, and modern dance instructors are seasoned professionals. One choreographs for Broadway; another is in the Tap Dance Hall of Fame; all love to pass on their knowledge.

12 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

OPEN HOUSE: August 29, 9 AM - 12:30 PM FREE CLASSES in BALLET, TAP, HIP HOP, MODERN and JAZZ For information and open house class reservation visit www.princetondance.com or call 609-514-1600

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Waldorf School of Princeton

1062 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton 08540 www.princetonwaldorf.org Year Established: 1983

Grades: N-8 Tuition: $2,510-$19,280 What makes it unique: NJ’s only Waldorf School, teaching the head, heart and hands of children. Part of a worldwide movement of more than 1000 schools, the highly structured, well rounded curriculum carefully integrates arts and sciences without the crutches of technological aides, guiding students to become creative, balanced, socially responsible boys and girls who love to learn. Ideal student: Waldorf Education encompasses more than just the child. It is a journey families take together and one that can be equally enriching to all. An ideal family is one that embraces the educational philosophy and strives to support at home what is delivered in the classroom.

Notable Alum: Kenneth Chenault, former president/CEO of American Express; Thomas SĂźdhof, Nobel Prize Laureate, Physiology/Medicine; Julianna Margulies, actress

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YingHuaIntlSchool.QP.indd 4052675.YingHuaIntlSchool_L.HP.indd Advertorial

YingHua international immersion School of Princeton ScHool: english-chinese 33 River Road, Princeton, NJ 08540 www.yhis.org Established 2007

Join us for Fall!

Full day, 1/2-day, and part-time schedules available - Learn about the benefits of immersion education Parents information sessions:

August 8 & August 29 10 AM Or contact us for a private tour

(609) 375-8015 info@yhis.org

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Grades: Pre-School (age 2.5 years old) – 8th Grade Tuition: $9,000-$15,000 What makes it unique: YingHua International School (YHIS) is the area’s oldest Chinese Immersion preschool and elementary school. YHIS is a candidate for International Baccalaureate World School and is accredited by the MSA-CESS. Imagine your child on an amazing and ambitious journey in dual language education. Chinese Immersion from pre-school to 8th grade teaches bilingual fluency and cross-cultural competency to prepare for an expanding global economy.

Ideal student: All children are ideal students at YHIS. YHIS’ inquiry-based classes are well-suited for all learning styles and abilities. YHIS students come from all backgrounds and truly embrace equity among cultures and peoples Notable Alum: Not only do YingHua International School students become proficient in both English and Chinese, they develop positive cross-cultural attitudes while reaching a high level of academic achievement.

33 River Road | Princeton, NJ 4052702.PrincetonMontessori_R.HP.indd

Princeton Montessori school 487 Cherry Valley Road, Princeton, NJ 08540 www.princetonmontessori.org Established 1968

Grade Levels: infant through 8th grade What makes your school unique: Our approach to teaching and learning is based on the values and principles of the Montessori philosophy, which are built on each stage of a child’s needs and developmental characteristics. The school fosters independence and critical thinking while also developing interpersonal skills that are based on respect for others.

Ideal student: The ideal student would be one who loves to explore, learn, and share and who is supported by parents who share the values of our school and work respectfully and supportively with their child’s educators.

Notable Alum: Notable alum of Montessori schools include the founders of Amazon, Google, and Wikipedia, artists Dakota Fanning and Sean Diddy Combs, Julia Child, video game pioneer Will Wright, and many others. The method was brought to America from Europe at the turn of the century by supporters such as Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, who both saw the genius beyond the approach to learning.

14 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

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Princeton AcAdemy of the SAcred heArt Princeton Academy of The Sacred Heart www.princetonacademy.org Established 1999

Grades Junior Kindergarten-8 Tuition $25,300 – $32,800 What makes your school unique: As an all boys JK – 8 grade school, Princeton Academy embraces the nature of boys and nurtures their development.

The school’s curriculum is designed to engage boys and inspire them to explore, discover, and learn.

Ideal student: Boys aged of 4 ½ to 13 willing and ready to become strong learners, good school and community citizens, and well mannered gentlemen.

Notable Alum: Our oldest alums are 26 years old. One alum, Jameson Pesce ‘07, a senior at Princeton University this spring piloted the Tigers to bronze at both the Eastern Sprints and the IRAs. As a bonus, the boat was one of three crews sent this July to the Henley competition on the River Thames in London England by the Princeton University Rowing Association (PURA).

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HOLY GHOST PREPARATORY SCHOOL

A Community of One Heart and One Mind

Open House Sunday, Oct. 25. Call us for transportation options from New Jersey

H

oly Ghost Preparatory School today is a vibrant community of 500+ young men preparing for college and adult life through a challenging program which stresses the cultivation of students’ unique gifts and talents, academic excellence, and generous service to the poor.

www.holyghostprep.org • 215-639-0811 • 2429 Bristol Pike • Bensalem, PA, 19020 4052613.WestminsterConservatory.1-3S.indd

provide a wide variety of custom W esawn items which include: crane mats, transition mats, blocking, shoring, wedges, chocks, outrigger pads, oak planking for trailers, truck side boards and custom ramps.

For the landscaping industry, we produce tree stakes and mulch.

We also carry oak fence boards, treated fence posts and sawdust for horse bedding. We buy standing timber of all species.

763 Route 524 Allentown NJ 08501 Phone: 609-259-7265 Fax: 609-259-7267

16 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

LEARNING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM Kids can build on their education in areas ranging from math to the arts

By Keith Loria

C

hildren learn a lot inside the walls of their schools, but often so much time is spent on the core subjects that it allows little time for education in other areas such as the arts, language or tech sciences. Plus, sometimes students need a little extra tutoring or help.

Then there are those kids who are homeschooled. Parents fill the day with great learning opportunities, but sometimes they need a little help with a structured program to teach something that maybe they aren’t an expert on or don’t have the proper setting available to teach a particular subject.

Thankfully, there is no shortage of educational help for students of all ages in the Princeton area, focusing on all areas of study.

Language Arts

For parents looking to have their children learn a second language, several opportunities exist.

Marcela Summerville, director and founder of the Spanish Workshop for Children, located at 33 Mercer St. in Princeton, says it’s very important for children to start learning languages at an early age because it has been shown to enhance children’s cognitive development.

“Children who learn a foreign language beginning in early childhood demonstrate certain cognitive advantages over children who do not,” she says. “Research conducted in Canada with young children shows that those who are bilingual develop the concept of ‘object permanence’ at an earlier age. Bilingual students learn sooner that an object remains the same, even though the object has a different name in another language.”

Using inspiring teaching strategies such as storytelling, music, games and crafts, the Spanish Workshop fully immerses children in the Spanish language and culture. Spanish Workshop for Children offers classes for toddlers (15 months to 36 months), Preschool (3 to 5 years old; half a day or one hour programs), young learners (6 to 9), and literacy programs.

“Studies have shown repeatedly that foreign language learning increases critical thinking skills, creativity, and flexibility of mind in young children,” Ms. Summerville says. “Students who are learning a foreign language out-score their non-foreign language learning peers in the verbal and, surprisingly to some, the math sections of standardized tests. This relationship between foreign language study and increased mathematical skill development, particularly in the area of problem solving, points once again to pmfineliving.com | 17

Music lessons can help develop skills that will benefit your child in many areas of education and life.

the fact that second language learning is more of a cognitive than linguistic activity.”

For more information, go to spanishworkshopforchildren. com.

For those interested in French classes, the Alliance Française de Princeton, a non-profit cultural and educational association based in Princeton, offers classes for young children and teens.

For more information, go to allianceprinceton.com. Meanwhile the Princeton Chinese Language School offers Chinese lessons for kids of all ages. Go to www.pcls.org for more information.

Making Math Fun

Under the guidance of director Jennifer Zhang, the Mathnasium of Princeton (Princeton Shopping Center, 301 N. Harrison St., #18, Princeton) works to help kids from kindergarten to 12th grade understand math better.

“When math makes sense, kids leap way ahead — whether they started out far behind or already ahead in math,” she says. “Our formula for teaching kids math, the Mathnasium Method, has transformed the way kids learn math for over a decade.”

The specially trained math instructors work to teach kids how to understand math in an individual setting with a unique approach that enables teachers to effectively explain math concepts well and lend a helping hand to every student.

“We pinpoint your child’s learning needs, meet them where they are, and take them where they need to go,” Zhang says. “The results are transformative, kids will see measurable changes in attitude, confidence, and school progress.”

18 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

Test Prep

For older students, especially those getting ready to take the SAT’s PSAT, ACTs or other major national tests, the Huntington Learning Center, 4120 Quakerbridge Road, Lawrenceville (lawrenceville.huntingtonhelps.com), offers classes designed to improve scores on both the math and English portions of standardized tests.

It’s also a tutoring program for just about any math or science subject, including calculus, geometry, Earth science, physics and chemistry.

Other tutoring options in the area include Princeton Tutoring (princetontutoring.com), and Advantage Testing (advantagetesting.com), and you can always check for individual tutors at WyzAnt (wyzant.com).

Arts and Education

The Ancient Greeks always believed having a strong background in the arts was just as important as tickling the brain with math and science, and there’s plenty of places nearby that can teach your child about music, art or dance.

Farrington’s Music (with several locations, go to www. farringtonsmusic.com for more information) has more than three decades’ worth of experience teaching students how to play musical instruments. From the piano to guitar to violin to just about all instruments that comprise an orchestra or chamber concert, the instructors at Farrington can prepare a student for a lifetime of musical achievement. For more, visit farringtonsmusic.com.

Speaking of the arts, the West Windsor Arts Council has

4052612.FusionAcademy.QP.indd numerous classes available for students of all ages. Classes include a wide variety of arts offerings including cartooning, painting, filmmaking, mixed-media, sewing, printmaking, watercolors and much more. For a complete list of classes available, go to westwindsorartscenter.asapconnected.com.

Similarly, the Arts Council of Princeton also has myriad arts classes available, with students regularly taking classes in the visual arts, performing arts and literary arts. There are hundreds of classes to choose from and the list is updated each fall. Go to artscouncilofprinceton.org for more information.

The Wave of the Future

A popular class for youngsters these days, that probably wasn’t around when you were a kid, is robotics. During the year, YWCA Princeton offers several classes aimed at tech-minded youngsters.

Here, kids participate in hands-on touch labs, learning the skills of future engineers and scientists. Robotic programs include animation, CAD and 3d printing, electronics, game programming and more.

Of course, the YWCA is a great place to go for many educational opportunities, such as learning martial arts, dance and swimming. Find out more at ywcaprinceton.org.

Remember, real achievement and meaningful success in life comes not from just test scores and exam results but from a synthesis of wisdom, intelligence and creativity. There’s so much more to learn than just what’s offered in the classrooms and it’s important to fill the mind of a child with knowledge whenever you can.

Blooming Hearts Child Development Center

• Newborn – 13 Years Old • Experienced, Certified Teachers • Creative Curriculum • Before/After Care

• We Provide AM/PM Snacks • Summer Camps

Hours: 6:30am - 6:00pm Parent’s Night Out – Every 3rd Friday of the month CPR/First Aid certified Webcam in each room Visit us on Sibling Discount Facebook

313 Triangle Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844

908-431-0550 • Call For A Tour! www.bloomingheartschildcare.com

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James J. Cally, D.M.D. Cosmetic and Family Dentistry

Personalized care for you and your family as well as modern, up-to-date equipment you can trust.

COMPUTER GENERATED X-RAYS INTRA-ORAL CAMERA & VISUAL EXPLANATION CEILING MOUNTED T.V.’S

• The premier private, Catholic, all-girls academy for girls in grades Kindergarten through 12.

• Located in Ewing, New Jersey on a pristine campus • 100% college placement & enrollment • Enriching arts program, quality extracurricular options and STEM education • Rolling, year-round admissions • Academically challenging and supportive atmosphere • Academic and music scholarships and family tuition rates available Villa Victoria Academy has provided the young women of Bucks County and central New Jersey area with high academic standards, an enriched arts curriculum, and a challenging, supportive, environment since 1933.

Come see why Villa girls thrive.

609-882-1700 ext. 20

Gentle care for the sensitive patient.

Emergencies Welcomed • Most Insurance Accepted.

Saturday & Evening Appointments Available

609-924-8300

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James J. Cally, D.M.D. Montgomery Knoll Complex 192 Tamarack Circle Rt. 206, Skillman, NJ

PORCELAIN LAMINATES

www.mysmiledoc.com

Facebook.com/VillaVictoriaAcademy

IMPLANTS

zOOMTM BLEACHING NITROUS OXIDE

Now auditioning for 2015-2016 Season Preparatory Choir - Grades 3-5 Concert Choir - Grades 6-9 Season begins September 15 Call us at 609.651.5474 Email us at HVYC@comcast.net Visit us at www.hvychorale.org

20 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

School Resource Directory Shimon and Sara Birnbaum Jewish Community Center 775 Talamini Road Bridgewater, NJ 08807 908-725-6994 x 208 www.ssbjcc.org/ecc lweiss@ssbjcc.org

Cambridge School 100 Straube Center Boulevard Pennington, NJ 08534 609-730-9553 www.thecambridgeschool.org

Blooming Hearts Child Development Center

Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart 1128 Great Road Princeton, NJ 08540 609-921-6499 www.princetonacademy.org

The Lewis School of Princeton 53 Bayard Lane Princeton, NJ 08540 609-924-8120 www.lewisschool.org

Ying Hua International School

Bridge Academy

Dr James Cally, DMD

1958 B Lawrenceville Rd Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 609-844-0770 www.banj.org

192 Tamarack Circle (609) 924-8300 www.mysmiledoc.com

Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart 1200 Stuart Road Princeton, NJ 08540 609-921-2330 www.stuartschool.org

Waldorf School of Princeton 1062 Cherry Hill Road Princeton, NJ 08540 609-466-1970 www.princetonwaldorf.org

2429 Bristol Pike Bensalem, PA 19020 215-639-0811 www.holyghostprep.org

JEI Learning Center of Princeton

313 Triangle Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844 (908) 431-0550 www.bloomingheartschildcare.com

376 W. Upper Ferry Rd Ewing, NJ 08628 609-882-1700 www.villavictoria.org

3635 Quakerbridge Rd. Hamilton, NJ 08619 609-588-9037 www.sylvanlearning.com

Holy Ghost Prep. School

English-Chinese Immersion School of Princeton 33 River Road Princeton, NJ 08540 609-375-8015 www.yhis.org

Villa Victoria

Sylvan Learning Center

33 Princeton-Hightstown Rd. Princeton, NJ 08550 609-897-1072 www.jeicentral.com

Notre Dame High School 601 Lawrenceville Rd Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 609-882-7900 www.ndnj.org

Pennington Montessori School Fusion Academy Princeton 116 Stanhope Street (609) 919-9193 www.fusionacademy.com

4 Farm tree rd Pennington, NJ 08534 609-737-1331 www.penningtonmontessori.org

Westminster Conservatory of Music

Hopewell Valley Youth Chorale

101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540 (with locations in Princeton, South Brunswick, Lawrenceville, and Yardley, PA) 609-921-7104 www.rider.edu/conservatory

280 Highway 31 Hopewell, NJ 08525 609-651-5474 www.HVYChorale.org

Princeton Montessori School Princeton Dance & Theater 116 Rockingham Row (609) 514-1600 princetondance.com

487 Cherry Valley Road Princeton, NJ 08540 609-924-4594 www.princetonmontessori.org

pmfineliving.com | 21

22 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

What’s New Read all about the area’s latest happenings

By Keith Loria

Fresh Ideas

Photo by Phil McAuliffe

Princeton Battlefield Grows Princeton Battlefield State Park has been granted a 4.6acre addition by the Christie Administration. The land was instrumental to tactical maneuvers during the battle, a turning point in the nation’s War for Independence.

“We feel a deep sense of honor in being able to add this land to one of the most important historic sites in the United States,” says Bob Martin, commissioner for the Department of Environmental Protection. “This acquisition shows the true power of innovative partnerships and spirit of teamwork that protect places that are special to the people of New Jersey.”

The property fronts on Stockton Avenue and directly abuts the main battlefield site. It consists of slightly rolling land and a series of connected ponds and streams that drain to the Stony Brook.

According to Kip Cherry, first vice president of the Princeton Battlefield Society, the British troops turned off the Kings Highway (present-day Route 206) and approached the battle from this position and made a fighting retreat back across the property.

Princeton Battlefield Society plans to use National Park Service grants to conduct an archaeological investigation in close cooperation with and supervision by the State Park Service.

Access to the property will be developed in the near future. pmfineliving.com | 23

Deana Lawson has joined the faculty at Princeton University’s visual arts program.

New Faculty at Lewis Center for the Arts

Artists Deana Lawson and Jeff Whetstone have been named faculty at the program in Visual Arts in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, effective Sept. 1.

Mr. Whetstone is a photographer who began writing about the relationship between humans and the natural world while a student at Duke University, where he received a degree in Zoology in 1990. He comes to Princeton from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has been teaching full time since 2001.

“Princeton’s photography program has a long and venerable history, and I am delighted to become a part of its future,” Mr. Whitestone says. “Photography is more important than ever. It helps us understand and shape our world. Images are often our primary form of communication and interpretation. The study of photography is essential to a complete education today, and Princeton’s photography program is at the forefront of the field.”

Over the course of his academic career, Mr. Whetstone has been the recipient of numerous prizes, including a Guggenheim Fellowship (2007), the University of North Carolina Hettleman Prize (2009), a Factor Prize (2008), and two North Carolina Arts Council Fellowships (2006, 2012).

Ms. Lawson currently serves as a lecturer at Princeton, and has 24 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

been appointed an assistant professor beginning this fall.

She was included in the exhibit, New Photography 2011 at the Museum of Modern Art, and has an upcoming solo exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago Museum in September.

The artist describes her work as “negotiating knowledge of selfhood through a corporeal dimension.” She utilizes a wide spectrum of photographic languages: staging, subjective documentary, and found or appropriated images.

Ms. Lawson has participated in group exhibitions at The Studio Museum, Harlem; MoMA P.S.1 and Artists Space, New York; and the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta. Gallery shows include Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago; Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York; and Helene Bailly Gallery, Paris.

“I’m delighted to have Deana and Jeff become part of the arts faculty in the Lewis Center and at Princeton,” says Joe Scanlan, director of the Program in Visual Arts. “Despite having worked with profoundly different subjects in different parts of the world, in many ways Deana and Jeff are two sides of the same coin. Politics play a strong role in the people and places they photograph, both have a collaborative rather than authoritative approach, and both are consummate technicians.”

To learn more about the Program in Visual Arts and all the programs of the Lewis Center for the Arts visit arts.princeton.edu.

Community Park School Experimenting with Dual Language Program As part of a new emphasis on global studies at Community Park School, the Princeton Public Schools will launch a Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program at the school for students in kindergarten and first grade beginning with the fall semester.

“Research shows that early language learning leads to higher proficiency levels than are typically achieved when study begins in middle or high school,” says Priscilla Russel, supervisor of World Languages, ESL/Bilingual and the DLI program. “Acquiring a second or third language in the early years often comes naturally and with ease through play and lots of comprehensible input.”

Through the program, immersion teams will be placed at both the kindergarten and first-grade levels, consisting of a Spanishspeaking teacher and an English-speaking teacher.

“The students in each grade level are split into two classes,” Ms. Russel says. “Each class spends half of its core academic day with the Spanish teacher and half of its core academic day with the English teacher. In the Spanish half students will study math, Spanish language arts and science/social studies. In the English half students will study English language arts, social studies, and have some math reinforcement.”

For example, the Spanish teacher will speak only in Spanish and communicate using a range of engaging strategies including pictures, songs, games, body language, expressions, drama and pantomime. After a brief period at the beginning of the year, students too will speak only in Spanish during Spanish class and

only in English during English class.

Currently there are more than 2,000 schools with dual language immersion programs around the nation, yet New Jersey has dual language programs in only three school districts, offering Princeton Public Schools a unique opportunity to launch a model program.

Each DLI classroom will enroll between 18 to 21 students. In subsequent years, the program will roll out in grades 2 to 5 to maintain the dual-language track throughout the participants’ elementary school experience.

“We are really excited about implementing this program,” Russel says.

Get Your Falafel!

Mamoun’s Falafel has been serving high quality Middle Eastern Food since it first opened its doors to the public in 1971 in New York City, and now Princeton residents can get that same great taste thanks to the opening of a franchise at 20 Witherspoon St. Operated by Hussan Chater and members of his family, the restaurant first opened its doors late last year, and has already become a favorite to many in the area.

“What sets us apart from other Falafel restaurants is our rich tradition and history as well as our commitment to excellence,” says a company spokesperson. “Our philosophy is simple: authentic Middle Eastern Cuisine served in a traditional environment. Everything we serve is made from scratch using only the freshest natural ingredients, the finest imported spices, and our signature recipes.”

Mamoun’s Falafel is offering Middle Eastern food at its Princeton location at 20 Witherspoon St.

pmfineliving.com | 25

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26 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

What’s better than fresh eggs in the morning? Having backyard chickens has never been easier with help from the knowledgeable staff at Rosedale Mills. Variety of coops available starting as low as $470

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Health

The Importance of Vaccinating Your Children

By Keith Loria ou always want to do what’s best for your children, and that’s reflected in safety measures you take such as selecting car seats and baby gates, and providing well-balanced meals. One place where parents really can make a difference on the well being of a child is by keeping up with vaccinations.

Immunizations can save your child’s life. Thanks to advancements in medical science, children can be protected against more diseases than ever before. In fact, some diseases that once injured or killed thousands of children, have been eliminated completely and others are close to extinction — primarily due to safe and effective vaccines.

Bert Mandelbaum, MD, chairman of the department of pediatrics at Princeton Hospital, says that just 10 years, there was more reluctance about vaccinations, but that most parents today understand their importance.

“The reason to vaccinate your kids is because immunizing children works,” he says. “These infectious diseases are still real, unfortunately present (as the measles outbreak in California has shown) and the diseases have significant consequences.

Although we have gotten close to eradicating them, it only works if everyone does it.”

While everything has a risk, Dr. Mandelbaum notes the vaccines are proven to be safe and have a tested track record, with few children having any side effects at all.

“By and large, the safety of the vaccines has proven to be true,” he says. “It’s up to the community to protect the community and with vaccines, almost everyone can be protected.”

Immunity is the body’s way of preventing disease. Children are born with an immune system composed of cells, glands, organs, and fluids located throughout the body. The immune system recognizes germs that enter the body as “foreign invaders” (called antigens) and produces proteins called antibodies to fight them.

Vaccines contain the same antigens (or parts of antigens) that cause diseases. For example, the measles vaccine contains measles virus. But the antigens in vaccines are either killed, or weakened to the point that they don’t cause disease. However, they are strong enough to make the immune system produce antibodies that lead to immunity. In other words, a vaccine is a safer substitute for a child’s first exposure to a disease. The child gets protection without having to get sick. Through vaccination, children can develop immunity without suffering from the actual diseases that vaccines prevent.

According to vaccines.gov, since 2010, there have been between 10,000 and 50,000 cases of whooping cough each year pmfineliving.com | 27

in the United States and about 10 to 20 babies, many of which were too young to be fully vaccinated, died each year. While some babies are too young to be protected by vaccination, others may not be able to receive certain vaccinations due to severe allergies, weakened immune systems from conditions like leukemia, or other reasons.

To help keep them safe, it is important that parents and children who can safety get vaccinated are fully immunized. This not only protects your family, but also helps prevent the spread of these diseases to your friends and loved ones.

The disease-prevention benefits of getting vaccines are much greater than the possible side effects for almost all children.

Vaccines may involve some discomfort or cause pain, redness, or tenderness at the site of injection but this is minimal compared to the pain, discomfort, and trauma of the diseases these vaccines prevent.

Plus, immunizations can save your family time and money. A child with a vaccine-preventable disease can be denied attendance at schools or childcare facilities.

Meanwhile, some vaccine-preventable diseases can result in prolonged disabilities and can take a financial toll because of lost time at work, medical bills or long-term disability care.

Remember, immunization protects future generations from harm as well.

Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated numerous diseases that killed or severely disabled people just a few generations ago. For example, smallpox vaccination eradicated that disease worldwide, so today’s children no longer need to get smallpox shots because the disease no longer exists.

If we continue vaccinating now, and vaccinating completely, parents in the future may be able to trust that some diseases of today will no longer be around to harm their children or tomorrow.

Hearing Evaluations and Hearing Aid Dispensing by a Licensed Doctor of Audiology

Dr. Farah M. H. Said, Au.D., F-AAA

(Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology) NJ Audiology License #781 NJ Hearing Aid Dispenser #1155

We offer the latest in technology in hearing aids and assistive devices at various price points, as well as financing options including interest-free. Mobile services to adult communities may be accommodated upon reasonable request.

Your hearing health is our top priority!

908-248-HEAR (4327)

Centre at Raritan, 1124 Route 202 South, Suite A2, Raritan (our entrance is immediately after Spain 92)

601 Ewing Street, Suite B5, Princeton, NJ 08540

www.raritanvalleyaudiology.com We accept the following insurance companies for hearing testing:

Medicare • Horizon Blue Shield • Keystone • Aetna • Oxford • GHI/Emblem • AmeriHealth • Cigna • United Healthcare

28 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

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The Institute is now offering a new service - Healthy Skin from the Outside In which has been designed to help women achieve radiant and healthy skin through a coordinated program that combines a healthy eating plan with a medically supervised skin care regime.

Drs. Wisser and Lynch together with Barbara Spalding, MA, MS, RDN and aesthetician Gabrielle Perret designed the Healthy Skin from the Outside In program as a cost-effective healthy eating and skincare program for people who want an introduction to healthy eating and medically-supervised skincare, but who may not be ready for a more comprehensive approach. The program combines a visit with the aesthetician and the dietitian. The aesthetician will complete an assessment of your skincare needs and provide an initial treatment for

your most pressing skincare issues; the dietitian will assess your current eating patterns and nutrition needs and provide recommendations for a healthier eating plan to support your skincare program and overrall health.

In addition to offering skincare services through the Institute, Dr. Wisser is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who provides Breast Augmentation, Lift and Reduction, Abdominoplasty, Facelift, Eyelid Surgery, Liposuction and has extensive training in laser treatments. Dr. Lynch, also Board Certified in Plastic Surgery, completed a Fellowship an Advanced Microsurgery and Reconstructive Oncological Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. His specialties include cosmetic and reconstructive breast procedures including Breast Reconstruction, Augmentation, Lift, and Reduction.

Barbara Spalding, MA, MS, RDN, is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a passion for good nutrition and healthy living. She has two Master and two Bachelor degrees and earned a B.S. in Dietetics and M.S. in Nutritional Sciences from Rutgers University. www.PRImedapa.com or call 609-448-9055 today.

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Advertorial Advertorial

UMCP receives prestigious recognition from U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World Report has recognized University Medical Center of Princeton (UMCP) for providing outstanding care. UMCP is one of only 40 hospitals in the country rated by U.S. News as High Performing for every procedure and medical condition for which it was rated - hip replacement, knee replacement, heart failure care and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care.

UMCP is proud to be one of the 40 hospitals nationwide to achieve this recognition out of the

32 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

4,500 hospitals that were rated. Of course, their team of highly skilled and dedicated physicians, nurses and staff don’t come to work every day for the recognition.

They come for you – their patients.

This latest recognition for University Medical Center at Princeton is one more sign that you can receive nationally renowned care – close to home.

Learn more at princetonhcs.org today.

Healthcare Resource Guide Raritan Valley Audiology Dr. Farah M.H. Said, Au.D.,F-AAA 1124 Route 202 South, SuiteA2, Raritan, NJ 601 Ewing Street, Suite B5, Princeton, NJ 908-248-HEAR ( 4327 ) www.raritanvalleyaudiology.com

Princeton Rejuvenation Institute

University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro Princeton Healthcare System 1 Plainsboro Road Plainsboro, NJ 08536 866-460-4776 www.princetonhcs.org

Dr James Cally, DMD

East Windsor Medical Commons II 300B Princeton Hightstown Rd., Suite 101 Est Windsor, NJ 08520 609-448-9055 www.PRImedspa.com

192 Tamarack Circle (609) 924-8300 www.mysmiledoc.com

Antheia Gynecology

2nd Floor 3140 Princeton Pike, Lawrenceville, NJ (609) 895-1919 2 Capital Way Suite 487A Pennington, NJ (609) 394-9699 1 Union St Suite 101 Robbinsville, NJ (609) 890-6677 mercerbuckscardiology.com

375 US Highway 130, Suite 103 East Windsor, NJ 08520 609-448-7800 www.antheiagyn.com

David E. Fiero, DMD, PA 301 North Harrison St., Suite 2G, Princeton, NJ 08540 (609) 924-0799

Mercer Bucks Cardiology

Princeton Medical Group 419 North Harrison St. Princeton, NJ 08540 609-924-9300 www.princetonmedicalgroup.com

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Merwick Care & Rehabilitation Center 100 Plainsboro Road Plainsboro, NJ 08536 609-759-6000 www.windsorhealthcare.org/merwick

Hunterdon Healthcare

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pmfineliving.com | 33

Favorite Things Hey, where’d you get that?

By Sally Stang

Bringing Fun Back to School Gearing up

Extra Extra!

Fruity beauty

When I was a kid, my brother and I spent many hours playing with an Erector set.

It was an education in engineering that has come in handy. My brother became a carpenter and I became someone who could tear apart a Volkswagen engine and (almost) put it back together. Today’s kids, with their computers and electronic devices — do they still enjoy playing with basic toys the way we did when we were children? They do! Engaging mechanical toys like this geary gizmo from Quercetti Georello Tech gets high reviews for teaching children how to plan ahead or improvise, make logical connections, manipulate parts, etc.

The kits are expandable — add a gear at one end to move a gear that is a few feet away. Another plus — it’s as much fun for adults as it is for kids. I know I would really enjoy it! The positive reviews indicate that this sturdy toy is better suited to ages 5 and older.

A tote bag is a tote bag is a tote bag — it’s a bag to stuff your stuff. But this one is a bit cooler than many tote bags out there because, with the interesting newspaper graphic covering the outside it says, “Look, I’m no dummy. I know how to read!”

It’s also much stronger than your average tote. Many modern totes are made from recycled materials like plastic pop bottlesand juice boxes which, although a correct “green” choice, are flimsy in the long run. This one is roomy (14-by-14 inches) and made of very strong canvas and has a decent-sized pocket on the inside, big enough to carry your phone. It’s the perfect school bag for carrying your books, notebooks, pens, reading glasses and all the things a student is beholden to schlep to class every day. Designed by Kate Spade.

Long ago, when I went to college (during the Ice Age), my wealthy roommate bought every gadget you could imagine for our dorm room. My roomie would not be denied any luxury. This was OK by me, her poor “financial aid” roommate, because I benefited from her need to avoid the coffee (aka “swill”) that they served in the dining hall.

We had a fancy coffee maker, small refrigerator, popcorn maker, toaster oven, space heater, hot plate, and electric blankets — the Ice Age was a bit nippy in Ohio!

I’m sure if they had nifty water infusers back then, she would have jumped on the “fruity water” bandwagon too. She would have snapped up this roomy Primula infuser immediately, because compared to other infusers, this brand has gotten very high reviews. This sturdy acrylic vessel holds nearly twice the fruit of others and has additional inserts for brewing tea and chilling drinks. Slim design, fits inside the fridge door.

JaZams

Price: $49.99 25 Palmer Square E., Princeton 609-924-8697; jazams.com

34 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

Paper Source

Price: $ 26.96 82 Nassau St., Princeton 609-921-0932; paper-source.com

Bed, Bath and Beyond

Price: $29.99 Mercer Mall, Route 1, Lawrence 609-452-0322; bedbathandbeyond.com

Good Taste The finer side of dining Story and photos by Faith Bahadurian

Grilling — Beyond the Burger Area chefs share their favorite recipes for summer outdoor cooking e’ve passed most of summer’s milestones, and are now closing in on the grand finale of Labor Day weekend. There’s still plenty of time left for outdoor cooking, and with all the attention paid to backyard grilling these days, many homes are sporting elaborate — and pricey — setups.

According to Benchmark Resorts & Hotels, which operates The Heldrich in New Brunswick, today’s grills are “stylish, versatile and often made of stainless steel, ceramics, brick or other heat-resistant materials. Barbecue tools go far beyond a fork, tongs and spatula.

Smoker boxes, burger presses, grill baskets and platters for fish and vegetables, high-tech meat thermostats, LED grill lights for working in the dark, and cooking stones made of Himalayan pink salt are part of the grill master’s repertoire.”

So, why are we still throwing the same old hot dogs and burgers on the grates so often? It’s time to look at some other proteins for a change, so I polled some local food pros to find out what they like to cook up in their own backyards.

Alex Levine, the Whole Earth Center Chef, favors locally caught bluefish filets, adding that they need to be cleaned as soon as they are caught, so the flesh remains “both meaty and delicate, just a little briny but still mild and delicious.” He cooks the fish in foil, with dots of butter, a splash of white wine, salt, pepper, and chopped parsley. Wrap it well and “set the pouch on the side of the grill away from the flame, cover the grill, and wait anywhere from 6 to 15 minutes depending on how thick the fish is and how hot your grill is. This is a ridiculously fast and easy main course, with almost no cleanup.”

Another take on fish comes from Marcia Willsie at Ezekiel’s Table, a Princeton cooking school in an historic farmhouse. “My grilling favorite is salmon done on cedar planks,” Ms. Willsie says. “I buy cedar planks by the trainload, practically, as buying them at the grocery store can get a bit pricey. I especially love to cook it when I can serve it with wild rice, exotic mushrooms from Shibumi Farm, and greens from Z Food Farm down the street.” Her recipe is below.

Moving on to meat, boneless leg of lamb is a favorite of Brick Farm Market Executive Chef Chase Gerstenbacher. It’s from the market’s own lamb, which is sold at its butcher counter, of course. He butterflies it, then marinates it in chopped rosemary, garlic and olive oil, letting it sit out for an hour or so to ensure more even cooking. “While the lamb is marinating I get my fire ready; I prefer a mix of wood (for flavor) and charcoal (for even heat). After grilling the lamb, just finish it with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and serve.”

Blue Bottle Café owners Rory and Aaron Philipson went whole hog this spring with a pig roast for Aaron’s and daughter Mia’s birthdays. “Aaron’s present was a ‘caja china’ (a box-like grill on wheels) so we ordered up a 65-pound whole pig and went ‘hog wild’ with all the trimmings: barbecue sauce, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, slaw, potato salad, baked beans, corn bread, the works. We even served Jack Daniel’s punch in Mason jar mugs,” Rory says. The event was such a hit that they’re taking the grill on the road to cater a corporate event this summer.

More pork comes from Lucy’s Kitchen and Market, which slathers a dry rub (recipe below) on St. Louis-style ribs before barbecuing (use your favorite method), and then bastes them with apple juice and apple cider vinegar when the ribs are turned.

While Tre Piani restaurant owner Jim Weaver sticks to burgers at the Forrestal Village Friday Farmers’ Market held outside his doors, his own favorites include locally raised chicken slowly smoked on a cheap charcoal grill. “There is much more control than with a backyard propane click-and-start grill,” he says. He arranges charcoal to control the temperature and minimize flareups, plus it adds flavor, so even a good sausage tastes better.

Beer Can Chicken was on the menu at one of the recent Saturday cookouts at Mrs. G’s in Lawrenceville. Nirit Yadin, who writes pmfineliving.com | 35

ten minutes per side (less for thinner cuts). Now that’s paleo caveman simple!

Cedar-Planked Salmon with Herbs and Lemon Recipe adapted from Marcia Willsie, Ezekiel’s Table A traditional Northwest Native-American preparation for salmon with an Italian twist.

2 15 x 7-inch untreated cedar planks 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or dill 2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut chiffonade 1 clove garlic, smashed with salt ¼ cup brown sugar 1 large shallot, thinly sliced Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 ½ to 3 pounds boneless, skin-on salmon fillets (preferably wild and no longer than 15 inches), pin bones removed ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil Lucy’s Kitchen and Market offers ribs grilled in several styles.

the Appliance Chef blog for Mrs. G’s recently cooked it using a (secret) BBQ sauce recipe from brand manager Don Addison’s family. For the most succulent result the chicken is brined for 24 hours; check the Appliance Chef blog (appliancechef. mrsgs.com/) for instructions, and use your own favorite sauce, preferably homemade.

Chicken’s also popular at Terhune Orchards where Mike Hanewald, son-in-law of owners Pam and Gary Mount, mans the grill. He marinates chicken pieces up to 6 to 8 hours in a wellblended mix of cider vinegar and oil (2:1 ratio), salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning, plus a beaten egg. An egg, I wondered? Sure enough, I found versions of this popular marinade online where it is attributed to Cornel Cooperative Extension. Grill the pieces 12 to 15 minutes per side, or as the family jokingly says, calling this “Three-Beer Chicken,” the amount of time it takes to drink a beer per side. The third beer? That’s to have with dinner.

One of my own favorites is the reliable steak, preferably a rib eye or a porterhouse. I’d love to try the method recently described in the New York Times, which is cooking a thick steak (3 to 4 inches!) directly on hardwood coals.

(Do not use briquettes for this direct contact method.) With a robust rub liberally applied to protect the meat, cookbook authors (and brothers) Matt and Ted Beer can chicken was on the menu of a recent cookout at Mrs. G’s.

Lee say to just blow some ash off the coals, lay your meat down, and cook about 36 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

Directions: Soak the cedar planks for at least one-hour, preferably overnight.

In a small bowl, combine the lemon zest, herbs, garlic, sugar, 3 teaspoons salt, and 2 tablespoons pepper. Rub together with your fingers until zest is distributed throughout. Rub salmon on both sides with the olive oil and then set each fillet skin side down on a plank. Sprinkle with the lemon-herb mixture, dividing it evenly. Gently rub seasoning into fillets. Top with shallots. At this point, you can cut the fillets into portions, if desired. Let fish stand at room temperature while grill heats.

Prepare grill for indirect cooking. Arrange the planks over the cooler side (or center) of the grill, positioning them so that the thickest part of the salmon is towards the hottest part of grill. Cover grill so the fish benefits from the smoke and cook until the thickest part of each fillet registers about 135 degrees (20 to 30 minutes). Let the fillets rest on the planks 5 to 10 minutes before serving. (Serve on fettuccine Alfredo, garnished with more basil, if desired.)

Rub for Memphis-Style Barbecued Ribs (and/or Chicken) From Lucy’s Kitchen and Market Enough for 2 racks St. Louis-style ribs, 2 ½ -3 pounds each (or 2-3 chickens) 2 tablespoons sweet paprika 2 tablespoons light brown sugar 1 tablespoons salt 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder 1 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon thyme Faith Bahadurian blogs at http://njspice.net (also Twitter @njspice).

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pmfineliving.com | 37

On The Block Buying...selling...just looking

By Stephanie Vaccaro

Modern, Private and Spacious A renovated farmhouse offers modern living and hints of its past

106 Drakes Corner Road, Princeton

$1,595,000

s Emile Schoffelen’s children were becoming teenagers, he decided that it was time to get out of New York City. That was in June of 1999, and it’s when he purchased the home at 106 Drakes Corner Road in Princeton.

Agent: Kimberly Rizk Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty 609-203-4807 4 Nassau St., Princeton

38 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

The renovated farmhouse, designed by Bob Hillier, offers light, openness, and privacy. It’s a home that is both modern and timeless.

What initially attracted him to the home? “A tremendous amount of light and openness and privacy all at the same time,” Mr. Schoffelen says.

Both modern and private, the home sits on nearly five acres. It was originally a farmhouse that underwent a renovation in the early 1970s, with architect Bob Hillier at its helm. He’s been told that there has been a residence on this property for the past 200 years.

In 2011-12, the family undertook a major renovation that involved flipping the kitchen and living rooms. “We turned around the fireplace and redid all the entry/foyer and redid the TV room and put in all new bathrooms everywhere,” Mr. Schoffelen says.

The recent renovation utilized travertine stone to connect the foyer to the kitchen and the sunroom. “That stone is really beautiful. Everybody seems to respond to that,” Mr. Schoffelen says.

The kitchen design is both modern and timeless. It’s an eatin kitchen with all-new appliances, including a Thermador induction oven, Bosche dishwasher, among others.

“The 2011-12 renovation brought it into the current period with lots of clean, open lines, lots of entertaining opportunities,” Mr. Schoffelen says. “It’s a house for fun.”

The end result of that project is a modern five-bedroom, fourand-a-half bath home that serves to connect the individual to

the natural surroundings, with windows that look out onto perennial gardens that always have something in bloom during the spring and summer.

The home is surrounded by preserved land, backing up to Woodfield Reservation. And there are walking trails off the property. “The property is filled with gardens that are perennial,” Mr. Schoffelen says. “Pretty self-sustaining, but constantly blooming. There are flowers always blooming. And it’s got two outside sitting terrace areas, and then a third area back by the pool, so that kitchen flows right out onto the terrace area. So again, it’s a nice place for stepping outside and having dinner either quietly or with a lot of people.”

The home has some traces of its past. “There’s some exposed hand-hewn beams,” Mr. Schoffelen says. “Then in places in the construction there are old timbers.”

The home also has a two-car garage, main floor laundry, a partial basement and a master suite. It’s also only a few miles from the center of town.

Every time people see photos of the house, they receive positive feedback, but when people come to see it, they always say that you really have to be in the home to fully grasp the essence of the home.

“There’s a real privacy to it and a warmth to it that you don’t get if you’re looking at just a contemporary house,” Mr. Schoffelen says. “It’s a real warm family-oriented place.” pmfineliving.com | 39

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A Voice of Leadership Matthew R. Shaftel brings a love of music and teaching to his role as the new dean of the Westminster College of the Arts

By Philip Sean Curran | Photos by Phil McAuliffe

Mr. Shaftel says his new job is the perfect fit for his background.

W

estminster Choir College has called different places home in its history, much like the man who has been chosen to lead it.

Matthew R. Shaftel took over in July as the dean of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts, which includes Westminster Choir College in Princeton, the School of Fine and Performing Arts in Lawrenceville and the Westminster Conservancy, the community music school.

Mr. Shaftel comes to central New Jersey by way of Florida State University, where he last worked in central administration as an associate vice president for academic affairs before deciding to uproot himself and his family from sunny Florida to take on this challenge, an opportunity that in many ways blends his talents and his training that have been 42 years in the making.

If Mr. Shaftel betrays no regional accent in his voice, it is because he has lived a little bit everywhere: Arizona until he went to Phillips Academy in Massachusetts for high school; Kansas during summers where his family relocated; Connecticut for college; Florida for work at FSU. And now, New Jersey.

On an afternoon in July, he reflected on the path that has led him from deciding he wanted to go to boarding school, to meeting his future wife in an airport, and to deciding at 42 to take on this career move, whch has implications for not just him but also the faculty and students he will lead.

Arizona is where the journey starts for Mr. Shaftel. He recalled himself as being an “angsty teen,” who split his time with his father there and then bouncing to different locations to spend time with his mother, who worked for the Navy. The couple divorced when he was young.

Tragedy came at an early age, though. His mother committed suicide when he was 13.

“It was really hard,” he says. “But sometimes what you do to protect yourself is to just sort of focus in.”

The music bug bit him, thanks to the influence of an aunt who sang on a cruise ship for a living. He liked to perform but didn’t love it. At times, he can sound like his harshest critic.

“I was never satisfied with my own performance, so I did pursue it pretty hard,” he says. “When I hear myself, I don’t see it.”

He recalled that as a high school freshman, he took a music theory class, and from that moment on, he knew that was what he wanted to do.

He majored in music at Yale and stayed there to earn his master’s and doctorate in music theory.

He would meet his wife, Pascale, a native of Quebec City, on line at the Denver Airport. They were both scheduled to sing at the Aspen Opera Theatre Center, but their flights to Aspen had been canceled.

“So I didn’t know we were going to study together, I just saw this really beautiful lady with a great accent standing in front of me,” Mr. Shaftel says.

The two had coffee and, a few months later, got married. Their 21-year-marriage has produced three children, a son and two daughters.

Mr. Shaftel’s performing career including two productions of Marriage of Figaro, but he found his interests were different from those of his fellow singers, more asking the why questions about music rather than the how.

He stayed involved, working with singers by running a series of master classes and running a music festival. He helped pay his way through graduate school by singing at funerals.

Mr. Shaftel had done some teaching, including as an adjunct at Southern Connecticut State University, before he found himself making another move — this time south.

A friend who worked at Florida State convinced him to check it out. He walked in and said he was “floored” by the musicmaking going on.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” he says.

He took a job as an assistant professor in music, amid a faculty whose members liked each other and got along well. He stayed there and got involved in the broader community. pmfineliving.com | 41

Matthew R. Shaftel’s career as a music educator has brought him to Princeton as the dean of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts.

Mr. Shaftel became president of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestras; he served on various committees at Good Shepherd Catholic Church; and he participated in the Florida Arts Council.

At work, he progressed through the ranks of FSU into administration to becoming an associate dean of undergraduate studies and later an associate vice president. He found himself working on curriculum and focusing on 21st-century skills that graduates of the school needed to be successful in their careers.

Yet he left that behind, in some ways for a job that blends everything he had been doing up to that point: he brings an academic training in music, with an interest in community music and a background in choral conducting and working in

42 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

other arts.

“It’s the perfect alignment,” Mr. Shaftel says. “It’s the things I do. It’s church music, it’s vocal music, it’s music theater … it’s my love of art … When (an) alignment like that comes up, you have two choices: you can just plug your ears and close your eyes and say, ‘No, I love Florida.’ Or you can just see what it looks like.”

The Choir College traces its history to 1920, the year that John Finley Williamson founded the Choir at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton, Ohio. His last name adorns the signature building on campus, a Georgian-inspired structure where Mr. Shaftel’s office is located.

Six years later, the choir school was formed, and three years after that, the Choir College came into being and moved to Ithaca, New York.

In 1934, it relocated to its permanent home, in Princeton. In its history, the Choir College’s Symphonic Choir — made up of a mix of underclassmen and graduate students — has performed around the world. Yet during that history, the Choir College had to survive some shaky financial times. It became part of Rider University in 1992.

Mr. Shaftel takes over from Bob Annis, the former dean of the Choir College. Last academic year, the college had just over 400 students enrolled in either the undergraduate or graduate programs. But Mr. Shaftel’s job is not only to run the Choir College but rather to be dean of the entire fine and performing arts program.

It will be a juggling act, but one that he said he is ready for. A critical task will be taking the three branches of that program and moving them in alignment together.

“There’s only two ways to go,” he said. “You can go forward or you can go back-ward. We’re not going to go backward.”

On the Vine Pouring and pairing wines near and far

By Patrick Walsh | Photos by Phil McAuliffe

Going Public

Wine buyer Gene Bodemer talks about his favorite varieties

Gene Bodemer fills the shelves at Public Wine with high-quality and interesting wines.

W

hen it comes to making one’s way in the wine world, the road can often be circuitous. And sometimes it leads back to where it began. Such is the path of Gene Bodemer, the wine buyer for Public Wine on Witherspoon Street. Mr. Bodemer grew up in nearby Somerset County. He moved to Florida for a time, where he worked as a golf instructor and played professionally. Then a trip to South Africa in 2008 changed everything.

Over the course of a few weeks in one of wine’s most far-flung regions, Mr. Bodemer visited numerous vineyards, including DeMorgenzon, Raats Family Wines, and De Trafford Winery. When he returned to America, he hung up his golf cleats and worked for the

next three years for a South African wine export company. In 2013, he moved back to New Jersey and has been Public’s wine buyer since January, a position with challenges he welcomes.

As Mr. Bodemer explains, “Sometimes someone will walk in who hasn’t been here in years and they’re blown away because they remember the shop in its previous incarnation and they’re stunned by the incredible selection.”

Certainly fans of craft beer have known for a while about Public; the shop has perhaps the best selection of imports and hard-to-find domestic micro-brews in the state.

Discussing Public’s overall approach, Mr. Bodemer says, “We have pmfineliving.com | 43

a world-class selection of everything — wine, beer, spirits, sake.

We’re a little bit of everything, from six-packs to first-growths.”

Of course, wine is Mr. Bodemer’s bailiwick, and not just South African selections. “As far as high-end wines, California is our strongest suit,” he says. “For example, we currently carry two wines from Gargiulo Vineyards in Oakville, a super-premium estate. We have a six-pack of their Money Road Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, a one hundred-dollar cuvée and probably the only six bottles in the state.

And we have their Aprile Super Oakville, a Super-Tuscan homage that’s 96 percent Sangiovese and 4 percent Cabernet and a lot more approachable at $54.”

Of course, South African wines hold a special place in Mr. Bodemer’s heart. “Since there are so many people in the area who travel and know the region, we already sell a fair amount of South African wine,” he says. “Our top-seller right now is a Pinotage,” he adds, referring to the Pinot Noir-Cinsault hybrid varietal that has become the country’s signature red wine.

Discussing his expanding South African selection, Mr. Bodemer says: “I’m very pleased to offer two wines from Duncan Savage, the winemaker at Cape Point. These are extremely small-production

44 | Packet Magazine | August 2015

wines. The white is a Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blend, the red a Rhone-style blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault. Both are $45 a bottle.”

I asked him to single out some wines that really express his philosophy as wine buyer. He responded with several. Like me, he’s a big fan of the elegant white wines of Italy’s Soave appellation. He loves his Suavia “Massifitti” at $30, a rare Soave made from 100 percent Trebbiano di Soave grape. He also praises the same producer’s Soave Classico, which sells for $17.

And since it’s still summer with a few more weeks of backyard barbecues and al fresco dining, Mr. Bodemer suggests a rosé and an inexpensive Cabernet Sauvignon. “We carry Domaine de la Bastide, a classic Grenache-based Cotes du Rhone rosé, for $16,” he says, “and we have a nice organic Argentinean Cab, Aguijon De Abeja, at $17, which drinks well above its price.”

For Gene Bodemer, the road to Princeton took an out-and-back by way of Cape Town, but you can find Public Wine easily at 20 Witherspoon Street right in the heart of town.

For more information, go to www.publicwine.com or call 609-9240750.

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