Town Topics Newspaper, January 24, 2024.

Volume LXXVIII, Number 4

Pennington Methodists Celebrate 250 Years . . 5 Small Group of PMS Parents Protests “Critical Theory” Curriculum . . 7 PPPL Science on Saturday Series Begins Jan. 27 . . . . . . . . . 10 PU Concerts Presents Virtual Reality Experience . . . . . . . 15 PU Women’s Hoops Produces 2nd Half Rally To Defeat Columbia in Ivy Showdown . . . . . . 22 Goalie Fenton Stars as PDS Boys’ Hockey Edges Lawrenceville 3-2 . . . 27

A Momentous Centenary for Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Begins in America . . . . 14 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 20 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 30 Comforts of Winter . . . . 2 January Home . . . . . . . 17 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 13 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 21 Performing Arts . . .16, 18 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 10 Real Estate. . . . . . . . . 30 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6

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Citizen Group Sues Municipality, Mayor Over Master Plan Members of the Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development (PCRD) have filed a lawsuit in Mercer County Superior Court challenging the Princeton Planning Board’s recent approval of the Community Master Plan. The PCRD filed the lawsuit, identifying the municipality, Planning Board, and Mayor Mark Freda as defendants, on January 16.

Started by residents of the neighborhood bordering Princeton Theological Seminary when buildings on the campus were demolished and a multi-family development was proposed, the PCRD is described on its website as “a nonprofit organization that was formed to advocate for and enable a more effective and collaborative approach to land use development and redevelopment in Princeton.”

The group has been especially vocal about the Seminary development, and most recently about the new Master Plan, which was approved on November 30, 2023. Required by law, a Master Plan establishes a kind of road map to guide a municipality’s future growth and development. The Princeton Master Plan was last reviewed in 2018.

The PCRD is represented by land use attorney Robert F. Simon. The lawsuit says that “the assumptions and resulting principles and policies, having insufficient technical basis, fail to guide the use of lands in a manner that protects the public health and safety and promotes general welfare, and fails to include all required components, contrary to the requirements of the MLUL (New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law).”

Further, the 32-page complaint “challenges the specific recommendations set forth in the 2023 Master Plan and Reexamination Report related to certain properties within the AINR (Area in Need of Redevelopment) Study Area, as well as surrounding properties, as there is no technical basis in support of the departure from the recommendations set forth in prior Master Plan documents, which departure improvidently paves the way for the possible adoption of a redevelopment plan for the AINR Study Area that will be markedly out of character with its surrounding area.”

Referring to the transparency of the process, the suit charges that the Planning Board intended to pass the Master Continued on Page 9

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Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Council Approves Consolidation of Board, Commissions At a public hearing on Monday evening, January 22, about its proposal to consolidate the Civil Rights Commission, the Human Services Commission, and the Affordable Housing Board into one single committee, Princeton Council voted 5-0 to follow through with the ordinance despite three hours of testimony — nearly all of it opposed to the restructuring.

Emotions ran high at the meeting, both on and off the dais. Council members voted at the beginning of the hearing to amend the ordinance, changing its name from the Community Services Advisory Committee to the Advisory Committee on Affordable Housing, Human Serivces, and Racial, Social, and Economic Equity; the number of members, and how the chairperson would be selected. They also apologized for the way the ordinance was rolled out without committee members’ knowledge.

“Many of you took the news as a slap in the face, and the repudiation of the years of effort you have put in,” said Councilwoman Eve Niedergang. “That was not our intention, nor is it our intention to move away from improving the lives of our residents who most need our support.”

While sensitive to the comments being made, Council members maintained their view that consolidating the two commissions and one board into one committee would be more efficient in

dealing with issues of equity, homelessness, and racism.

The idea of consolidation was first broached in a memorandum to Council by Deputy Administrator/Director of Health Jeffrey Grosser, saying the current configuration represents “an outdated paradigm, where boards, commissions, and committees are siloed and compartmentalized within narrow focuses that attempt to address complex, multifaceted problems without taking into consideration the

broader range of influences and variables which underpin them.”

“It is a bold step, and change is never easy,” said Councilman Leighton Newlin.

“But we cannot continue with the status quo when it is not serving our community.

We must prioritize the well-being of those we represent, even if it means challenging the existing norms.”

Members of the public, many of whom have served for years on the three entities under discussion, complained that the Continued on Page 8

Freda Announces He’ll Seek a Second Term; Others Are Candidates for Council, Congress

Last Friday, Mayor Mark Freda, a Democrat, announced that he is seeking a second term. A few days earlier, Princeton resident and former School Board member Daniel Dart made it known that he will run as a Democrat for Congress against incumbent Bonnie Watson Coleman.

Current School Board member Brian McDonald, also a Democrat, announced last week that he will seek to fill the seat on Princeton Council that will be vacated

by Eve Niedergang, who announced at Council’s reorganization meeting that she will not run for another term. And Democrat Leighton Newlin has confirmed that he will run for a second term on Council.

The primary is on June 4. Election Day is November 5.

Freda, who grew up in Princeton and is president of the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, pledged in his announcement to “lead with transparency, foster open communication, and build lasting relationships — within our community, with neighboring municipalities, and at the county, state, and federal levels.”

Freda cited the renegotiation of the town’s agreement with Princeton University, the creation of the Special Improvement District (Experience Princeton), and navigating the challenges of the pandemic, among other achievements during his first term in office. He also stressed an Continued on Page 8

SERENITY AFTER THE STORM: Geese and ducks gathered amidst the beauty of the Millstone River after last Friday’s snowstorm. Residents and visitors share how they handled the storm in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Melissa Bilyeu)

TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 2

Town Topics

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UNION BOIL SEAFOOD COMPANY AT THE PENNINGTON SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER 25 ROUTE 31 • SOUTH PENNINGTON, NJ 08534 HOURS – LUNCH: MON-SUN 11:30 AM-2:30 PM HAPPY HOUR – MON-SUN 3 PM-6 PM DINNER – MON-SUN 5 PM-10 PM

HEALTH TO THE TREES: Terhune Orchards taps into ancient traditions on Sunday, January 28 with the annual Wassailing the Apple Trees celebration. much fanfare and merriment, noise to drive away any and Annual Wassailing Farm Festival at Terhune Orchards to ensure a good harvest in all spirits. Afterward, par-

Each winter Terhune Orchards follows an ancient Anglo-Saxon tradition of Wassailing the Trees. Wassail is an ancient Saxon word that means “health be to you,” and it’s the health of the trees that will be celebrated. The public is invited to join in on Sunday, January 28 from 1-4 p.m. for the annual Wassailing Celebration.

The wassailing custom began in England where many villages relied on the apple harvest. Knowing that the spring buds are on the trees in the winter, it was thought that creating a racket in winter would scare away bad sprits and ensure an excellent harvest in autumn. Terhune honors this tradition by opening the apple orchards to visitors in winter with

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ticipants gather around the bonfire to roast marshmallows and have a free cup of hot apple cider and apple cider donuts.

Spice Punch will perform old traditional songs and ballads on the Wine Barn porch.

The Wine Barn will be open with limited indoor seating, and outdoor seating at the firepits. Wine tastings and light fare will be available. The farm store will be open for fresh produce, baked goods, and local gourmet items. The Barn Door Café will have light fare and treats.

Wassailing the Apple Trees Farm Festival is free and open to the public. Terhune is located at 330 Cold Soil Road. Visit terhuneorchards. com for more information.

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the coming year.

Participants will gather under the bare branches of trees in the orchard that are over a cent ur y old.

Handsome Molly dancers dressed in traditional garb of black costumes play an important role in the festivities each year. Kingsessing Morris dancers will also be joining in the dancing with their white garb and festive feathers.

Ever yone joins in with chanting and music making, toasts of hot cider, and placing gifts of cidersoaked bread in the tree branches while chanting words of praise for the new year. Bring noisemakers — drums, whistles, bells, clackers, or put a few pebbles in an empty coffee can with a lid. These will make a

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Skating on the Square: Through February 25, on the outdoor synthetic skating rink. Thursdays and Fridays, 4-7 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 12-3 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. Palmersquare.com.

Leighton Listens: Councilman Leighton Newlin holds one-on-one conversations about issues impacting Princeton from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dates are January 24 at Delizioso Bakery, 205 Witherspoon Street; and January 31 at Starbucks, Princeton Shopping Center. All are welcome.

Free Rabies Clinic: At Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, 2 Mount Lucas Road, on Saturday, January 27 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Open to all New Jersey residents for pets at least three months old. Dogs must be leashed and cats must be secured in a carrier. All pets must be accompanied by an adult. Visit princetonnj.gov for more information.

Volunteer with FOPOS: Friends of Princeton Open Space is holding two familyfriendly, half-day sessions on Saturday, February 10 to help remove invasive plants and identify native species. Registration is required. Visit fopos.or/getinvolved.

Waste Reminder: January 29 is the last day to dispose of Christmas trees along with branch and log collection, which will continue the entire month of January. Storm debris can be included in this collection if it meets the size requirements. The next leaf collection will be in the spring. Look for the 2024 schedule in the mail and on princetonnj.gov soon.

Free Tax Assistance: The Mercer County AARP Tax-Aide program begins offering free federal and state tax preparation February 2 at Princeton Public Library, the Suzanne Patterson Building, and Nassau Presbyterian Church. Call (888) 227-7669 for specifics.

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SERVING THE COMMUNITY: On Youth Night at the Pennington United Methodist Church Information: (PUMC), childrenSubscription make greeting cards to send to shut-ins. The PUMC is hosting a worship 609.924.5400 ext. 30 and celebration service this Sunday, January 28, along with six other major events later this or year, to celebrate 250subscriptions@ years of Methodism in Pennington. (Photo courtesy of Pennington United Methodist Church) witherspoonmediagroup.com

Pennington Methodists Celebrate 250 Years, Legacy of Service in the Area Since 1774 princetonmagazine.com

The Pennington United Methodist Church (PUMC) will be hosting a series of seven different events this

year to celebrate 250 years of Methodism in Pennington.

The opening worship and celebration service will take place this Sunday, January 28 at 3 p.m. in the PUMC Sanctuary at 60 South Main Street in Pennington.

Sunday’s gathering will include a performance by the Princeton Symphonic Brass Quintet, along with PUMC organist Kathleen Connolly; lots of singing, “something the Methodists love to do,” according to PUMC member Julie Aberger; and a talk

by Methodist Bishop John R. Schol, followed by a reception.

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“Our motto is open hearts, open minds, open doors to all who may want to join in on the festivities,” said PUMC Pastor Joe Jueng.

“What better way to start our celebration of 250 years than a commemorative worship service?”

Jueng pointed out the Methodist legacy of “cultivating faithfulness of individual lives coming together” as well as a “mission component of going out and serving the community at large both near and far.”

He went on to emphasize the Methodist mission of “transformation of the world, being out in the community, making a difference.”

The PUMC yearlong celebration reflects those beliefs.

In particular, a Missions’ Celebration and Barbecue on July 28 will honor the Church’s partners throughout the state, including the Rescue Mission of Trenton, the Neighborhood Center of Camden, Turning Point UMC in Trenton, Mercer Street Friends, the Hopewell Valley Mobile Food Pantry, Urban Grace of Trenton, and SURJ-NJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice ) in Trenton.

“We’re inviting all the mission partners that we’re connected to,” said Jueng, citing PUMC’s support of the Camden Neighborhood Center’s affordable after-school child care and its summer camp, and the food pantries that

are in high demand. “That’s what this church has been about, doing good work with the people in the community, honoring their work.”

Aberger noted the many initiatives recently undertaken by Pennington Methodists, including cooking casseroles for the elderly in Camden; collecting food, blankets, and books for the Rescue Mission of Trenton; distributing fresh produce at summer farm markets in Trenton; sending greeting cards to shut-ins and care packages to college

benefit concert featuring renowned opera singer Emily Newton; a concert by the Trenton Children’s Choir in November; and a holiday walk and PUMC open house with Christmas caroling, hot chocolate, cookies, and Christmas crafts for the children on December 6.

Methodism in Pennington began in 1774 when Jonathan Bunn, a former Presbyterian, started holding classes in his cottage on the outskirts of the village, according to a short history provided by Aberger. Bunn had left a Methodist Society Meeting in Trenton, where the first Methodist societies in the area met, in order to bring his new religion to Pennington. Methodism, a Protestant Christian revival movement within the Anglican Church, had originated in England earlier in the 18th century.

The small, emerging faith community in Pennington read Scripture and sang hymns without an actual church and only a room in a small farmhouse with benches for seating. Pennington Methodists have had three churches over the years, building their present church in the 1840s and expanding it in 1876.

Jueng commented on the enduring significance and purpose of the Methodist Church. “Especially in a time when we are seeing this epidemic of loneliness, people leading isolated lives for various reasons, the faith community offers a place where people can feel belonging, and discover their meaning and purpose,” he said.

5 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

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students at exam times ; buying diapers for Maker’s Place in Trenton ; giving annual scholarships to two young people in the Urban Promise Trenton program; financially suppor ting a local sister church’s food bank; and sending donations to suffering people all over the world.

A major part of PUMC’s financial commitment has been focused on addressing food insecurity in Trenton, in particular at a monthly engagement at the Turning Point Church, where a cohort of about 18 volunteers from PUMC serves a substantial breakfast to more than 150 food-insecure local residents, as well as providing about 100 personal hygiene kits.

Another one of the major events hosted by the PUMC this year will be an April 21 Hymn Festival featuring the Central NJ Chapter of The American Guild of Organists. This acclaimed group of organists will play variations on themes of old and new Methodist hymns.

“Singing is like praying t wice,” said Jueng, in a quote attributed to St. Augustine. Jueng highlighted the importance of music in the Methodist church, noting the thousands of hymns, many of which appear in hymn books of many different denominations, written by the early English Methodist leader Charles Wesley.

Other events on the calendar for the 250th anniversary celebrations include a historic cemetery tour of the Old Methodist Cemetery on Pennington-Titusville Road in Hopewell Township on June 1; a September 14

Continued on Next Page

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Methodists Continued from Preceding Page

He continued, emphasizing a “fullness of life that always involves a sharing of life with the people around you,” a tradition of service, and a “celebration where everyone has a seat at the table.”

—Donald Gilpin

SSAAM Gets Preserving Black Churches Grant

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The National Trust for Historic Preservation has awarded t he Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM), Central New Jersey’s first dedicated Black history museum, a $50,000 grant from the African American Cultural H e r it ag e Ac t ion Fu n d ’s Preserving Black Churches project. This grant recognizes the museum’s commitment to preserving and sharing the history and cultural heritage of African Americans in the Sourland region from the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the present day.

T h e P r e s e r v i n g B lack Churches grant will be used to support SSAAM’s “We Shall Not Be Moved: Celebrating the Legacy of Mt. Zion AME Church” initiative. The project aims to commemorate and honor the rich legacy of the National Historic Register-listed Mt. Zion AME Church, which will celebrate its 125th anniversary this year, by bringing exhibits, lectures, and cultural programming to the public.

“When I was a small child, I distinctly remember napping on my grandmother’s lap at the Green Street Baptist church in Selma, Alabama,” said SSAAM Executive Director Donnetta Johnson. “I spent summers there, which meant that we spent long hours in church each weekend. Church was our second home. W hen civil rights activists came to Selma, they stopped at the now legendary church, across the street from my g ra nd ma’s hou s e where she offered meals, lodging, and compassion to folks as they passed through to fight and die for our rights as humans, and as Americans. The Black Church has been a bedrock in the Black American experience.”

Mt. Zion AME Church has been central to the lives of the African American communit y in the Sourland mountain. The fully restored, one-room church, on the SSAAM campus that includes the historically African American True Farmstead, was home for Black congregants on Sourland Mountain and visitors from surrounding communities for over 100 years.

“When you walk in, you experience a sense of the powerful history instantly. It feels so familiar, so calming.

There are a bounty of rich, powerful stories reflecting the joy, hope, struggle, resilience and sorrow of the people that gathered to worship within those walls,” said Johnson.“The structure was carefully restored in 2022. With this grant award we will engage our community to bring more stories to life through music, history reenactments, community teach-ins, and storytelling from a nearly disappeared people once so vital to the cultural and economic life and landscape of the Sourland Mountains.”

© TOWN TALK A forum for the expression of opinions about local and national issues.

Question of the Week: “How did you manage the last snowstorm?”

(Photos by Weronika A. Plohn and Charles R. Plohn)

“I’m home-schooling, so I stayed inside and stayed cozy and was able to keep up with my work at the same time.”

—Sadie Justus, Lawrenceville

“I was actually working here on the Princeton University campus, overseeing operations and helping to guide our teams to provide great service for the campus.”

—Ryan Mileski, Chesterfield

“I managed the last snowstorm by staying home and working remotely, and drinking coffee and staying warm.”

—Fred Knott, North Hanover Township

Aarush: “We had fun playing in the snow, and it was fun to play inside too when we got too cold. We also went to town and got ice cream from Halo Pub and falafel from Mamoun’s.”

Aarad: “I played in the snow a bunch and we also helped my dad shovel. Overall it was not too bad — we had fun.”

—Aarush and Aarad Shah, Princeton

Protesters — two or three each day—have demonstrated outside Princeton Middle School (PMS) during the past two weeks, calling for revisions to the HiTOPS curriculum on diversity and inclusion.

Holding up signs stating “Stop HiTOPS” and protesting the “indoctrinating” of students, the parent demonstrators have stayed for about 30 minutes each morning on the sidewalk in front of the school, not on school grounds.

The police have been in attendance, but there has been no disruption or violence.

On January 12, the second day of their demonstrations, the protesters faced a counterprotest of about 10 parents supporting HiTOPS and the need for LGBTQIA and racial literacy education.

One of the demonstrators, Luke Alberts, father of twins in the sixth grade at PMS, stated that the two or three parents who showed up each day were part of a larger group of 15 or 16 concerned parents, who are apparently organizing under the name of Parents for Responsible Educational Policy and are in the process of creating a website to help present their message.

Alberts described them as “a very grassroots movement that has come together in a short period of time.” He emphasized that the group supports the pro-LGBTQIA and anti-bullying aspects of the HiTOPS curriculum, but objects to other aspects of the broader racial literacy instruction.

“What we have a problem with is how they’re presenting it, specifically relying on critical theory and a narrative of oppressor and oppressed,” Alberts said in a January 22 phone conversation. “Our goal is not to kick HiTOPS out of the school. Our job is to make parents more aware of the material they are presenting. In a perfect world HiTOPS would amend its curriculum to exclude the entire oppressor-oppressed narrative that permeates so much of their work.”

HiTOPS Executive Director Lisa Shelby noted in a January 22 email, “HiTOPS works to empower young people through facilitating schoolbased sex education and educator training, providing educational/social support for LGBTQ+ youth, and building affirming and inclusive communities.”

She continued, “We have been hired by Princeton Public Schools as the content expert to help them implement the diversity and inclusion mandates required by the State of New Jersey.”

Princeton Public Schools ( PPS ) Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Kimberly Tew commented in a January 23 email, “In our effort to facilitate open and honest communication with parents, we have shared lesson plans in advance so parents and caretakers can preview the content their students will be learning.”

She went on, “We have met in large and small groups to hear concerns and answer questions. We appreciate and respect the fact that community members have varying points of view.”

In November, in the wake of a controversy instigated by an online video promulgated by the right-wing advocacy group Project Veritas, Tew sent out a letter to PPS parents regarding PMS’ partnership with HiTOPS. Tew noted at the time that the PPS administration had met with HiTOPS several times about lessons to be taught in the middle school Pathways courses and that former PMS counselor Thomas Foley would be leading all sessions and PPS staff would be present during delivery of the lessons. Those lessons cannot be opted-out of, she said, because they are a part of the state mandates.

Junglien Chen, one of the parent protesters, criticized the PPS for being one-sided in its presentation of the curriculum. “What they’re teaching is problematic,” he said.

“The school is not being neutral in terms of politics. They need to explain both sides and teach children to be critical so that in the future they can decide for themselves.”

Alberts reiterated, “Our beef is not with the LGBTQ community. We are supportive of LGBTQ rights. We are sympathetic and we are against bullying, but we have problems with how HiTOPS is presenting its work.”

The demonstrators have urged parents to attend the next Board of Education meeting on January 30 to voice their concerns and demand that the HiTOPS curriculum be changed.

—Donald Gilpin

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vancy is hosting their last “Talk of the Sourlands” of the season on February 8 at 7 p.m., at Titusville First Presbyterian Chuch. Back by popular demand, Donnetta Johnson will discuss the African-American relationship to environmentalism, land ownership, and land loss across America and in the Sourlands.

Donnetta Johnson Johnson has ser ved as executive director of the Stoutsburg Sourland Afr ican A mer ican Museum (SSAAM) on Hollow Road in Skillman since 2021. She is a community leader and Hillsborough business owner who began her career as a pioneering Black woman in technology, working as a programmer and senior project manager at AT&T. After leaving the corporate world to follow her passion for entrepreneurship, she founded the Allegra School of Music and Arts and the Hillsborough Music Festival, which promotes local businesses in partnership with government and the arts to support youth mental health and suicide prevention.

Titusville First Presbyterian Church is located at 48 River Drive, Titusville.

Seating is limited, but a hybrid model will be implemented. Admission is free and registration is required.

Donations are always greatly appreciated. Membership support and donations provide the resources for the Sourland Conservancy to create educational events such as this one.

To register, visit tinyurl. com/SC-SSAAM.

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Merit-based “Mensch Award” For Mercer County Students

The Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS) of Greater Mercer County has announced the Rose & Louis H. Linowitz Mensch Award, a merit-based award for deserving Jewish eighthgrade and high school senior students living in Mercer County.

Candidates should exemplify what it means to be a mensch – a person of integrity and honor, a doer of good deeds, and an allaround good person. Students must be nominated by a member of the community such as a Rabbi, educator, youth group advisor, secular school guidance counselor, or teacher. Eighth-grade Mensch-In-Training and high school senior Mensch Award winners will receive prizes up to $500 and $3,000 respectively. This is not a needbased scholarship.

Selected winners are required to attend a recognition event to receive their Award on April 17th.

Applications are due by March 6. For more information or to nominate a students, visit jfcsonline.org/ awards-scholarships.

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7 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

Small Group of Middle School Parents “Talk of the Sourlands” Features Donnetta Johnson Protests “Critical Theory” Curriculum T he S ourland Cons er-

TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 8

Princeton Council continued from page one

ordinance was introduced (at the January 8 Council meeting) without any previous notice to them. Some said they were insulted by the action.

“This ordinance is not the correct way,” said Lance Liverman, who has served on all three entities as well as on Council. “I was hurt, along with others, and didn’t want to receive your apologies. I felt very disrespected.

I’m asking you to suspend or defeat this ordinance tonight.”

Affordable Housing Board Chair Kate Warren said she took exception to calling the current system “an outdated paradigm.” Civil Rights Commission member Walter Bliss challenged the notion of effi ciency.

“We do not cost taxpayer dollars, so why should we be eliminated in the interest of efficiency?” he asked. “Shrinking the three all-volunteer boards ensures conflicts of interest.

These critically important policy areas warrant independent oversight. Let’s talk about it.

If there are problems, let’s fix them. There has been no such conversation to date. Please rethink this ordinance.”

Human Services Commission member Larry Spruill pointed out that the Civil Rights moniker “has a lot of power,” he said. “I don’t think it’s something we should play with.”

Former Human Services Commission member John Heilner said the ordinance was “very short-sighted despite its intentions. I’m especially distressed that the Civil Rights Commission would no longer exist on its own. It provides

a small group of trusted residents, who are not town government employees, to whom those with discrimination complaints can turn.”

Veronica Olivares-Weber, chair of the Human Services Commission, listed several initiatives and collaborations that have addressed underrepresented communities. The boards and commissions do have issues, she said, but they should be addressed via conversations among members, elected officials, and municipal staff. In the end, “we all want the same thing, a community that thrives and embraces its diversity.”

Speaking before taking a vote, Newlin and Council President Mia Sacks said the controversy over the ordinance was the most difficult issue they have faced as members of the governing body. Sacks said the new committee is “a floor.

There is a lot more that we need, but we need to get started with that. There are many objectives the CRC would like to accomplish. Some things have happened, and some have not. We have an unfortunate tendency in Princeton to talk for years on end and not take action, and I would like to take action tonight.”

Niedergang said, “The current structure has existed for 50 years, and we’re not getting the job done.” Newlin added, “At the end of the day, what we have right now can work better.

To the people in here that may think that I’ve turned my back on my community, I really hope over time that you will search your hearts, because the people in here have known me most of my life. I would never disenfranchise the least of us.”

—Anne Levin

Candidates continued from page one

ongoing commitment to affordable housing.

“Princeton is a desirable place to live, which puts pressure on housing prices,” he said. “How do we balance grow th and densit y and maintain the mix of people that makes Princeton so attractive? We live in an active and sustainability-conscious community. As our residents walk and bike more, how do we ensure safe routes for them in a town built around driving a car? Along with those items we will work on road conditions, on moving beyond concept plans for Community Park South, and many other important issues on the horizon.”

In addition to his term on the Board of Princeton Public Schools, Dart has been a trustee and treasurer for the Watershed Institute, where he continues as a member of its advisory board. On his website, he lists his leadership as chair of the Corner House Foundation’s investment committee, where “the portfolio was successfully restructured, costs reduced, and the investment returns improved. These changes provided increased funding for the Foundation’s mission to prevent and treat alcohol and drug addiction by engaging and supporting youth, adults, and families in lifelong healthy living and recovery.”

Dar t’s website says he served a chief operating officer at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in Plainsboro, where he “led a team that transformed a business from a loss to a profit, and grew assets under management from $4 billion to $32 billion, in a short period of time.”

Issues of importance to Dart include protecting the env iron ment, protect ing freedom to choose, national security, and securing the southern border and immigration reform. Citing Congress’ recent track record of passing only 27 bills last year, he said, “We deserve a functional Congress to move our nation forward. As a moderate Democrat with a proven track record, I will work with members of both parties to solve problems using common sense practical solutions.”

McDonald has been on the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education for six years. He announced January 15 that instead of reelection, he will pursue a seat on the municipality’s governing body. In a letter to Town Topics and other community media, he listed his membership on the boards of the Watershed Institute, Sustainable Princeton, and McCarter Theatre Center.

“Our community is at a pivotal juncture,” he wrote.

“As we grow, we need to ensure that our growth is

smart, sustainable, and respectful of our unique character. At a time when the average home cost exceeds $1 million, we need to find ways to make our town more affordable for individuals and families at all income levels so that our significant diversity, which is one of our great strengths and defining characteristics, may be sustained and expanded.”

McDonald thanked Niedergang in his announcement letter for “her decades of community engagement and leadership as an advocate for our environment and sustainability, and as a d e d i c ate d m e mb e r of Council.”

Newlin announced his intention to run for a second term on Council in a letter on the Mailbox page in this week’s issue of Town Topics.

“In the face of challenges like affordabilit y, climate change, gentrification, and social infrastructure, Princeton stands at a crossroads,” he wrote. “It is crucial that our leadership reflects the diversity and values of our people.

As a native son of Princeton, bor n and raised, I of fer a u n ique p ersp ec tive on our history — past, present, and future — and c o n s i s te n t l y b r i n g t h a t perspective in discussions with my colleagues, department heads, and municipal staff.”

—Anne Levin

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Free AARP Tax-Aide Program at 3 Local Sites

The Mercer County AARP Tax-Aide program, which provides free federal and state income tax preparation, will again offer its service in Princeton on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays beginning February 2.

The program ser ves all ages and primarily focuses on taxpayers of low- and m o d e r a te i n c o m e . I R S trained volunteers w ill prepare and f ile federal and state ta x ret ur ns at no cost.

Monday sessions will be held at Princeton Public Librar y, 65 Witherspoon Street, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.Appointments are necessary and may be made by calling the library at (609) 924-9529 extension 1220.

Friday sessions will be held at the Suzanne Patters on Bu ild ing, beh ind Monument Hall, 45 Stockton Street, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.Call (609) 751-9699 for an appointment.

Saturday sessions will be held at Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street, between 9 and 11 a.m.This is a walk-in location with no appointment necessary.

Spanish-speaking translators will be available.

Taxpayers should bring a copy of their 2022 return and those with a W-2 form their year-end pay stub, if possible.

Other nearby sites are in West Windsor, Lawrence, Hopewell, Ewing, Robbinsville and Plainsboro.Further information can be found by a web search for “AARP Tax-Aide locator” or by calling 1(888) 227-7669.

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continued from page one

Plan “regardless of any public comments or objections received at the November 9 public hearing. The ‘public input’ prior to the release of the draft 2023 Master Plan and Reexamination Report is laughable given the general nature of the surveys released, the ‘listening sessions’ that took place after the draft was mostly complete but not yet released to the public, and the short time period for public digestion of the 270+ page draft.”

The suit says that after nearly three dozen members of the public commented on the draft Master Plan, “Board members appeared to be disengaged, tired, or otherwise distracted throughout the course of the meeting, including one Board member who appeared to be texting for most of the meeting.”

Further, the suit alleges that insufficient notice was given to the public about meetings of the Master Plan Steering Committee, and the minutes of those meetings were not published.

The plaintiffs also challenge the Planning Board’s predetermination of a date to adopt the Master Plan without enough public input, saying it goes against the law.

Members of the Planning Board could not be reached for comment. Justin Lesko, the town’s planning director, said he could not comment at this time.

Jo Butler, a former member of Council and a member of the PCRD, said, “Litigation is always a last resort, so we regret this is where we find ourselves.

We think the complaint speaks for itself. All of this could possibly have been avoided if a vote on the Master Plan was deferred pending necessary revisions to ensure that established and historic neighborhoods were adequately protected from otherwise inevitable adverse impacts.”

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Three New Board Members At Community Foundation

Three new members joined the Princeton Area Community Foundation Board of Trustees, as the organization celebrates a milestone: it has awarded more than $200 million in grants since it was founded in 1991.

Marygrace Billek of West Windsor, Ka’Neda N. Bullock of Trenton, and Michael Ullmann of Princeton were appointed to three-year terms, bringing their experience in grantmaking, finance, and the law.

“We are pleased to welcome Marygrace and Ka’Neda to the board of trustees, and we are so happy that Mike is returning to his volunteer post,” said Board Chair Sonia Delgado.

“Their insights and expertise will be assets to our board.”

For more than 30 years, the Community Foundation has helped philanthropists give to the causes that matter most to them. It is home to more than 400 charitable funds, and it has now granted more than $200 million to nonprofits near and far.

“We are thrilled to announce this grantmaking achievement, and it is thanks to our incredibly generous community that we have reached this milestone,” said Delgado. “Our new trustees are joining a board that has a history of more than three decades of service in the region.”

Billek is the retired director of human services for Mercer County, where she oversaw services to at-risk youth, senior citizens, individuals and families who do not have permanent housing, and individuals with disabilities. She began her career as a residence counselor at SERV Centers of New Jersey.

In 2004 she became the Mercer County deputy director of human services and two years later, she was appointed to the role of director.

In that role, she chaired or participated in more than 30 boards and commissions.

Bullock, an award-winning wealth manager and employer retirement plan advisor, is the president and founder of Master Plan Investment Group in Pennington. She is a speaker on a wide range of fi nancial topics, including retirement income strategies, investing, long-term care and financial planning. Bullock is a member of the inaugural Commonwealth Financial Network Women’s Council, the Trenton Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Mercer County chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. and the Smith College Club. She serves on the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton Young Professionals Group.

She is a former member of the board of trustees at Smith College and a current member of the Smith College Business Network Board.

Ullmann retired last year as the executive vice president, general counsel of Johnson & Johnson and a member of the Company’s executive committee after serving 11 years in that role and 34 years with J&J. He served on the Community foundation board of trustees from 2016 to 2022, where he was chair of the Human Resources Committee and a member of the Committee on Impact and Strategic Planning Committee. He serves as chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee of the Board of Directors of Americares, the global healthcare relief organization.

D elgado als o t han ked four departing trustees who completed their terms of service on the Board: Anthony “Skip” Cimino, former board chair; Michelle Everman, who served as the board treasurer; Rakia Reynolds; and Anne VanLent.

“T heir impac t on our Board is meaningful and long lasting,” said Delgado. “We want to thank them for their volunteer service and their commitment to our mission of promoting philanthropy to advance the well-being of our communities forever.”

Curbing Sugar Cravings Is Topic of Lecture

Eating for Your Health will present Dr. Niole Avena, research neuroscientist and expert in nutrition, diet, and food addiction, on February 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the Sand Hills Community Wellness Center in Kendall Park.

Avena will discuss her book, Sugarless — A 7-Step Plan to Uncover Hidden Sugars, Curb Your Cravings, and Conquer Your Addiction. This event is a part of the organization’s ongoing commitment to promote healthy lifestyles.

In Sugarless, Avena offers a revolutionary approach to understanding and managing our relationship with food. She unveils a sciencebacked, step-by-step plan to break free from the cycle of addiction, outsmarting an industry that often hides sugar in our everyday foods. Her pioneering work has ignited a new field of exploration in medicine and nutrition, particularly in the realms of diet during pregnancy, and baby, toddler, and childhood nutrition.

Attendees will be served healthy, hearty meal provided by Jammin’ Crepes, and have the option to include a copy of the book Sugarless in their registration. The Sand Hills Community Wellness Center is at 57 Sand Road in Kendall Park.

African American Genealogy Hills Tickets are $45 for the talk Is Topic of Case Studies and meal, or $65 for the To celebrate Black History talk, meal, and book. RegMonth, Janice Gilyard and ister at bit.ly/3vGxUF. Cherekana Feliciano, the president and vice president of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical IS ON S o c i e t y, Ne w Je r s e y Chapter, will share personal case studies to demonstrate how anyone can successfully research their ancestors on Thursday, February 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Headquar ters Branch of the Mercer County Library System.

Participants will learn the basics of starting their genealogy journey. This session will also highlight the resources that are available, proper forms to use, online resources that aid in properly documenting research, and how to use DNA to make family connections. Patrons will also learn the importance of starting with what they know and what they don’t about their ancestors, how to use historical record sets, verify oral history, correct false information, and preserve family history.

Advanced registration is appreciated. The Lawrence Headquar ters Branch of the Mercer County Library System is located at 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Township. Visit mcl.org for more information.

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9 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

Master Plan

TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 10

to audience members Science on Saturday Lecture Series Begins access all over the globe, and I wait to meet the new Jan. 27 at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab cannot friends we make this year.”

Zwicker anticipates audiences of “hundreds in person and hundreds more online” for this year’s events.

“It’s such a joy to offer such an amazing lineup of scientists, and we always look forward to seeing our regulars and new audience members,” he said.

Presentations continue on Saturday mornings through February into the first two weeks of March: Montclair State Universit y Biolog y Professor Sandra Daise Adams on “Natural Products as Antivirals” on February 3; Jesse D. Jenkins, Princeton University assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center of Energy and the Environment on “The Pathway to Achieve a Net-zero Economy in the U.S. by 2050” on February 10; Wei Peng, Princeton University assistant professor of public and international affairs and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment on “Decarbonizing the Energy System for a Cleaner and Healthier Future” on February 17; David Schlossberg, experimental physicist at the National Ignition Facility, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on “The Remarkable Story of Fusion Ignition at the National Ignition Facility” on March 2; and Alastair Stacey, managing principal research physicist, applied materials and SCIENCE SATURDAYS: The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will host a series of six free sustainability, of the PPPL presentations on cutting-edge scientific topics presented by world-leading experts starting on “Using Plasma to Create January 27, as part of the Ronald E. Hatcher Science on Saturday lecture series for the sci- Quantum Technologies and ence-curious of all ages.

(Photo courtesy of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory) Diamonds” on March 9.

“Our science-curious audience will love each and every talk and speaker,” said Ortiz. “Our audience members look forward to something fun and enriching to do on a cold Saturday morning, and we are here for all of it.”

Zwicker added, “To be surrounded by people of all ages who are curious about science and to be able to host these events is such a privilege. I’m excited to kick 101 grovers mill road, suite 200, Lawrenceville, nj | 609.275.0400 off the event on Saturday.

It’s going to be fun.”

The Science on Saturday series is named to honor Ronald E. Hatcher, beloved Szaferman.com PPPL engineer who hosted the series for many years before his sudden death in 2014.

Science on Saturday participants should plan to arrive early for coffee and doughnuts, and all adult barry szaferman Brian G. Paul visitors should have a photo Best Lawyers Best Lawyers ID, such as a passport or Super Lawyers Super Lawyers license, to show at the security booth. Visit pppl.gov/ events/science-saturday for more information.

—Donald Gilpin Want to learn from expert scientists about the issues making headlines around the world including clean energy solutions? AI art?

Natural ways to fight viruses? The story of fusion ignition? Creating quantum technologies and diamonds?

Science on Saturday, now in its 39th year, will return on January 27 at the U.S. Depar t ment of E nerg y’s ( DOE ) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory PPPL), with the first of a series of six free talks, including presentation and Q&A, running from 9:30 to 11 a.m. each Saturday.

The opening session of the Ronald E. Hatcher Science on Saturday lecture series will feature Rutgers University

Computer Sciences Professor Ahmed Elgammal on the controversial topic of “Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” Elgammal is the founder and director of the Ar t and Ar tificial Intelligence Laboratory at Rutgers.

“We’ve seen AI and its impact on our society becoming one of the most important issues confronting our world,” said program host Andrew Zwicker, who is the head of strategic relationships at PPPL. “AI has gained significant attention and popularity in recent years due to advancements in machine learning and generative algorithms,” wrote PPPL Science Education Program Manager

Deedee Ortiz in an email.

“It has also generated some of the most beautiful art out there. Artists and technologists are constantly pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve, and I am curious to know where this could go.”

Fu nde d by t he D OE’s Fusion Energ y S ciences pr o g r a m , t h e s e r i e s i s aimed at promoting science literacy among the public, with enthusiastic audiences ranging in age from 9 to 99, according to Ortiz. “For the longest time we’ve had our regulars who’ve been with us for more than 20 years, and they bring their families that we’ve seen grow up,” she said. “The post-COVID world gave us the gift of

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shattered and that other areas of her car were vandalized by an unknown person or persons, while it was parked on Ewing Street.

On January 15, at 2:27 p.m., an individual reported that an unknown individual or individuals removed the catalytic converter from his vehicle while it was parked on Leigh Avenue.

On January 13, at 4:23 p.m., the general manager of a Nassau Street retail establishment reported that an individual entered the store and shoplifted eight men’s wool beanie-style hats valued at approximately $544.

The suspect placed the items underneath the back of his jacket and left the store without paying for them.

He is described as heavyset with a light beard, approximately 40-50 years old, and wearing glasses.

On January 11, at 1:19 p.m., a Harris road resident reported that an unknown indiv idual or indiv iduals stole a catalytic converter from her vehicle while it was parked in her driveway.

Unless noted, individuals arrested were later released.

Police Blotter On January 21, at 12:55 a.m., subsequent to a motor vehicle stop on Vandeventer Avenue for failure to keep right, the driver, a 24-yearold male from Robbinsville, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was transported to police headquarters where he was processed, charged accordingly, and released.

On January 20, at 7:21 a.m., police received a call reporting the shoplifting of several items from a State Road store, which were valued at $953.69. The suspect is described as approximately 20 years old, 5’5 tall, with a thin build, wearing a black jacket and with a backpack.

On January 20, at 4:33 p.m., a caller reported that a male wearing an olive green jacket, gray hooded sweatshirt, black knit hat, olive green pants, and black sneakers, entered a Nassau Street store and took six items, exiting the store without paying for them. The total value of the items stolen was $5,068.

On January 19, at 11:25 a.m., an individual phoned police to report that the rear window of her vehicle was

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11 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

CENTER

TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 12

Education and Recreation Town Topics

The views of the letters do not necessarily reflect the views of Town Topics.

Leighton Newlin Announces Run for Second Term on Princeton Council

To the Editor: What sounds better than efficiency? If words were candy, efficiency would be a big gumdrop. Apparently in the name of efficiency, our leaders are consolidating three distinct, distinctive long-standing groups (the Civil Rights Commission, the Affordable Housing Board, and the Human Services Commission). It does sound efficient. But efficient how? Will it bind “the kind of people” who care about banalities like justice, dignity, affordable housing, civil rights, and human services for the vulnerable into one happy, undoubtedly efficient, committee?

Efficiency may be critical to profitability. But government is about democracy, and the beauty of local government is about having one’s voice heard, even if it is an inefficient process.

It would be reasonable to ask why 29 volunteers are being cut by 2/3 to a more “efficient” nine, with less meetings, less topics, less exposure, and perhaps less time to get into trouble? Why was there no public input on this “efficiency” decision? If it was the right decision, why not stand behind it? Perhaps if it were instead a committee to build lucrative multi-story market rate housing — that committee would get the key to the city.

DAVE SALTZMAN Montadale Drive

To the Editor: It is with great enthusiasm and a deep sense of commitment that I announce my candidacy for reelection as a member of Princeton Council.

Over the past two years, it has been a true privilege and honor to serve the residents of Princeton. Together, we have worked towards building a world-class town that values diversity, cares for its residents, and addresses critical issues in infrastructure, housing, affordability, human/social services, transportation, public safety, art, and culture.

As liaison to the Princeton Housing Authority (PHA) I have witnessed the transformative progress by the PHA board, and executive director, in reorganizing the structure, communication, and delivery of services to constituents. The formation of the PHA Tenants Council has given residents more voice and allows for greater participation.

A new direction is bringing about a cultural change that enhances the lives of residents.

Collaborating with Catholic Charities, we have expanded mental health and substance abuse services, reinforcing our commitment to the well-being of our community. We have also strengthened our drug awareness outreach and prevention programs at Princeton Middle School and Princeton High School.

Preserving the unique character and historic integrity of Princeton is a priority. In this regard, we have ensured the input of the Historic Preservation Commission in the Master Plan, aligning our Smart Growth plans and initiatives with the town’s rich history.

In the face of challenges like affordability, climate change, gentrification, and social infrastructure, Princeton stands at a crossroads. It is crucial that our leadership reflects the diversity and values of our people. As a native son of Princeton, born and raised, I offer a unique perspective on our history — past, present, and future — and consistently bring that perspective in discussions with my colleagues, department heads, and municipal staff.

“Leighton Listens” is my commitment to being local, accessible, and engaged. On Wednesdays from 11 a.m.12:30 p.m., I show up at various locations around town to listen to constituent concerns, issues, and priorities because meeting people where they are is key to effective representation.

I want to emphasize that civil rights, human services, and affordable housing remain at the core of a more inclusive Princeton. Identifying and understanding the many areas of need for low-income families and seniors has taught me that serving in local government requires genuine effort and a deep sense of responsibility.

Please join me on this journey. Let us continue to listen, question, and work together to ensure that our decisions are right for all the people and make sense for our community. Your support is invaluable, and together, we can create a Princeton filled with possibilities for all its neighbors. Let us dare to be great!

I want to thank and acknowledge my colleagues for their dedication and unwavering support in helping me through the learning process of municipal government. I want to personally thank Eve Niedergang for her companionship, nurturing, and friendship, as she continues her final year on Council.

“Reclaiming Democracy” Author Thank you for your trust, and I look forward to your Speaks At Princeton Public Library support.

Activist and author Sam awakening to their power.

LEIGHTON NEWLIN Birch Avenue Daley-Harris will discuss The action fair will allow the rev ised and updated par ticipants a chance to version of his book, Re - interact with a variety of claiming Our Democracy, groups that are working at on S u n day, Ja nuar y 28 the grassroots level to enTown Topics welcomes letters to the Editor, preferably from 3 to 5 p.m. at the act change, and will take on subjects related to Princeton. Letters must have a Princeton Public Library. place from 4 to 5 p.m. on valid street address (only the street name will be printed This is a joint event be- the first floor of the library, tween the library and Laby- 65 Wit h er sp o on S t re e t. with the writer’s name). Priority will be given to letters rinth Books. A book sign- The local chapters of the that are received for publication no later than Monday ing and “action fair” will national groups Citizens’ noon for publication in that week’s Wednesday edition. follow the talk, as well as Climate Lobby, RESULTS, Letters must be no longer than 500 words and have book sales.

A mer ican Promise, Rep no more than four signatures.

B as e d on t he prem is e r e s e n t U s , C o a l i t i o n for All letters are subject to editing and to available that democracy only works Peace Action, Not In Our space. through people’s involve- Town Princeton, League of m e nt, w h e t h er it’s civ i l Women Voters of the GreatAt least a month’s time must pass before another rights, climate, or improv- er Princeton Area, and Evletter from the same writer can be considered for pubing elections and govern- eryLibrary, and others, will lication. ment itself, Daley-Harris’s be on hand.

Letters are welcome with views about actions, 2024 edition of ReclaimStarting with a career in policies, ordinances, events, performances, buildings, ing our Democracy: Every music,Daley-Harris foundetc. However, we will not publish letters that include Citizen’s Guide to Trans- ed the anti-poverty lobby content that is, or may be perceived as, negative toformational Advocacy (Ri- R E S U LT S i n 198 0, c o vertowns Books, $32.95) founded t he Microcredit wards local figures, politicians, or political candidates focuses less on the “broken Summit Campaign in 1995, as individuals. federal government” than and foundedCivic CourageWhen necessary, letters with negative content may about what he calls“a bro- in 2012. The 2024 edition be shared with the person/group in question in order ken citizenry.” Daley-Har- of Reclaiming our Democto allow them the courtesy of a response, with the unris’s book lays out a prov- racy was named an editor’s derstanding that the communications end there. en replicable way to make pick by Publisher’s Weekly a difference and heal our BookLife. Kirkus Reviews Letters to the Editor may be submitted, preferably democracy in the process; called it “a handbook for by email, to editor@towntopics.com, or by post to Town It’s not the only solution aspiring activists that readTopics, PO Box 125, Kingston, N.J. 08528. Letters needed, but it is one essen- ers will find to be both insubmitted via mail must have a valid signature. tial, missing piece:citizens spiring and practical.”

Books

CEO and Businessperson Liz Elting Visits Princeton

A “meet and greet” and book signing is planned with Entrepreneur Magazine’s Woman of the Year Elizabeth Elting, who is the CEO and founder of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation to help marginalized communities. Eting writes for Forbes Magazine, and is the author of Dream Big and Win, Translating passion into Purpose, and Creating a Billion Dollar Business.

The event is at the offices of Dr. Radwa Saad of Dent Blanche Dental, 3640 Lawrenceville Road, Princeton, on Saturday, January 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Registration is necessary.

For more information and to register, visit eventbrite. com/e/networkmeet-booksign-with-liz-elting-one-ofthe-most-influential-womentickets-761252094507.

How We Age is Topic of Author Talk

Most of us would like to live longer and slow the debilitating effects of age. In How We Age: The Science of Longevity, author Coleen Murphy shows how recent research on longevity and aging may be bringing us closer to this goal.

Murphy, who is a Princeton University professor of genomics and molecular biology, will be joined by her Princeton colleague Sam Wang on Thursday, February 1, from 6 to 7 p.m., at the Princeton Public Library Community Room, 65 Witherspoon Street. The event is a collaboration between the library and Labyrinth Books.

Murphy, a leading scholar of aging, explains in the book

(Princeton University Press, $35) that the study of model systems, particularly simple invertebrate animals, combined with breakthroughs in genomic methods, have allowed scientists to probe the molecular mechanisms of longevity and aging. Understanding the fundamental biological rules that govern aging in model systems provides clues about how we might slow human aging, which could lead to new therapeutics and treatments for age-related disease.

According to Kirkus Reviews, “Murphy has gathered a huge amount of research material on longevity, giving the book a tone of meticulous authority,” Murphy is director of Princeton’s Glenn Foundation for Research on Aging and director of the Simons Collaboration on Plasticity in the Aging Brain. Her Princeton University research lab is focused on the process of aging, which remains one of the fundamental mysteries of biology.

Wang is professor of molecularbiologyand neuroscience atPrinceton University.

Hislaboratory research focuses on learning from birth to adulthood, at levels ranging from single synapses to the whole brain. He is the author of two books about the brain: Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys But Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life, and Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College.

The event is co-sponsored by the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. For more information, visit princetonlibrary.org.

13 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

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TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 14

BOOK REVIEW

Adventures in Kafka Country: From Prague to Fargo

T

his is an anniversary year for Franz Kafka, who died on June 3, 1924, a doubly noteworthy centenary, given the immensity of the author’s posthumous presence, which suggests that if ever a writer was born on the day he died it was Kafka. No wonder, then, that a photograph of his face dominates the January 24 entry in A Book of Days for the Literary Year (Thames and Hudson 1984) when all he accomplished on that day in 1913 was to interrupt work on a book he never finished. Originally titled The Man Who Disappeared, it was retitled Amerika after his death by his best friend and executor Max Brod, who is best known for ignoring Kafka’s wish that all his unpublished writings be destroyed.

Unmasking the World In the preface to Expeditions to Kafka: Selected Essays (Bloomsbury 2023), Princeton University Professor Emeritus Stanley Corngold finds Kafka’s relevance to the flow “of (forever-) current life” in the following “pandemic-appropriate” comment: “There is no need for you to leave the house. Stay at your table and listen. Don’t even listen, just wait. Don’t even wait, be completely quiet and alone.

The world will offer itself to you to be unmasked; it can’t do otherwise; in raptures it will writhe before you.”

The world my wife and I unmask every night on television is often Kafkaesquely relevant to “current life,” as happened last week with “Bisquik,” the Season Five finale of Noah Hawley’s series Fargo, which has inspired thoughts of a 21st-century American ending for Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, in which a 400-year-old version of Gregor Samsa, the “monstrous vermin” at the center of the story, is invited to join his family for a home-cooked meal offered in the spirit of reconciliation.

Kafka in Amerika Train-window views of “masses of blueblack rock,” “narrow, gloomy, jagged valleys,” and “broad mountain streams rolling in great waves down to the foothills” form the landscape in the last paragraph of the book Kafka interrupted on January 24, 1913. Published by New Directions in October 1940, Amerika has the Dickensian ambiance of Great Expectations and

David Copperfield and a narrative line inspired by Ben Franklin’s Autobiography, one of Kafka’s favorite books, “from which he liked reading passages aloud,” according to Max Brod’s afterword. At the center of Kafka’s boyishly naive vision of the American West is “the Nature Theatre of Oklahoma,” which Brod says was intended to be the concluding chapter of a work Kafka wanted to end “on a note of reconciliation.” Brod recalls that Kafka used to hint “smilingly” that within “this ‘almost limitless’ theatre his young hero was going to find again a profession, a stand-by, his freedom, even his old home and his parents, as if by some celestial witchery.”

Another hint of the ending Kafka had in mind can be found in the first volume of Reiner Stach’s acclaimed biography, Kaf ka : T h e E a rly Years (Princeton Univ.

Press, translated by Shelley Frisch). While describing Kafka and Brod’s visit to Longcha mps, t he Par is racetrack that seated “more than one-hundred thousand spectators,” Stach mentions the “automatic scoreboards, huge stonewalled and canopied bleachers, and even a presidential box in a separate multilevel pavilion.” These were among the components Kafka “committed to memory” and would “return to” in his vision of the Theatre of Oklahoma.

Vermin and Varmints Focusing on the famous first sentence of The Metamorphosis in which Gregor Samsa “found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin,” Corngold explains this use of a plural term for a singular object by noting that in American westerns “vermin” is pronounced “varmint.” After tracing “varmint” back to “vermin,” Merriam-Webster cites this

choice example of usage: “The sheriff in the movie gets revenge on the dirty varmint who killed his brother.”

Fargo’s Roy Tillman, the “I-am-the-Law” sheriff played with psychopathic intensity

by Mad Men star Jon Hamm, is a definitively monstrous varmint. A more Kafkafriendly monster in the same series is the wandering 15th-century Welsh “sin-eater” Ole Munch (Sam Spruell), hired by Tillman to kidnap his estranged wife Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (a heroic performance by the true star of the series, Juno Temple). After being viciously abused by Tillman, Dot has escaped into happy marriage and motherhood while developing combative instincts comparable to what Kafka prescribes in his diary on March 9, 1922: “Mount your attacker’s horse and ride it yourself.” When the dust of chaos clears after Munch and his henchman attempt to accost a supposedly “helpless” housewife, Munch is minus an ear and the other man is dead.

Against Expectations A year after the imprisoning of Tillman and his profoundly damaged and m is guided son (blinded with hot irons by Ole M u n ch i n a h a z e shrouded scene right out of King Lear), the audience is primed for the return of the sin-eater, who indeed shows up in the living room of the adversary he calls “the Tiger.” Viewers expecting to unmask the writhing, Sturm und Drang rapture of the conventional Fargo denouement are mesmerized instead by the tension of a scene in which the housewife and mother quietly but firmly takes command of the narrative, serving up chili and biscuits instead of the expected mayhem.

And what better evidence of Kafka’s relevance to t he f low “of ( forever- )

current life” than the fact that Dwight Garner quotes the March 9, 1922 entry in the January 21, 2024 New York Times Book Review, putting a literary charge into t he way Chr istopher Hichens’s rebuttals “use the attacker’s horse for one’s own ride.”

Against the Stereotype Eleanor Rose’s bright, cheerful cover design for Expeditions to Kafka not only denies Kafkaesque expectations but rises above them, much as this season’s denouement of Fargo boldly denies mere carnage.

Regine Corngold’s 2016 photograph for Expeditions is titled “Josephine,” after Kafka’s last story, “Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk,” which ends with Josephine’s disappearance and some haunting questions: “Was her actual piping notably louder and more alive than the memory of it will be? Was it even in her lifetime more than a simple memory? Was it not rather because Josephine’s singing was already past losing in this way that our people in their wisdom prized it so highly?”

Good and Evil Asked in a January 16 Hollywood Reporter interview about the prevailing decency of that closing scene, Fargo’s creator Noah Hawley said he is “struggling the way so many of us are struggling, with how we move past what feels like this entrenched enmity between Americans for other Americans, where everyone feels aggrieved, everyone thinks the other one has injured them.”

A year before the release of the fifth season of Fargo, Hawley published “It’s High Noon in America,” an article in the December 19, 2022, online Atlantic subtitled “In our popular culture and in our politics, we’re returning to the Old West.”

For his epigraph, he quotes one of his most diabolical creations, V.M. Varga from the third season of Fargo: “The problem is not that there is evil in the world. The problem is that there is good. Because otherwise, who would care?” ’d like to think that Franz Kafka, as the saying goes, would take Varga’s twisted aphorism and run with it from Prague all the way to Fargo.

—Stuart Mitchner

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15 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

MUSIC REVIEW

Princeton University Concerts Presents Revolutionary Virtual Reality Experience

M

ahler Chamber Orchestra, a collective of players from around the world, has been heard in Princeton in the past, dating back to before the pandemic. Last weekend, Princeton University Concerts presented the renowned ensemble in a ground-breaking format of an immersive virtual installation. For four days, the public had the opportunity to be part of a multi-dimensional orchestral world as the Chamber Orchestra presented works of Mozart, Ives, and Mendelssohn, conveyed to listeners via headsets including a display screen, stereo sound, and sensors. The 45-minute concert was part of the Chamber Orchestra’s “Future Presence” project, a virtual reality initiative to enable fluid dynamic interaction among listeners, music, and performers.

Designed by 3D sound specialist Henrik Oppermann in collaboration with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, “Future Presence” is an ongoing experiment allowing participants to escape into a reality in which the listener has freedom to explore the concert in an individual way.

On each of the four days, 100 people journeyed four at a time through two rooms in the University’s Woolworth Center of Musical Studies to hear the Chamber Orchestra with visual images of the players in pixels. Assisting were staff from the departments of both music and mechanical and aerospace engineering, Richardson Auditorium, Stokes Library, and Office of Campus Engagement, showing the range of boundaries that the arts can cross.

The reper toire selected by Mahler Chamber Orchestra combined some of the players’ favorite pieces with works that adapted well to a spatial sound event. The elegant instrumental lines of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Charles Ives’ treatment of distance and space as compositional devices and the musical narrative of Mendelssohn came together to create an experience in which audience members enter a theater of sound through the “hard plastic and silicon” of a digital device.

The concert opened with a movement from Mozart’s String Quintet in G Minor, a work with comforting melodic lines which would no doubt ease any apprehension of the audience. Listeners entered the visual backdrop of a stark brick German church to find themselves in the midst of two violinists, two violas, and one cello playing in an arc. The playing of the opening “Allegro” of the Quintet showed the independent voices of these instruments as well as their dark harmonic color.

Ives’ Unanswered Question, with three groups of performers placed separately in the digital space and playing in different tempos, lent itself well to virtual reality treatment. In the Chamber Orchestra’s presentation, the listener stood in the center of a virtual auditorium with a string quartet on a stage in front playing slow quiet chords. To the right, a quar tet of f lutes played six increasingly complex repetitions of “Fighting Answerers” against a questioning solo trumpet—dissonant passages repeated until the flutists seemingly gave up trying to make their point. Across the space, a solo trumpet played the “Perennial Question of Existence” from a number of locations, as if looking for the answer. Flutists and trumpeter appeared and disappeared while the string quartet remained constant. Ives’ early 20th-century piece was a creative impetus for the creation of “Future Presence;” designer Oppermann credits Leonard Bernstein’s 1973 Harvard lectures on Ives’ work as an inspiration for this project.

William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was an illusion of theater at its best. Full of royal characters, fairies, and donkeys, the play blurred the borders between reality and imagination. Felix Mendelssohn composed works inspired by the play as early as an overture at age 18, with a later full score of incidental pieces for a production. Through Mendelssohn’s “Over ture” to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, four listeners at a time were able to walk among the pixeled Mahler Chamber Orchestra players, lean into an instrument to explore its sound further or soak in the overall texture surrounded by vir tual stars. Orchestral effects and nuances were more audible than in a live hall, including a player’s cough which likely would not have been noticed by the audience. W hile journeying through the conductor-less ensemble, music came from all sides and Mendelssohn’s treatment of Shakespeare’s characters was clear. ccompanying the digital performance were exhibits enhancing the event, including a film of Bernstein’s Unanswered Question lecture and essays on the digital treatment of music. This was a concert experience unlike any other most Princeton audience members would have encountered before, and one which broke down more than a few barriers among performing, technology, and the unknown.

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Performing Arts

MAKING MUSIC: Students from Westminster Conservatory are among those who will perform as soloists at its annual showcase on February 4. participate than you think”, Kuscin said. “If you have a porch with easy access to electricity, love live music, and want to help spread the word, you’re eligible.”

PORCH-TO-PORCH MUSIC: Applications are now available from the Arts Council of Princeton for Performers and hosts can the third annual Princeton Porchfest on April 27. Community members can apply to perform or apply at artscouncilofprinchost performances on their porch.

(Photo by Denise Applewhite, Princeton University) eton.org /porchfe s t. T he deadline for submissions is to sample live, local talent. talent and Princeton hospi- Thursday, February 29.

Applications for Porchfest Princeton’s first Porchfest tality. We look forward to Available From Arts Council was held in 2022, where welcoming back returning Conservatory Showcase The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) has announced 11 porches hosted over 50 favor ites and get ting to Highlights Local Talent that the third annual Prince- performers throughout the know many new musicians The Westminster Conserton Porchfest will take place day. Last year’s event grew through this open call.” vatory will present its annual In addition to seeking in- showcase featuring students on Saturday, April 27 from to feature 18 porches and 12-6 p.m. Applications for nearly 100 performers in terested musicians, the Arts and ensembles from the performers and porch hosts a wide range of genres and Council is also recruiting Conservatory and Rider Uniage levels. More than 2,000 Princeton residents to offer versity on Sunday, February are available now.

Porchfest is a walkable mu- attendees enjoyed non-stop their porches as temporary 4 at 3 p.m. in Richardson sic festival where neighbors entertainment despite the concert venues for the day. Auditorium on the Princeton ACP is looking for porches University campus. offer up their front porches rainy weather.

Porchfest organizer and within walking distance to as DIY concert venues. TalThe performers will be the ented local performers play ACP’s Programming/Mar- Princeton’s Central Business Westminster Community Orrotating sets throughout ket ing Manager Melis s a District, about a 15-minute chestra conducted by Ruth the neighborhood during Kuscin said, “Porchfest is walk. “While the role of our Ochs; the Rider University this day-long celebration of a newer event for our com- Porch Hosts is incredibly Chorale directed by Tom music, art, and the commu- munity, but was immediately important and necessar y Shelton; and Matthew Gao, nity. Attendees are invited to embraced as an event that to making our event a re- clarinet, Daniel Guo, alto stroll from porch to porch really flexes our homegrown ality, it might be easier to saxophone, and Madeleine Nieman, soprano, winners of the Westminster Conservatory Concerto Competition. Each soloist will perform with the Community Orchestra.

The concert also includes t h e worl d pr e m i e r e of Through the Mist by former Westminster Conservatory Honors Music Program student, Evan Chang, as well as a performance of The Jasmine Flower, to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year. Pennington School student Jenny Zhu will be a soloist playing the erhu, a Chinese twostringed instrument.

Rider University Chorale will perform excerpts from Haydn’s Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo. The Chorale, one of six curricular ensembles at Rider, provides

CONVERSATION

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the fundamentals of artistic choral singing and is open to current Rider students, faculty and staff, alumni, and members of the surrounding community. Director Shelton is an associate professor of sacred music at Rider University where he teaches classes in conducting, sacred music, and music education.

The Westminster Community Orchestra, conducted by Ochs, will perform Weber’s Overture to Die Freischutz, B e r n a r d i ’s B e ne di x i s ti , and American composter Florence Price’s Ethiopia’s Shadow in America, a musical depiction of the tragedy of slavery on US soil.

Now in her 19th season as conductor and music director of the Westminster Communit y Orchestra, Ochs has led the group in performances of major orchestral and choral-orchestral works, including symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozar t, Saint-Saëns, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. Under her leadership, the orchestra continues to feature ensembles and soloists from the Westminster Conservatory and highlight works by local and under-represented composers.

Now in its 39th season, the Westminster Community Orchestra is known for performances that showcase the artistry, commitment, and passion of a true community ensemble. Members are professional and gifted amateur musicians from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Tickets are $10-$15. Visit rider.edu/arts.

tale of morality, guilt, responsibility, and irrevocable loss of innocence during World War II, at the Kelsey Theatre on Mercer County Community College’s West Windsor Campus, January 26-February 4.

The Keller family lives in a middle class, God-fearing neighborhood, where residents start and end their lives on the same block; where grape juice and gossip are never more than a few steps away; where power is gained through business and poker games; and where secrets divulged are over freshly baked apple pie. Joe Keller is a successful, self-made man who has spent his entire life in the single-minded pursuit of wealth for the sake of his family, and who loses sight of his morality — and pays the price.

All My Sons is based on a true story and is considered Arthur Miller’s first significant play. The original production premiered on Broadway in 1947, with revivals in 1987, 2008, and 2019, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival in 1987 and nominated in 2019. The play was adapted for a 1948 film starring Edward G. Robinson, and again in 1987 for a made-for-television movie starring James Whitmore, Aidan Quinn, and Michael Learned.

Shows are Fridays, January 26 and February 2 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, January 27 and February 3 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, January 28 and February 4 at 2 p.m.

The campus is at 1200 Old Trenton Road.

Tickets are $22 for adults Miller’s “All My Sons” and $20 for children and students. Visit kelseytheBased on a True Story Shakespeare ’70 presents atre.org.

Continued on Page 18 All My Sons, Arthur Miller’s

Thursday, January 25, 5:30 p.m.

Friend 101 Join Museum director James Steward and chief curator Juliana Ochs Dweck for a lively and wide-ranging glimpse into some of the discussions that are shaping the new Museum, due to open in 2025. Reception to follow.

LATE THURSDAYS! This event is part of the Museum’s Late Thursdays programming, made possible in part by Heather and Paul G. Haaga Jr., Class of 1970. Additional support for this program has been provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Grand hall view from the artwalk. © Adjaye Associates

FAMILY SAGA: Arthur Miller’s play “All My Sons” portrays a World War II-era clan with all their issues, on stage at Kelsey Theatre in West Windsor January 26 through February 4.

January Home

17 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

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TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 18

ANNIVERSARY SEASON CONTINUES: Justin Peck’s “Copland Dance Episodes” is among the works featured in New York City Ballet’s 75th anniversary celebration at the Koch Theatre in Lincoln Center, from January 23-March 3. In addition to works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peck, there are ballets created by choreographers closely associated with the company including Alexei Ratmansky, Peter Martins, and Christopher Wheeldon. Visit nycballet.com for tickets.

(Photo by Erin Baiano)

Performing Arts Continued from Page 16

Musical “Annie” Coming To State Theatre New Jersey

Jenn Thompson, who at the age of 10 took the role of “Pepper” in the original Broadway production of Annie, directs the current production of the musical, coming to State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick February 2-4.

The Tony Award-winning show will be performed on Friday, February 2 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 3 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, February 4 at 1 p.m. Tickets range from $40-$105.

“This show, with its iconic title character, continues to delight generations of the“IT’S THE HARD KNOCK LIFE”: “Annie” comes to the State Theatre New Jersey in New Bruns- ater lovers old and new by wick as part of a new tour the weekend of February 2-4.

(Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) joyfully singing directly into the face of great adversity with perseverance, guts, and guile,” said Thompson.

“For decades, Annie has continued to shine brightly, not only as an appeal to our better angels, but also as an example of the thrill of hope, hard-won: promising a better ‘Tomorrow’ not only for Annie herself, but for all who need her message now more than ever.”

The score includes “Maybe,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You,” and “Tomorrow.”

Annie features a book

by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin. All three authors received 1977 Tony Awards for their work.

By permission of Tribune Content Agency, LLC, Annie is based on Harold Gray’s popular comic strip “L it t le O r pha n A n n ie,”

which premiered in the 1920s in the New York Daily News and became one of the most widely read strips in the 30s and 40s. Lyricist Charnin bought a coffee table book called The Life and Hard Times of Little Orphan Annie as a Christmas gift for a friend in 1970. The clerk at the bookstore was too busy to wrap the book, so Charnin took the book home to wrap it. Instead, he read it and fell in love with the strip and set out to secure the rights. The friend never got the book.

T h e or i g i n a l p r o d u c tion of Annie had its world premiere on August 10, 1976 at the Goodspeed Opera House and opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977 at the Alvin Theatre. It went on to win numerous awards and closed on Broadway after playing 2,377 performances. Annie was revived on Broadway in 1997 and again in 2014. It has been made into a film three times (1982, 1999, 2014) and was most recently featured as a live television production on NBC. The State Theatre is at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick. For tickets and more information, visit stnj.org.

Princeton University Concerts Presents Two Piano Recitals

The first two Thursday evenings in February, Princeton University Concerts will present two Special Events showcasing pianists who are redefining the classical and jazz genres. Jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldau will perform a rare solo recital of original compositions as well as covers of popular music on Thursday, February 1, and classical pianist Víkingur Ólafsson will play J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations on Thursday, February 8. Both concerts will take place at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall.

Mehldau most often performs with his celebrated t r i o, m a k i n g t h i s s o l o recital is an exceptional opportunity to hear his pure voice as both musician and composer, uninterrupted.

With the touch of Bill Evans, range of Keith Jarrett, and innovation of Chick Corea, the 2020 Grammy awardw i n n er is p erhap s b e s t known for his improvisations that transcend genre through their combination of jazz exploration, classical romanticism, and pop allure.

His latest suite, Fourteen Reveries for Piano, is on the program, along with L.A. Pastorale, selections from Suite : April 2020, w h i c h h e w r ote d u r i n g pandemic lockdowns, and songs from Elliott Smith, Radiohead, and others to be

announced from stage. Ólafsson, who recently won the Opus Klassik award for Best Instrumentalist of 2023, made his PUC debut dur ing the 2022-23 season. He has devoted his entire 2023-24 season to performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Ólafsson’s album of the Bach’s music for the Deutsche Grammophon label won both Best Instr umental A lbum and Album of the Year at the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards. His Goldberg Variations album was released in October 2023 and has since been named Classical Album of the Year by The Sunday Times, London. and has topped lists of best classical music albums of 2023 published by several other publications. All ticket holders for Ólafsson’s concert on February 8 are invited to a free pre-concert talk by Professor Emeritus Scott Burnham at 6:30 p.m.

“With our special events, we are proud to showcase two very different pianists who have reached pinnacles of achievement in their respective genres,” said PUC Director Mar na S elt zer.

“They both hold virtuosity and technical mastery in one hand and a sense of curiosity, exploration, and creation in the other. We strive for this dual spirit in our programming, as well, while always broadening the definition of chamber music.

We are thrilled to welcome these incredible artists back to PUC this February.”

Tickets for the February 1 concert are $15-$60. The Feb. 8 concert is sold out.

Visit puc.princeton.edu.

It Takes Three To Portray Cher

State Theatre New Jersey presents the Tony Awardwinning musical, The Cher Show for four performances on Friday, February 9 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 10 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, February 11 at 1 p.m.

There is a pre-show Pride Party event at 7 p.m. for Friday night ticket holders.

Tickets for the Pride Party are $10. Show tickets range from $40-$105.

The Cher Show is 35 hits, six decades of stardom, t wo rock-star husbands, a Grammy, an Oscar, an Emmy, and numerous Tony Award-winning Bob Mackie gowns. The show is packed with so much Cher that it takes three women to play her: the kid starting out, the glam pop star, and the icon.

The theater is at 15 Livi ngs ton Avenu e i n New Brunswick. Visit Stnj.org for tickets.

open house

Reciting Women: Alia Bensliman & Khalilah Sabree Saturday, February 3, 2-5 p.m.

Art@Bainbridge

Join the artists Alia Bensliman and Khalilah Sabree, with chief curator Juliana Ochs Dweck, to celebrate the opening of Reciting Women at Art@Bainbridge. Drawing on Islamic architectural motifs, Indigenous Amazigh symbols, and their personal and spiritual experiences, these two artists generate new visual vocabularies to grapple with cultural change.

FREE ADMISSION

158 Nassau Street

Khalilah Sabree, The Inner Compartment (detail), 2016–2017.

Collection of the artist. ©Khalilah Sabree. Photo: Joseph Hu

STILL GOING STRONG: “The Cher Show” covers the lengthy and still active career of the famous singer, at the State Theatre New Jersey February 9-11.

Art

19 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

panel of scholars, including Rutgers faculty, about Segal and the topic of anti-monumentality, as well as two figure drawing workshops.

Details are posted on the museum calendar.

Admission is free to the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, located at 71 Hamilton Street (at George Street) on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick. For more information, visit zimmerli. rutgers.edu.

Phillips’ Mill Hosts 11th Annual “Youth Art Exhibition”

“BLUES OF THE RUBY MATRIX”: This 1958 oil painting is part of “George Segal: Themes and Variations,” on view through July 31 at the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick. An opening reception is on January 27 from 4 to 7 p.m.

(Courtesy of the George and Helen Segal Foundation) With a gift of Johnson & generation from abstraction Zimmerli Museum Exhibit Celebrates Artist George Segal back to realism,” said Maura Johnson’s new plaster ban-

Marking the centennial of George Segal’s birth in 1924, t he Zim merli A r t Museum at Rutgers –New Brunswick welcomes visitors to experience more than 60 works, some familiar, others rarely seen, in “George Segal: Themes and Variations.” The exhibition, on view through July 31, highlights not only the breadth of Segal’s work, but also the people and the state that helped to shape his career.

The public is invited to a free opening reception at the Zimmerli on Saturday, January 27 from 4 to 7 p.m.

With works drawn from the Zimmerli’s collection, as well as loans from the George and Helen Segal Foundation and private collections, the exhibition offers the opportunity to view S egal ’s les s well -k now n paintings, drawings, and photographs alongside his renowned life-sized plaster cast figures. In addition, p h oto g r ap h s by A r n ol d Newman and Donald Lokuta capture Segal in his studio, providing insights into the artist as not only maker, but also curator who arranged the sculpture in his studio to convey connections across time and theme.

“This exhibition explores George Segal’s significance in art history, guiding his

Reilly, director of the Zimmerli. “It also reinforces the significant role that Rutgers — where he received his M.F.A. — and New Jersey played in the art world during the second half of the 20th century.”

Raised and educated in New York Cit y, Segal ( 19 2 4 - 2 0 0 0 ) r e l o c a t e d in the 1940s to a central New Jersey farm, which remained his home and studio for the rest of his life. In the 1950s and 1960s, Segal was among the avantgarde community of artists in Lower Manhattan, many of whom became his friends and mentors.

The exhibition is structured to explore significant themes that Segal returned to throughout his career — figural groups, single figures, the nude, portraits, and still life. In addition, a group of Segal’s early expressionistic paintings from the late 1950s that won him renown as a young painter, but ultimately were left behind as he focused more i nte n s e l y o n s c u lpt u r e, are included. Segal’s early paintings and figural sculptures, for which he is now best known, were focused on efforts by the artist to combine physical (visible) and emotional (invisible ) subject matter.

dages, Segal soon realized his signature technique of plaster cast figures, which he debuted in the historic “New Realists” at Manhattan’s Sidney Janis Gallery in 1962.

Though it was the first major Pop art exhibition, Segal stood out for his ability to portray human psychology, rather than consumerism and pop culture.

Segal also examined his love of art history and used still life to update the modernist still lifes of his favorite artists and his everyday experience. He was fascinated by Paul Cézanne’s ability to reimagine space and recreated one of the 19th-century artist’s still-life paintings in painted plaster.

Segal also immor talized contemporary subjects from familiar places. The plaster sculpture Paint Cans with Wainscoting (1983) offers a vignette of items in his studio that suggests the artistic experiments of Robert Rauschenberg, Jean Follet, and Richard Stankiewicz, who also incorporated non-precious materials into their sculpture and assemblages. Segal, who loved to visit New Jersey diners, created a series of drawings and sculptures with table settings from the iconic local restaurants that he frequented.

Exhibition-related programs feature an interdisciplinary

“8-22-23”: This work by Phyllis E. Wright is featured in “The Stuart 60th Anniversary Community Art Exhibit,” on view through March 8 in the Considine Gallery at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, 12 Stuart Road. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. when school is in session. For more information, visit stuartschool.org.

To kick off the new year, Phillips’ Mill Community Association in New Hope, Pa., will feature its annual “Youth Art Exhibition” showcasing artwork from local high school students.

Now in its 11th year, the exhibition opens at the historic Mill on January 28 and runs on weekends through February 18. The show will also be available online at phillipsmill.org/art/youthart-exhibition.

Work i ng i n col lab ora tion with school art teachers who curate the artwork submitted, the show features paintings, works on paper, photography, digital art and 3-dimensional work. There are 23 schools participating this year.

The “Youth Art Exhibition” gives these young artists a taste of what it’s like to be a professional artist.

“We display the students’ art the same way we display the prestigious Phillips’ Mill Juried Art Show, so it is very professionally done,” said Kathy Schroeher, founder and co-chair of the show. “It’s great for the kids to see their work in a beautiful space and professional gallery. It’s different from having it shown at your high school art show.

They get the chance to reach a much broader audience, and you can see what the other kids are doing.”

Esteemed ar tist Mel Leipzig will serve as the show’s awards juror this year. Leipzig’s work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Academy Museum and the CooperHew it t Mus eu m in New York City, the New Jersey State Museum, and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum at Rutgers, among numerous others. As the show’s juror, he will lend his expertise awarding a number of prizes including Best in Show.

“Youth Ar t Exhibition” students have gone on to enjoy various successes after participating in the Phillips’ Mill shows including acceptances to art colleges.

Annika Crawford, who won the Best in Show award in 2022, submitted a painting to this year’s “94th Juried Art Show at Phillips’ Mill.” It was accepted and sold.

The “Youth Art Exhibition” is truly a gift to the community, schools, and students.

The Mill charges no fees to schools or students participating in the show. There are no fees charged to view the gallery at the Mill and the proceeds of any sales go entirely to the artists.

Awards are funded by generous Mill members and patrons of the show.

Ph i l lips’ Mi l l C om mu nity Association is located at 2619 River Road, New Hope, Pa. For more information, call (215) 882-0582 or visit phillipsmill.org.

“PORTRAIT OF GIRL DRAWING”: This work by Annika Crawford won “Best in Show” in the 2022 “Youth Art Exhibition” at Phillips’ Mill. This year’s exhibition opens on January 28 and runs on weekends through February 18.

Area Exhibits Ar t @ Bainbr idge, 158 Nassau Street, has “Reciting Women : Alia Bensliman and Khailiah Sabree” through March 31. An open house is on February 3 from 3 to 4 p.m. ar tmuseum. princeton.edu.

A r t i s t s’ G a l l e r y, 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville, has “Gallery-Wide Group Show” through March 31.

Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. lambertvillearts.com.

Art on Hulfish, 11 Hulfish Street, has “The Ten Commandments of Renée Cox” through January 28. artmuseum.princeton.edu.

Arts Council of Prince to n , 102 Wit herspoon St reet, has “Wait ing to Detonate” through February 3 in the Taplin Gallery. artscouncilofprinceton.org.

Considine Gallery, Stuart Country Day School, 12 Stuart Road, has “The Stuart 60th Anniversary Community Art Exhibit” through March 8. stuartschool.org.

G a l ler y 14 Fine A r t Photography, 14 Mercer Street, Hopewell, has “2024 Juried Exhibition” through February 4. Hours are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. gallery14.org.

Gourgaud Gallery, 23-A North Main Street, Cranbury, has “Members Exhibition” February 4 through Febr u ar y 29. cr a nbu r y artscouncil.org.

Grounds For Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton, has “Night Forms” through April 7 and “That’s Worth Celebrating: The Life and Work of the Johnson Family” through the end of 2024, among other exhibits. groundsforsculpture.org.

Histor ical Society of Princeton, Updike Farmstead, 354 Quaker Road, has “Einstein Salon and Innovator’s Gallery,” “Princeton’s Portrait,” and other ex h ibit s. Mu s e u m hou r s ar e We d n e s d ay t h rou g h S u n d a y, 12 to 4 p.m ., Thursday to 7 p.m. princetonhistory.org.

Lamber tville Free P ubl i c L ib ra r y, 6 L il ly St reet, L amb er t v ille, has “Threads of Nature” t h r o u g h F e b r u a r y 15 . greencottagestudios.com.

Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, has “Str iking Beaut y” through February 18, and the online exhibits “Slavery at Morven,” “Portrait of Place: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints of New Jersey, 1761–1898,” and others. morven.org.

Plainsboro Public L i b r a r y, 9 Va n D o r e n S t r e e t , P l a i n s b or o, h a s “A lber t E ins tein : Cham pion of Racial Justice and Equality” through January 27. princetoneinsteinmuseum.org.

Present Day Club, 72 Stockton Street, has “Embraced by Nature” through March 3. T he ex hibit is open on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. catherinejmartzloff.com.

P r inc eton P ubl ic L i b ra r y, 65 Wit her spoon Street, has “Anthropomorphic: Photos and Stories” through March 15. princetonlibrary.org.

Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Cadwalader Park, Trenton, has “NEXT: Rei mag i n i ng t he Fut u re Through Art” through February 11. ellarslie.org.

We s t W i n d s or A r t s, 952 Alexander Road, West Windsor, has “Manifesting Beloved Community” through March 2. westwindsorarts.org.

TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 20

Mark Your Calendar Town Topics Wednesday, January 24 11 a . m .-12 : 30 p. m . : Leighton Listens, at Delizoso Bakery, 205 Witherspoon Street. Princeton Councilman Leighton Newlin holds oneon-one conversations about everyday issues impacting Princeton. Open to all.

3 p.m.: The movie Kes is screened at Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street. Princetonlibrary.org.

7:30 p.m.: Blue Note Records 85th Anniversary Celebration, at McCarter Theatre, 91 University Place.

Led by Gerald Clayton. $25$65. McCarter.org.

8 p.m.: T he Marshall Tucker Band with special guests The Outlaws, at State Theatre New Jersey, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. $39-$99. Stnj.org.

10 a . m .- 4 : 3 0 p. m . : Friends of the Lawrence Library January Book Sale at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of Mercer Count y Librar y System, 2751 Br unsw ick Pike. ( 609 ) 883-8292.

8 p.m.: Guitarist Kaki King, “Modern Yesterdays,” at McCarter Theatre (Berlind Theatre), 91 University Place. McCarter.org.

8 p.m.: Arthur Miller’s p l ay All My S ons i s at Kels e y T h e at re, Mercer Count y Communit y College, 120 0 Old Trenton R o a d , W e s t W i n d s o r. $20 - $22. Boxoffice @ mccc.edu.

Friday, January 26 Thursday, January 25 6:30-10:30 p.m.: The 10 a.m.: The 55-Plus Club 2024 Princeton Jazz Fesof Princeton meets online. t iv a l at P r i n ce ton H ig h The speaker is Jessica Ber- S chool Per for m ing A r t s nton of the American Jewish Center, 151 Moore Street.

Committee, on “The Israel- Performances by area midHamas War: Current Statue dle school and high school and the Case for Support for jazz bands and a special set Saturday, January 27 Israel Among Policymakers with Grammy winner Ran9:30-11 a.m.: Princeton in Washington.” Princetonol. dy Brecker and Ada Rovati with the Princeton Studio Plasma Physics Lab’s Scicom/groups/55plus.

11 a.m.-3 p.m.: Winter Band. $10 - $15. Benefits ence on Saturday series, Farmers Market at Hinds Pla- the PHS Band program. at 100 Stellarator Road.

Ahmed Elgammal of Rutgers za. Locally grown produce, Princetonjazzfest.org.

7:30-11:30 a.m.: 2024 University speaks on “Art in pasture-raised meats, fresh baked breads, homemade Central New Jersey Real Es- the Age of Artificial Intellitreats, and handmade gifts. tate Forecast, presented by gence.” Arrive by 8:30 a.m.

Princetonfarmersmarket.com. Princeton Mercer Regional for coffee and doughnuts.

5:30 p.m.: “Conversa- Chamber at Princeton Mar- Pppl.gov/events/sciencetion, Design and Curation: riott at Forrestal, 100 Col- Saturday.

10 a . m .- 4 : 3 0 p. m . : Making a New Museum for lege Road East. $55-$65.

Princeton,” with Princeton Speakers are Fred Cooper of Friends of the Lawrence LiUniversity Art Museum Di- Toll Brothers, Karly Iacono brary January Book Sale at rector James Steward and of CBRE, Vinny DiMeglio the Lawrence Headquarters Chief Curator Juliana Ochs of JLL, and Jud Henderson Branch of Mercer Counof Callaway Henderson So- t y Librar y System, 2751 N,Dweck, NJ at Friend 101 on 08540 campus. Reception follows. theby’s International Realty. B r u n s w i c k P i k e . ( 6 0 9 ) 883-8292.

N, NJ Princetonmercer.org.

08540 Artmuseum.princeton.edu.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY

10 a.m.-12 p.m.: Free rabies clinic at Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, 2 Mount Lucas Road. Open to all New Jersey residents.

Princetonnj.gov.

12 - 5 p . m . : W i n e r y Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Indoor and outdoor seating with firepits. Live music from 1-4 p.m. by Brian Bortnick.

Terhuneorchards.com.

3 p.m.: Celebrate National Puzzle Day by completing a jigsaw puzzle with friends and family in a tournament at Princeton Public Library, 65 Wit herspoon St reet.

Princetonlibrary.org.

6:30-10:30 p.m.: The 2024 Princeton Jazz Festival at Princeton High School Performing Arts Center, 151 Moore Street. Performances by area middle school and.

High school jazz bands and a special set with Grammy winner Randy Brecker and Ada Rovati with the Princeton Studio Band. $10-$15.

Benefits the PHS Band program. Princetonjazzfest.org.

7-10 p. m . : C a fé I m prov at the Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street. $2. Music, poetry, and comedy in the Solley Theater. Cafeimprov.com.

8 p. m . : M a rk M or r i s Dance Group at McCarter Theatre, 91 University Place. $25-$80. McCarter.org.

8 p.m.: “Freestyle Flashback” at State Theatre New Jersey, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. Freestyle artists from the 80s and 90s. $39-$99. Stnj.org.

8 p.m.: Arthur Miller’s p l ay All My S ons i s at Kels e y T h e at re, Mercer Count y Communit y College, 120 0 Old Trenton R o a d , W e s t W i n d s o r. $20 - $22. Boxoffice @ mccc.edu.

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2 p.m.: Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons is at Kelsey T heat re, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. $20$22. Boxoffice@mccc.edu.

3 p.m.: Activist and author Sam Daley-Harris discusses the revised and updated version of his book Reclaiming Our Democracy at Princeton Public Library, 65 Wit herspoon St reet.

Princetonlibrary.org.

3 p.m.: Princeton Symphonic Brass Quintet performs along with organist Kat h leen Con nolly and choir of Princeton United Met hodist Church, celebrating its 250th anniversar y. 60 South Main Street, Pennington. Free.

3 p.m.: “Brass Quartet: B ach to B r o ad w ay a n d B e y o n d ,” p r e s e n te d b y Capital Philharmonic New Jersey and led by Philly POPS trumpeter Bob Gravener, at St. Mar y’s Byzantine Catholic Church, 335 Adeline Street, Trenton.

Capitalphilharmonic.org.

3:30 p.m.: Mozart’s Birthday Marathon, presented by Altamura Legacy Concerts at Princeton United Methodist Church, Nassau Street and Vandeventer Avenue. 20 pianists perform short works, movements, and arias by Mozart; fundraiser for All-Abilities Music Creation program. $30 ($10 for students). Legacyartsinternational.org.

4 p.m . : G at her ing in solidarity with the October 7 hostages, and a call for their release. Organized by a grassroots group of Israelis in Princeton. At Hinds Plaza.

Monday, January 29 Recycling 10 a . m .- 4 : 30 p. m . : Friends of the Lawrence Library January Book Sale at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of Mercer County LiSunday, January 28 12-5 p.m.: Winery Week- brary System, 2751 Brunsend Music series at Terhune wick Pike. (609) 883-8292.

Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Tuesday, January 30 Road. Indoor and outdoor seating with firepits. Live 4-6 p.m.: Mad for Art: music from 1- 4 p.m. by Paint Night, at Center for Spiced Punch. Also: Was- Modern Aging Poor Farm sailing the Apple Trees, with Road location. Multi-lingual singing, dancing, playing program in English, Rusprimitive instruments, and sian, and Spanish. $20-$25. toasting led by the Hand- Princetonsenior.org. some Molly Dancers and Kingsessing Morris Dancers. Wednesday, January 31 Terhuneorchards.com.

11 a.m.-12 :30 p.m.: 1 2 : 3 0 - 4 : 3 0 p . m . : Leighton Listens, at StarFriends of the Lawrence Li- bucks, Princeton Shopping brary January Book Sale at Center. Princeton Councilman the Lawrence Headquarters Leighton Newlin holds oneBranch of Mercer Coun- on-one conversations about • t y Librar y System, 2751 everyday issues impacting B r u n s w i c k P i k e . ( 6 0 9 ) Princeton. Open to all.

883-8292.

4 p.m.: Friends of Prince1-3 p.m.: Prasadam Dis- ton University Library Small tribution and Kirtan meal, at Talk with Christie Henry Princeton YMCA, Paul Robe- about her book The Evoluson Place. Free. Bviscs.org. tion of the Reader. Hybrid 1:30 p.m.: The Greater event at Princeton UniverPrinceton Youth Orches- sity Library or online. Free. tra’s Preparator y Strings Libcal.princeton.edu. perform at Bristol Chapel, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Huntuneorchards.com Westminster Choir College. e r d o n H o m e o w n e r s h i p Conducted by Blair Higgins. Expo, at Hunterdon CenWinery Open Sat & Sun 12-5pm At 3 p.m., the Camerata tral Regional High School, Strings and Chamber Winds Flemington. Exhibitors, re(609) 924-2310 • Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat & Sun 9-5 • www.terhuneorchards.com huneorchards.com perform, conducted by Hig- altors, lenders, title compagins and David Rabinowitz. nies, inspectors, and more. huneorchards.com Gpyo.org.

Hunterdon-chamber.org.

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6-8 p.m.: Capital Harmony Works presents an evening of live music showcasing student progress ; players from the Trenton Music Makers Orchestra. At the home of Karen Palmer Richardson, 6 Buckingham Avenue, Trenton. Donations accepted. RSVP to Niki.sgraham@captalharmony.works.

7 p.m.: “silver through the grass like nothing,” new work-in-process at Hearst Dance Theater, Lewis Arts complex, Princeton University. Princeton arts fellow yuniya edi kwon performs.

Free. Arts.princeton.edu.

7 p.m.: “Mystical Zionism’s Surprising Origins: Rav Kook’s Early Decades,” virtual talk by Yehudah Mirsky of Brandeis University, sponsored by the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University. Free. Register at bildnercenter.rutgers.edu.

Thursday, February 1 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber’s monthly membership luncheon, at Princeton Marriott at Forrestal, 100 College Road East.

Bryan Hornung of XactIT Solutions speaks on “The New Breed of Cybercriminal.” Princetonmercer.org.

6 p.m.: “How we Age: The Science of Longevity” at Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street. Princeton University professors Coleen Murphy and Sam Wang discuss Murphy’s book How We Age. Free. Princetonlibrary.org.

Friday, February 2 8 p.m.: CelloGayageum Lunar New Year Celebration at McCarter Theatre (Berlind Theatre), 91 University Place. Austrian cellist Sol Daniel Kim and Korean gayageum player Dayoung Yoon perform. McCarter.org.

Saturday, February 3 9:30-11 a.m.: Princeton Plasma Physics Lab’s Science on Saturday series, at 100 Stellarator Road. “Natural Products as Antivirals.” Arrive by 8:30 a.m. for coffee and doughnuts. Pppl.gov/ events/science-Saturday.

10 a.m.: Mid-Day Toastmasters meets at The Library, 138 Hickory Corner Road, East Windsor. Live and on Zoom. Toastmastersclubs.org.

12 - 5 p . m . : W i n e r y Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Indoor and outdoor seating with firepits. Live music from 1-4 p.m. by Brooke DiCaro. Terhuneorchards.com.

2-5 p.m.: Open House at Ar t @ Bainbr idge, 158 Nassau Street. “Reciting Women : A lia B ensliman and Khalilah Sabree, to celebrate the opening of the exhibit “Reciting Women.”

Artmuseum.princeton.edu.

7 p. m . : T h e G r e ate r Princeton Youth Orchestra’s Concert Orchestra and Symphonic Orchestra perform at Richardson Auditorium. Joseph Pucciatti and Jiannan Cheng conduct. Gpyo.org.

IT’S NEW To Us

“The Tomato Factory has become the place I go when I am looking for something specific, whether it be seasonal decor or a gift for a friend, but also somewhere to go when I have a day off.

It’s a magical place. You don’t tell Tomato Factory what you’re looking for — it tells you!” says Caroline Noebels of Hightstown.

Unique Pieces “Collecting over the years, I have so many unique pieces that I could not find anywhere else. When my friends ask where something is from — from the linens on my table to the bracelet on my wrist — they already know the answer!”

The Tomato Factory’s history dates to 1964, when husband and wife Maurice and Mar y Ann Browning purchased what was once the Hopewell Valley Tomato Canning Company. The building itself dates to 1892, and it housed the thriving canning company, which provided ingredients for the Campbell Soup Company and Heinz Ketchup, among other customers.

“My parents purchased the building to set up manufacturing for a new home furnishing business,” recalls

Sloane Browning, who now manages the Tomato Factory. “My mother is an interior designer, graduate of Parsons School of Design, and my father had a background in business working for the international division of the Borden Company. With my mom’s interior design vision and my dad’s business acumen, they developed lines of bathroom decor, including shower curtains, valances, window curtains, fabric-covered waste baskets, tissue boxes, and other accessories in coordinating fabrics.”

Because the building was so large, extra space was available, and the Brownings were contacted by an antiques dealer looking for a display area.

Various Spaces “It star ted w ith one dealer,” continues Sloane Browning. “Word got out, and more dealers followed until it became a co-op of antique shops. Over the years, the home decor business changed from wholesale manufacturing to a full interior design business serving the area until just a few years ago.”

Over time, the number and variety of shops and dealers continued to grow, and now two floors house 18 different shopping opportunities.

Customers enjoy the eclectic aspect of items, which are engagingly displayed in the various spaces. The Tomato Factory has become such a desirable place to showcase products that there is now a waiting list for dealers.

You can find just about everything! Pottery, glassware, home decor, jewelry, dolls, toys, vintage books and magazines, vinyl records, art, clothing, etc.

The dealers appreciate the convenient arrangement provided by The Tomato Factory. They can rent the

space in a location which guarantees plentiful customer traffic. In addition, if a dealer cannot be on site, other “substitutes” will be on hand to assist customers.

Many of the dealers have been with Tomato Factory for many years. Joyce Carroll of Joyce’s Early Lighting has been with the operation for 15 years. An antique and vintage lighting specialist, she offers a varied selection of table and floor lamps, chandeliers and sconces, “ Tom ato Fac tor y i s a wonderful place to display items,” she says. “So many people come in, and lately, we have been getting a lot of young people. They are from all over, and are interested in everything. I think that is very encouraging.”

Leading Artisan O t her de a ler s i nclu de John Shedd of John Shedd Designs, who is a leading artisan in the region. His work in pottery and tile is well known, and he has chosen Tomato Factory as his showcase for the last four years.

His bowls, dinnerware, platters, mugs, and decorative pieces continue to be in demand, and lately, he reports there is increased interest in his tables and tile.

“This is a great place to display my work,” he points out, ”and we have many regular customers throughout the area and beyond.”

Christina Winka of Kristina Keepsakes has two spaces at Tomato Factory, where she has been displaying her products since 2019. One focus is a “Tea Room,” with a variety of teapots, cups and saucers, the popular blue and white dishes, and more. In addition, she offers her own handmade wreaths and f loral arrangements as well as an eclectic mix of vintage TV trays, dolls, bread boxes, and more.

TOMATOES AND MORE: The Tomato Factory’s building dates to 1892, when it was a tomato cannery, using tomatoes delivered by local New Jersey farmers. Today it is a thriving cooperative consisting of 18 small businesses, featuring items including antiques, collectibles, lighting, pottery, and much more.

FAMILY FOCUS: “Over the years, both shop owners and customers have often become great friends. It has been so rewarding on so many levels,” says Sloane Browning left, who manages The Tomato Factory in Hopewell. She is shown with her mother, Mary Ann Browning, who established The Tomato Factory with her husband Maurice Browning in 1964. They are proud to be celebrating the company’s 60th anniversary. eye as well as high-end furniture, antiques, and art.

Prices range from $5 all the way up to thousands of dollars, with everything in between.

As Sloane Browning points out, “You can find the most diverse selection of businesses and products at Tomato Factory. It is easy to spend an entire afternoon among thousands of very unique items for you and your home, and we are all very proud of that. And I am very proud of the business my parents built, which has brought so much pleasure to so many people.”

The first floor shops are open Monday through

Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the second floor shops are open Tuesday through Sunday. or more information, call (609) 466-9833.

Visit the website at tomatofactoryantiques.com.

—Jean Stratton

F

Tell them you saw their ad in

The Wolfgang

W

hat’s new? What’s old ? W hat’s hot?

What’s best?

Whatever it is, you can find it in Hopewell’s Tomato Factory, located at 2 Somerset Street.

Long a favorite of customers from Princeton and beyond, it is a cooperative featuring 18 different shops all conveniently located under one roof.

The diverse Tomato Factory displays continue with those of Fritz Karch of Fritz’s American Wonder. He offers a variety of items for the kitchen, from dinnerware and flatware to textiles, as well as vintage holiday ornaments, rustic cast iron pieces and much more.

John Braun of Dizzy With Possibilities features Navajo Acoma Mata Ortiz and Hopi pottery; also a wide variety of Asian antiques, including pottery and porcelain, vintage paintings, decorative items, handmade jewelry, and handcrafted wood tables.

Donna Bracke is a dealer substitute and has been with Tomato Factory for 11 years. “I help out eight different dealers when they are not here,” she explains. “I can also help the customers if they have questions.

They really like everything, and there is always a lot of interest.”

Newest Dealer The newest dealer to join Tomato Factory is Jenna O’Keefe of Fireplace Headquarters. Her specialty is fireplace restoration and installation service. Featuring a different format from the other shops, O’Keefe’s location is in the outdoor “Cottage.” Her display includes images of fireplace restorations, catalogs, and further information.

“We go to the customer’s home to see the fireplace, and we can restore and customize it for them,” she explains. There are so many more shops at Tomato Factory which all feature engaging displays and something for every taste and budget.

Small novelties catch the

21 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

Longtime Tomato Factory in Hopewell Offers History and An Array of Choices

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Rose, who struggled in Producing Dominant 2nd Half at Both Ends of the Court, St. Princeton’s 58-55 overtime to Columbia last year PU Women’s Hoops Tops Columbia 80-65 in Ivy Showdown loss at Jadwin, was on a mission

W

omen’s college basketball is currently enjoying a golden age with record crowds, unprecedented television coverage, and the emergence of stars like Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, and Angel Reese capturing national attention.

Last Saturday afternoon in a microcosm of the buzz around the sport, the Princeton University women’s hoops team hosted Columbia in a clash of Ivy League titans that entertained the raucous crowd of 1,873 braving arctic chill to show up at Jadwin Gym for the spectacle.

With the contest being broadcast nationally on ESPN News and the 2024 NCAA Division I championship trophy on display behind one of the baskets, the rivals, who were tied for first in the league standings, produced a riveting battle which saw Princeton overcome a 37-33 halftime deficit to pull away to an 80-65 win and improve to 14-3 overall and 4-0 Ivy. Senior guard Chet Nweke was thrust squarely into the drama of the matchup, making her first-ever career start after 76 appearances off the bench.

“It meant a lot, I found out on Tuesday, I was really excited,” said Nweke. “I don’t mind coming off the bench.

I will do whatever I need to

do for my team, but getting this opportunity meant a lot to me. I just wanted to take advantage of it so that my team could be successful.”

After getting outscored 21-14 in the second quarter when Columbia made 9-of11 shots, Princeton seized momentum in the third quarter, stifling the Lions, holding them to 6-of-18 shooting and going ahead 56-51 heading into the fourth quarter.

“We came in the locker room and we just knew that we needed to do a better job of finding people in transition, finding [Abbey] Hsu, finding their shooters, and just matching up better,” said Nweke, who ended up with nine points and six rebounds in 32 minutes of action. “A lot of the times they had four guards that could shoot the three and one post player and we had two post players. So it was different going into the second half, knowing that we needed to pick up earlier and find their shooters so we could match up and not let them get those open threes.”

Getting her first taste of the Princeton-Columbia rivalry, Tiger freshman guard Skye Belker was made aware of the intensity of the matchup.

“I was told before the game a lot about the environment and the history of Princeton playing Columbia,” said Belker. “I tried

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to put myself in their shoes and take everything that has happened in the past personally so I could really get into that today.”

Belker had a big day in her debut against the Lions, scoring a career-high 21 points with four assists.

“It was just making moves and attacking, we had a lot of talks about getting double gaps and our spacing on offense,” said Belker, who was later named the Ivy Rookie of the Week. “It was knowing when to take those shots and when that gap is there.

I know my teammates have confidence in me and my coaches have confidence in me so that let me just shoot.”

Showing her confidence at the defensive end of the court, Belker shadowed Columbia star Hsu all over the court, making life difficult for the three-time All-Ivy performer as she made 8-of22 shots for a hard-earned 21 points.

“It was definitely not just me, the whole team was guarding her,” said Belker.

“In practice, we have our team do what the team we are playing against does, so kudos to them. I got back cut a lot in practice and made a lot of mistakes then. It is good because then I know what to look for in the actual game.”

Sophomore star Maddie

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I thought she really deserved the start — she came up big.

She had a great game, I was really proud of her.”

Berube was also proud of the effort she got from Belker at both ends of the court.

“Skye was great. It is hard, Abbey Hsu works for 40 minutes, the whole time that she is out there, just hunting for shots,” said Berube.

“Skye did a really good job, she was always in the vicinity. She shot the ball really well, she attacked really well and made some great decisions with the ball. That was a great, great game for her.”

Slashing to the hoop repeatedly, St. Rose keyed the offensive attack for Princeton.

“If there is a sea that is parting it is like take that; we don’t want to just rely on our jump shots or our 3s or pull-ups,” said Berube.

“If we can attack, let’s get to the rim for either a layup or a foul or maybe a dump off pass. They were able to see some lanes. Skye and Maddie and Kaitlyn [Chen], when she was in there, really found those gaps.”

Seeing Mitchell made history as she became just the third Princeton player, male or female, to hit the 1,000-rebound milestone added a special touch to the win. In reflecting on the gritty Mitchell, who was later named the Ivy Co-Player of the Week with Harvard’s Harmoni Turner, Berube cited the forward’s intensity as setting a tone for the Tigers.

“It is pretty amazing, it is just relentless attack, relentless on the boards, defensive boards, offensive boards,” said Berube, noting with a smile that the scrappy Mitchell had a bloody leg under her knee pads. “It is fun to watch her, it is fun to coach her. It has been such a huge part of her game over the four years that she has been playing. It is nice that now offensively she is a little bit better too. She has got this really great game. I am excited for her, proud of her.

She surpassed 1,000 sort of early on in the game and now she is on her way to 2,000. She had so many

boards today so it was pretty awesome. It is that ‘take your lunch to work’ mentality — she is just a blue collar player, getting after it. You saw her on the floors. It is rebounds, it is loose balls, it is taking charges — the stuff that leads to wins.”

While getting the win over the Lions was heartening, Berube noted that the Tigers have plenty of room for improvement.

“It is a fun battle, it really is,” said Berube. “The environment here was really amazing and we knew it was such a big game. I am proud of the group. It is another Ivy win. We have already turned the page to Cornell for next Saturday. We have to keep on climbing and keep on getting better. We can’t rest on this win, but it certainly is a big one and an enjoyable one.”

Drawing inspiration from having the NCAA championship trophy in the gym, Nweke believes the Tigers can make an impact on the national stage.

“I think this team can hang with anybody, so having that in the back of our heads meant a lot tonight,” said Nweke. “Just seeing it, that is way further down the road.

I have faith in this team that we can take anyone.”

—Bill Alden

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ON HER TOES: Princeton University women’s basketball player Chet Nweke guards a Columbia player last Saturday. Senior Nweke made her first career start in the contest and contributed nine points and six rebounds to help the Tigers prevail 80-65 over the Lions. Princeton, now 14-3 overall and 4-0 Ivy League, hosts Cornell on January 27.

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last Saturday.

“Looking back to last year’s game against Columbia and how they celebrated and just how hard they worked, they wanted it more than us; it was kind of upsetting to think about,” said guard St. Rose, who had five points on 2-of-9 shooting in that setback. “So coming into this game, I just felt like I wanted to bring it all for my teammates, whether it be rebounding, whether it be scoring -— in any way possible just help out because I really wanted this win. I don’t like people winning on our home court. I take it personally.”

Proceeding to bring it as both ends of the court, St. Rose scored 21 points in the win with six rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

“It was from what we talked about in practice,” said St. Rose. “They are also a bunch of guards, it was basically one-on-one. Coach (Carla Berube) was like just attack, don’t settle. The shots will come if we just kept attacking. I got a lot of layups and I thought a lot of people got easy layups too.

That was my main focus.

When it came to shooting, I just shot when I was open and prayed it went in.”

Princeton head coach Carla Berube knew that Columbia was bringing an attacking mentality to the contest.

“Well it just seemed like another Columbia battle,” said Berube. “They are tough and scrappy, they are scorers. They can really spread you out and score in a lot of different ways.”

Berube credited Nweke, St. Rose, and Belker along with senior star Ellie Mitchell, who tallied 14 points with 15 rebounds, passing the 1,000-rebound mark in her career, as showing toughness and skill.

“It was a team effort; Chet, Maddie, and Skye had really great games,” said Berube.

“Of course, Ellie was awesome as well, just taking care of the boards and then she got a lot of dump-down passes and was converting those.”

In the wake of the shaky second quarter, Berube acknowledged that the Tigers needed to pick up their effort in the second half.

“We struggled a little bit in that second quarter; we needed to talk about a few things at halftime and play the way we are capable of playing,” said Berube. “I thought we came out with a lot of energy in that third quarter and then I think we locked down really well in that fourth quarter.”

Nweke gave the Tigers plenty of energy as she finally got into the starting lineup.

“I am a defensive coach and I want to get my best defensive team out there,” said Berube. “Chet has really been playing well on that side of the ball. She was big in our game at Harvard (a 72-49 win on January 13) and she was big in our game at Villanova (a 61-58 win on December 11) when teams can really spread you.

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For Jane Kuehl, joining the Princeton Universit y women’s hockey team last year was a family affair.

Coming to Princeton she was reunited with older sister, Annie, a star forward on the Tigers who helped inspire the younger Kuehl to get into the game.

“Seeing her play, I got competitive and I really wanted to play with her and against her,” said sophomore forward Kuehl of her older sister, who is in her senior season for the Tigers.

“Luckily I have had the opportunity to play with her here.”

This winter, the Kuehl sisters have joined forces, playing on the same line.

“It is really fun, she can tell me whatever she wants and I will listen,” said Kuehl, a 5’6 native of Minneapolis, Minn. “We push each other really well — it is always fun to play with her. Our parents love it. I feel like we do have a connection on the ice. She is good in the middle and I am good on the outside. I always seem to find her and she always seems to find me.

We click.”

L ast Friday as Princeton hosted Cornell, things weren’t clicking for the Tigers when it came to finishing as they fell behind the Big Red 3-0 early in the second period.

“We felt really good about our play in the first period, it is just the scoreboard didn’t show it,” said Kuehl, reflecting on a first period which

saw the Tigers outshoot Cornell 17-8. “We knew if we just kept up the intensity, then some pucks would get in and that is what happened in the second period.”

Tiger stars Sarah Paul and Sarah Fillier both found the back of the net in a span of 3:55 midway through the second period to narrow the Cornell lead to 3-2. After the Big Red responded with a goal to make it a 4-2 contest, Kuehl produced a highlight goal, stealing puck with the Tigers on a penalty kill and racing in on a breakaway and slotting the puck past the Cornell netminder.

“I joked around with our coach (Cara Morey) because we take so many penalties, why don’t we score a shorthanded goal while we are at it,” said a smiling Kuehl.

“I read the play and picked off the pass. I thought I had enough speed to go to the net. I knew I had to move her side to side so I was trying to go to my backhand and luckily it just snuck in.

It was really nice.”

The Tigers kept carrying play in the third period, outshooting the Big Red 12-6, but couldn’t tally another goal as they fell 5-3.

“I feel like, and our team said this too, that if we had a couple more minutes, the score could look a little different,” said Kuehl. “We just fell short.”

Making marked progress, Kuehl has looked different on the ice this season, having now tallied seven goals and six assists this winter

after scoring three goals and four assists in her debut campaign.

“I feel a lot more comfortable and confident out there than I did last year,” said Kuehl. “Freshman year you are always just a little scared, it is a whole new jump. Now I am a sophomore and I have the opportunity to grow and learn more. It was physical stuff in the offseason, offensive work and really just confidence. That is a big part of the game.”

P r i nce ton h e ad coach Cara Morey was confident in her squad even when it was down 3-0.

“We outplayed them in the first period, I thought we outplayed them 80 percent of the game,” said Morey.

“There was a stretch in the second where they took it to us. I thought we were awesome tonight honestly.”

Morey credited the younger Kuehl w ith prov iding some great play this winter for the Tigers.

“Jane is great, she is so fast, she has got skill,” said Morey. “She comes out to extra skill sessions every single week, working with Jamie on her shot. That was a nifty little forehandbackhand. It was great, she lifted it right over her pad.

She has been awesome.”

The Kuehl sisters have developed an awesome bond on the ice, working together on the same line.

“Those two know where each other are going to be,

23 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

With Sophomore Kuehl Emerging as a Star, PU Women’s Hockey Excited for Stretch Run

EVEN KUEHL: Princeton University women’s hockey player Jane Kuehl streaks up the ice in a game last year. Last Friday, Kuehl scored a short-handed goal as Princeton lost 5-3 to Cornell in a game that saw the Tigers rally from a 3-0 deficit only to fall short. Princeton, who lost 6-0 to Colgate last Saturday to move to 12-7-3 overall and 5-7-3 ECAC Hockey, play at Brown on January 26 and at Yale on January 27.

(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) they know where they can put the puck,” said Morey.

“They know where they are going to go so it’s an easy combination.”

The loss to the Big Red was tough to take as the Tigers ended up with a 38-30 edge in shots.

“The last time we played them, I thought they played better and we got the win,” said Morey, referring to Princeton’s 4-3 victory over Cornell on November 18.

“This time I thought we were the better team and they got the win. That is a hard thing about coaching. I don’t like to lose, but you have got to

know that the hockey gods are going to reward us if we continue playing like that.”

Looking forward, Morey is optimistic that her squad will keep getting better as it headed into the homestretch of the season.

“If we can clean up some of our defensive stuff, we are probably going to be one of the scariest teams come playoffs,” said Morey, whose team fell 6-0 to No. 4 Colgate on Saturday to move to 12-7-3 overall and 5-7-3 ECAC Hockey and will play at Brown on January 26 and at Yale on January 27. “I don’t think anyone is going

to want to play us this year in the playoffs.”

In Kuehl’s view, the Tigers have what it takes to put a scare into their foes.

“We are looking at playoffs — we have to look at what we did well tonight and fi x our mistakes,” said Kuehl. “We are going to do well down the stretch, we feel good.”

— Bill Alden

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TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 24

PU Sports Roundup PU Men’s Hockey Falls at Colgate

Adam Robbins tallied a goal and an assist in a losing cause as the Princeton Universit y men’s hockey team fell 6-3 at Colgate last Saturday night.

The Tigers, now 6 -112 overall and 5-7-1 ECAC Hockey, are next in action when they host Army on January 30.

Field Hockey’s Yeager Helps U.S. Team Make Olympics

Princeton University field hockey star Beth Yeager helped the United States national team take second at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Ranchi, India, last week as the U.S. qualified for a spot in the 12-team field hockey tourney for the upcoming Summ er Oly mpic G a m e s i n Paris.

Princeton rising junior Yeager, a two-time firstteam All-American, scored the lone goal as the U.S. defeated New Zealand 1-0 to finish a sweep of Group B and advance to the semifinals.

In the semis against Japan last Thursday, the U.S. rallied from a late 1-0 deficit to pull out a 2-1 win and clinch their spot in the Olympics.

The U.S. went to lose 2-0 to

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Germany a day later in the Princeton hosts Harvard Sophomore Mudd placed tournament final. on January 27 and Dart- first in the pole vault with a mouth on January 28. best mark of 13’ 7.5 while Princeton Wrestling sophomore Kelly won the PU Men’s Volleyball Edged by Drexel triple jump with a leap of Coming up just short in a Edges CSUN 3-2 42’ 10.25.

Ben Harrington came up nail-biter, the Princeton UniPrinceton is next in action versity wrestling team fell big to help No. 16 Princeton when it competes in the Dr. 20-15 Drexel last Friday at University men’s volleyball team edge No. 18 Cal State Sanders Invitational at the Jadwin Gym. Armory in New York City Indiv idual w in ners for Northridge (CSUN) 3-2 last from January 26-27.

Friday.

Princeton in the dual inSenior Harrington had Tiger Men’s Swimming cluded Drew Heethuis at 125 pounds, Sean Pierson a team-high 17 kills along Goes 1-1 in Tri-Meet at 133, Rocco Camillaci at with five digs and two blocks S t ar d iver L u c a Fas s i 157, and Nate Dugan at 184. as the Tigers prevailed 25- provided a highlight as the In upcoming action, Princ- 23, 28-26, 19-25, 25-20, Princeton University men’s swimming team split a trieton, now 1-3, starts its Ivy 16-14.

The Tigers, who moved to meet last weekend, defeatLeague campaign by hosting 4-1 with the win, are slated ing Penn State 172-127 Columbia on January 26. to host UC Santa Barbara on while losing 198 -102 to PU Men’s Squash Virginia Tech in competition January 31.

Defeats Cornell held at Christiansburg, Va. Completing a sweep in PU Men’s Track Excels Freshman Fassi set a proits opening weekend of Ivy At Villanova Invitational gram record in the 10-meter Greg Foster and Aver y League action, the No. 5 platform event with a score Princeton University men’s Shunneson provided high- of 394.40 to take first place squash team defeated No. 9 lights as the Princeton Uni- and lead a 1-2-3 Princeton versity men’s track team Cornell 7-2 last Sunday. finish in the platform as he Three of the nine matches competed in the Villanova was followed by Aidan Wang were decided in three games Invitational last Saturday at and George Callanan. Wang with all of those going to the Ocean Breeze Athletic won the 3-meter event with Princeton as Thomas Rosi- Complex on Staten Island, Fassi taking second. ni, Alastair Cho, and Gor- N.Y. Princeton, now 7-2, hosts Sophomore Foster placed don Lam posted the wins Harvard and Yale in the anin 3-0 sweeps. On Friday, first in the long jump with a nual H-Y-P meet from Februthe Tigers opened their Ivy leap of 24’ 5.25 while junior ary 2-3 at DeNunzio Pool. campaign by topping No. 6 Shunneson won the weight throw with a heave of 63’ PU Women’s Swimming Columbia 7-2.

Splits with Penn State, VA Tech Princeton, now 5-0 overall 11.

Eliza Brown starred as the In upcoming action, Princand 2-0 Ivy League, hosts Harvard on January 27 and eton takes part in the Penn Princeton University womDartmouth on January 28. State National Open from en’s swimming team topped January 26-27 at University Penn State 208-91 and fell Tiger Women’s Squash 162-138 top Virginia Tech to Park, Pa. Tops Cornell 8-1 split a tri-meet last weekend Producing a dominant per- PU Women’s Track Shines in Christiansburg, Va. formance, the No. 3 Princ- At Villanova Invitational Sophomore Brown placed Tessa Mudd and Alex Kel- first in both the 100-yard eton Universit y women’s squash team defeated No. 9 ly posted victories as the and 200-yard breaststroke Princeton University wom- races as the Tigers improved Cornell 8-1 last Sunday.

T he Tigers won ever y en’s track team took part to 9-1 overall. match f rom t he s econd in the Villanova Invitational Princeton hosts Harvard through ninth positions as last Saturday at the Ocean and Yale in the annual H-YBreeze Athletic Complex on they improved to 6-0 overall P meet from February 2-3 at Staten Island, N.Y. and 2-0 Ivy League.

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FINDING THE RANGE: Princeton University men’s basketball player Blake Peters puts up a shot in recent action. Last Saturday, senior guard Peters starred as Princeton defeated Columbia 70-62. Peters matched his season high with 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range and tied his career single-game high in 3-pointers. In addition, Peters recorded two steals, two rebounds, and one blocked shot. The Tigers, now 15-1 overall and 3-0 Ivy League, play at Cornell (13-3 overall, 3-0 Ivy) on January 27.

(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

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Anna Winters has diversified her game in her sophomore season for the Princeton High girls’ basketball team.

“I feel I have gotten better in some ways, I have learned more moves,” said Winters.

“Last year, I just drove to the right, now I have some moves.”

Last Wednesday, forward Winters displayed her versatility, tallying 14 points with six rebounds, three assists, and four steals to help PHS defeat the Princeton Day School 56-32.

In reflecting on her performance, Winters acknowledged that she wasn’t at her sharpest and credited her teammates with picking her up.

“I wasn’t feeling that great on the court today; we had a lot of good seals and I got open — it was a team effort,” said Winters. “It was just our teamwork, we were all playing together really well. We were all looking for each other, we weren’t being selfish with the ball.”

With one high school campaign under her belt, Wi nte r s i s fe e l i n g m or e of a comfort level on the court.

“Last year it was really nerve-wracking for me being a freshman,” said Winters, who tallied 17 points as PHS defeated Barnegat 54-43 last Saturday to post its sixth straight win and improve to 9-4. “I love it now.

This year as a sophomore, I can say stuff to the other players.”

The squad’s depth has helped the Tigers catch fire. “I think everyone getting in is really good,” said Winters. “We love that our bench is getting in — it is fun to watch.”

PHS head coach Dave Kosa is having fun watching his team as it has gotten on a roll.

“One thing that I really like is we are getting out and we are running a lot, which is creating a lot of easy opportunities for us,” said Kosa, noting that the Tigers have scored 50 or more points in each of its recent wins. “We are shooting the ball much better. Just looking at our free throw percentage, at the start of the season it was under 50 percent and now we have put it to almost 60 percent.”

Kosa credited his players

with putting in extra effort to improve their game.

“It is just a matter of hard work, the girls are working hard on the shooting,” said Kosa. “Even in some of the losses, we were getting open shots but we weren’t knocking them down. To the girls’ credit, they have really worked on their form and have really concentrated on it. We always play pretty good defense for the most part. If we get to the 50 or 60 mark, it definitely looks promising that we are going to win that game.”

Winters has worked hard to become a more wellrounded player.

“Anna can score in a lot of different ways — she can take the ball to the basket, she can shoot the ball from the perimeter,” said Kosa.

“She is shooting the ball with more confidence. Her overall game has improved.

She is rebounding the ball better. She is getting out in transition with steals which is a big part of our defense.

When we get those turnovers, it creates easy opportunities and she is capitalizing on that.”

Senior point guard Riley Devlin, who had nine points and five assists against PDS, has played a key role in creating scoring opportunities for her teammates.

“The biggest thing she has given us is leadership and being able to run our offense,” said Kosa. “There is a lot that we put on her, but a lot of the time she is like a one-player press breaker. It is hard to take the ball from her when we are pushing it in transition. She is key to a lot of the fast breaks we are getting. She is very unselfish and has great instincts. With her and Anna, I think their steals are two, three a game, so that really gets us going.

She finds people very well.

I think that is a big reason why we are scoring.”

Another big plus for the Tigers has been the play of junior Luna Bar-Cohen, who emerged as force in the paint.

“Luna is really controlling the inside for us, especially with her defensive presence,” said Kosa. “She is our best rebounder. In a lot of the games, she is close to double digits in rebounds.

That is also another spark for us to get us going. We need to get rebounds and

she is doing that. She has worked hard on her low post game. She had 10 points against PDS — she has worked hard on her shot.”

The team’s offensive balance has sparked PHS in its hot streak. In the win over PDS, the Tigers had five players in or around double figures with the 14 points from Winters, Devlin and Bar-Cohen getting 10 apiece and Sephora Romain and Katie Sharkey each chipping in nine.

“If we get three or four girls to score like that in a game, it makes you a really, really versatile team,” said Kosa.

With PHS hosting Lawrence on January 26 and Medford Tech on January 27 before playing at Steinert on January 30, Kosa believes his team has the game to continue its winning ways.

“It is continuing to practice hard, play hard, and play together,” said Kosa.

“We are really playing well.

We are sharing the ball, we are making the extra pass.

We really have something good going here and we just want to keep feeding off of it.”

Winters, for her part, is confident that PHS will keep doing good things.

“We had a rough start, we weren’t playing together,” said Winters. “We have really grown as a team together and we are all developing really well. We are on a winning streak, which is good.”

— Bill Alden

25 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

With Sophomore Star Winters Displaying Versatility, PHS Girls’ Hoops Catches Fire, Posting 6 Straight Wins

STREAKING AHEAD: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Anna Winters dribbles upcourt in recent action. Last Wednesday, sophomore standout Winters tallied 14 points with six rebounds, three assists, and four steals to help PHS defeat Princeton Day School 56-32.

The Tigers, who topped Barnegat 54-43 last Saturday to post its sixth straight win and improve to 9-4, host Lawrence on January 26 and Medford Tech on January 27 before playing at Steinert on January 30.

(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

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adding the spin techWilton Provides Highlight by Winning Shot Put in a PR started nique last year, and speeding up the spin and fine tuning it big part of his training.

As PHS Boys’ Track Takes 4th at County Indoor Meet isHea understands well what

Sean Wilton came into the indoor track and field season this winter looking to work on technique and improving his strength. He wanted to throw as far as possible, but personal records were not a focus.

“I wasn’t really worried about PRs,” said Princeton High junior Wilton. “And t hen I star ted t hrow ing PRing.”

Wilton launched a personal record 53’5.50 to win the boys’ shot put at the Mercer County Indoor Championships at The Bubble – Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River on Sunday.

“It felt great,” said Wilton.

“I’ve only ever had one really big meet win before. I threw well and I was happy with how I did. It was a great win.”

Wilton’s throw not only won the meet by almost six feet, but it added another foot and a half to his previous best indoor throw set at the Princeton Invitational Series on January 4. To top things off, the new best enabled him to qualify for Indoor Nationals in Boston in March for the first time.

PHS does not compete in the state’s sectional meet, and the indoor nationals will be Wilton’s big focus for the end of the season.

“I love throwing against really good throwers and pushing myself to get to where they are,” said Wilton.

“I think that really helped me freshman year. Honestly, it’s another motivator to throw as far as I can this winter and throw as far as I can in the spring.”

Wilton’s win was part of a big day in the field events for PHS to propel the Tigers to fourth in the boys team standings with 47.50 points, just five points behind thirdplace Notre Dame. WW/PNorth won the meet with a score of 68.

“I’m thrilled,” said PHS

head coach Jim Smirk, ref lecting on his squad’s performance.

“Considering where we are in our training cycle, how we approach the indoor season, what we were able to do today in this meet, I was really impressed. Our field events took a huge leap forward for indoor. I think it really sets us up for an exciting remainder of the season and into spring.”

Sawyer Quallen displayed his versatility, winning the boys’ triple jump with a 43’0 effort, taking fourth in the 55-meter dash in 6.71 seconds, and coming in fifth in the long jump with a leap of 19’5.50.

“Saw yer is an amazing athlete,” said Smirk. “He’s a passion guy. He catches fires and brings this incredible level of focus and drive to the work he does. He’s been jumping well. We actually thought he’d win the long jump before the triple, but he had a little off day in the long. He didn’t have the day he wanted, but he immediately came back and got his head right and reorganized and refocused and had a great triple jump to win it. He’s a guy that’s been on our radar for a long time.

I think the most impressive thing about him is he continues to expand his competitive sphere, adding a PR in the 55 twice.”

PHS got some impressive performances from a number of performers at the county meet. Ben Gitai was second in the 200 meters in 23.24 seconds and fourth in the 400. Sullivan Spagnoli was fourth in the high jump with a 5’8 clearance, one spot ahead of Ishaq Inayat who also cleared 5’8. Felix Farrugia placed fifth in the 3,200 meters while Josh Barzilai took seventh in the 800.

A s for t he PHS g irls’ squad, Josephine Saraison was the top finisher, taking fourth in the shot put with

a throw of 31’5. The Tiger girls scored nine points in finishing 13th overall in the meet won by WW/P-South.

Last year, Wilton’s sister, Macaela, threw for the PHS girls before she graduated.

“I did throw with Micaela a lot,” said Wilton. “It was a bit distracting at times, but it was still fun.”

Wilton has continued to make strides each year since taking up the sport. He has been throwing since middle school.

“I was too slow to be a runner in sixth grade track so I became a thrower and stuck with it,” said Wilton.

“In eighth grade I was throwing well and realized I was close to the middle school record. I went for it, and got it and ever since then I’ve succeeded.”

Wilton isn’t sure if his Princeton Middle School mark of 37’4 still stands.

His new focus is on the PHS school record of 57’6.75 held by Paul Brennan, currently competing at Princeton University. With a few indoor meets left and the entire outdoor season plus next year, it seems only a matter of time before his efforts bring him that achievement.

“Watching the evolution of Sean Wilton has been an absolute pleasure from a coaching perspective,” said Smirk. “He really has his head on right for what needs to happen for a top performance. He really isn’t a guy that talks a whole lot about the end results, he talks about the steps to get there including the importance of his teammates and coaching. He has a real consistent growth mindset. He’s really impressive to work with. I know Coach [Brandon] Williams has worked him a lot the last year and a half and has been an instrumental part of his development.”

Wilton continues to focus on the things that will help him improve, not on the actual distances he needs. He

it takes to get there after already making a big jump from last year’s top indoor mark of 47’6¼.

“The weight room always helps,” said Wilton. “I’ve really been getting my lifts in, getting a lot stronger, getting a lot more explosive with my weights. A big thing is knowing how to throw and watching pros do it and then just showing up on meet day and getting ready to go. I only practiced two times this week because of the snow and I just knew what I needed to do to throw well and I did it.”

Wilton’s long-term preparation and approach helped e n s u r e t h a t h e w a s n’t thrown off by a week disrupted by snow and ice. He has maintained a focus that looks at the big picture in developing for the spring, when he also adds discus.

He’s also learning to throw hammer, which is contested in some spring meets outside of New Jersey, but the winter is solely for competing in shot put.

“A single discipline can be tough because if you hit a tough patch, there’s nothing to go to and you have to stay the course and keep doing that work,” said Smirk. “Any great thrower knows you’re going to hit those rough patches. If you’re doing it right, you’re going to find that next challenge. I think that’s one of the things that makes him most impressive is he’s not reacting to when those things are happening, he’s planning for them and building them into his training and he’s avoiding some of those pitfalls that happen when you’re singularly focused.”

Wilton keeps busy yearround. He is one of the top linemen for the PHS football team in the fall before he shifts gears for track in winter and spring.

“They really complement each other,” said Wilton.

“Football is a big team

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WILL TO WIN: Princeton High boys’ track throwing star Sean Wilton gathers his thoughts during the shot put competition in the Mercer County Indoor Championships at The Bubble – Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River last Sunday.

Junior Wilton went on to win the event, launching a personal record heave of 53’5.50 in placing first. Wilton’s heroics helped PHS place fourth in the team standings of the event won by WW/P-North. sport and you need to win with your team. Once you learn how to help everybody and com mu nicate, it really helps. Track is so different. It’s personal and it’s only you throwing out there so when you go from a big team to just yourself, it feels a lot easier. It feels a lot more calm to be competing and only have to worry about yourself.”

Wilton took care of his business while also supporting his teammates. That’s something that his track and field coaches appreciate.

“Sometimes there’s that gap between the track athletes and the field athletes,” said Smirk. “He bridges that. He brings that absolute passion for the sport, his caring for his teammates is amazing, without a question he is our top performer but he’s also one of our top leaders and a voice in the locker room that’s just amazing.

He’s a pretty special kid especially when you put that implement in his hand.”

Wilton was focused through a strong series of throws Sunday. His first throw of 49’0 was good enough to win the meet, but he continued to improve with throws of 49’7 and 50’ to follow. After a foul at 53’0, he was able to throw

a similar distance while staying in the circle for his new PR. “It sets me up really well,” said Wilton. “It really reminds me what it takes to win a big meet and how to throw far and how to compete against other people.

There were a lot of good throwers today. It gets me in the right mindset, and it gives me the confidence I need. I just know how to go from there.”

Wilton wasn’t expecting to be throwing this well this soon, but it has opened the door to some greater possibilities like nationals. His mark shows he belongs among the top throwers, and every chance to compete is an opportunity to develop further. He always sets lofty goals, but those are being reset as his personal records fall.

“I t hin k I’m def initely ahead of schedu le t han where I thought I would be in the beginning of the year,” said Wilton. “But looking from right now, it was definitely a good throw and one of the better throws I’ve had all year in a meet.

I think I could definitely throw a heck of lot farther this coming year.”

—Justin Feil

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Calv in Fenton was exhausted but he couldn’t stop grinning as he stood in a corner of the Lawrenceville School rink last Wednesday night.

P r i nce ton Day S cho ol boys’ hockey goalie Fenton had plenty of reason to both be fatigued and smile after producing a sensational performance that saw him make 45 saves as PDS edged Lawrenceville 3-2 before a standing-room-only crowd.

With PDS having lost 8-2 to the Big Red last winter as Lawrenceville played the first season in its gleaming new rink, Fenton and his teammates were hungry to turn the tables on their local rival.

“Oh, I am so tired — we just wanted to prove ourselves,” said junior Fenton.

“It didn’t go as well last time. We wanted to get a win. We had a lot of seniors that wanted it really badly, and we just performed.”

Fenton was sharp from the beginning, making 16 saves in the first period as the foes battled to a 1-1 stalemate.

“Off the start, I was like really relaxed and calm, not too jittery or anything,” said Fenton. “Even after the first one went in, I just kind of brushed it off and stayed focused.”

Displaying that focus in the last three minutes of the second period as the Panthers killed off a 5-on-3 Big Red power play, Fenton made several point blank, sprawling stops.

“It was nerve-wracking for sure, but our team played really well,” said Fenton, recalling that hectic sequence.

“We locked it down.”

Bet ween periods, Fenton gathered his thoughts, standing alone behind the goal outside the PDS locker room.

“The locker room is so hot — I just wanted to cool off a little bit,” said Fenton. “I am getting focused, just getting away from distractions.”

Fenton stayed hot in the third period, making 14 saves as the Panthers held off a furious comeback effort by the Big Red. “We got a penalty at the end, even when they scored the team really buckled down and stuck together,” said Fenton.

After it was over, Fenton was mobbed by his teammates and then skated over to the PDS student section, pounding on the glass and raising his stick in celebration of his memorable night.

“I will definitely never forget this, it was a once in a lifetime experience,” said Fenton. “I have had a game like that at this level — it is certainly very nice to get that done.”

Fe n to n’s p e r fo r m a n c e against Lawrenceville exemplified the progress he has made the season.

“I am bigger, stronger, faster, just more composed and more focused,” said Fenton. “Being an underclassman and all, the pressure got to me last year, especially here in the new rink.

We hadn’t played before a crowd like that before.”

PDS head coach Scott Bertoli believed his players were ready to shine be-

fore the raucous crowd last Wednesday.

“The difference between last year and this year is that we have had some success in some big games whereas last year, we really hadn’t,” said Bertoli. “So from a confidence perspective, I think our kids felt better about themselves coming into this game.”

In order to have success against a high-powered Lawrenceville squad, PDS had to pay attention to detail.

“There are a couple of little things we talked about that were going to be keys to the game,” said Bertoli. “It was limiting odd-man chances, blocking shots, winning 50/50 puck battles, and getting outstanding goaltending. We knew we were going to spend time in the d-zone and we knew we would get chances in transition.”

The Panthers weathered the storm in the early stages pf the game and got some luck along the way.

“We sur v ived the first per iod, I told them, we are lucky that it is 1-1, our goalie was unbelievable,” said Bertoli. “Even in the second period we got better, but I still thought we got outplayed. At the end of the day, any time we have success against them, you need 100 percent buy-in from our kids and a couple of bounces go your way.”

Bertoli credited Fenton with being in a zone against the Big Red. “He was very good against

Don Bosco (a 7-4 win on December 13) but not at that level,” said Bertoli of Fenton. “Some of the stops and his ability to track pucks from strong side to weak side to be able to square up to pucks was incredible. For him to play in that setting at that level will do wonders for his confidence and for our group.”

At the offensive end, the Panthers’ high-level players came up big as Jake Harrison, Brady Logue, and Han Shin each tallied a goal in the win.

“If we get kids with grade A chances, those are the types of kids that we want to get them,” said Bertoli. “On the back end, they played so many minutes, particularly Han and [Connor] Stratton.

Guys like Wyatt [Ewanchyna], Jake, Brady, and Liam [Jackson], we lean so heavily on those guys.”

T he g uys enjoye d t he win as they continued their postgame celebration in the locker room with shouts and blaring music.

“The kids were excited, how can you not be excited,” said Bertoli. “It is a pretty unique environment for high school athletics so for us to be fortunate enough to find a way to win that game was great.”

While the dramatic win over the Big Red gave the Panthers a boost, Bertoli a c k n o w l e d g e d t h at t h e squad needs to turn its focus to its Gordon Conference slate and the upcoming state tournament.

27 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

Sparked by Sensational Effort from Goalie Fenton, PDS Boys’ Hockey Defeats Lawrenceville 3-2

NO. 1 STAR: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey goalie Calvin Fenton, left, guards the crease last Wednesday as PDS faced Lawrenceville. Junior Fenton made 45 saves in the contest to help the Panthers prevail 3-2. PDS, who topped Morristown-Beard 5-4 last Monday to improve to 9-4, hosts Christian Brothers Academy on January 29 before facing Hun on January 30 at the Ice Land Skating Center.

(Photo by David Bremer) “We have had big wins but the reality for us moving forward that it really has no bearing on where we are going to fi nish in the Gordon or where we are going to be in the states,” said Bertoli, whose team defeated Morristown-Beard 5-4 last Monday to improve to 9-4 and hosts Christian Brothers Academy on January 29 before facing Hun on January 30 at the Ice Land Skating Center.

“From a confidence perspective, it should be huge because we have big games next week that in some respects are more meaningful.

For these kids, the school and the community this is

more meaningful, not to diminish the importance of this.”

Fenton, for his part, believes that coming through against the Big Red will help the Panthers down the stretch.

“It means a lot; last year really was a bad performance,” said Fenton. “We really wanted to perform for the school and for our seniors and just get it done and we did. This is a huge momentum booster for sure.

We were never supposed to have this game but we gave it to them tonight.”

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TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 28

Hun

Lawrenceville

Boys’ Basketball: A.J. Mickens a nd Mac Kel ly starred as Hun edged Linden High 60-57 last Saturday.

Mickens tallied 22 points while Kelly added 17 as the Raiders moved to 7-9. Hun plays at the Blair Academy on January 24, hosts the Hill School (Pa.) on January 27, and then plays at Lawrenceville on January 30.

G irls’ B asketba l l : Sparked by Gabby D’Agostino, Hun defeated Peddie 58-25 last Wednesd a y. S o p h o m o r e g u a r d D’Agostino tallied 20 points to help the Raiders improve to 8-10. Hun hosts the Hill School (Pa.) on January 27.

Boys’ Hockey: Coming up short in a nail-biter, Hun lost 3-2 to Holy Ghost Prep (Pa.) last Wednesday. The Raiders, now 3-6, host the Pingry School on January 24, face Holy Ghost Prep (Pa.) at Grundy Ice Arena in Bristol, Pa. on January 26, and then host Princeton Day School on January 30.

B oys’ B asketba l l : Vaughan Foster scored 22 points in a losing cause as Lawrenceville fell 65-61 to the Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) last Saturday. The Big Red, who moved to 2-7 with the setback, play at the Hill School (Pa.) on January 24 and at the Academy of New Church (Pa.) on January 26 before hosting the Blair Academy on January 27 and the Hun School on January 30.

Girls’ Hockey: Posting its third straight win, Lawrenceville topped The Gunnery (Conn.) 4-2 last Saturday. The Big Red, now 4-8, are next in action when they host the Hill School (Pa.) on January 31.

High last Wednesday. The Panthers, who moved to 4-7 with the loss, play at Northern Burlington on January 24, host Robbinsville on January 26, and then play at Hightstown on January 30.

Girls’ Basketball: Sophia Rae Barber had a big game in a losing cause as PDS lost 56-32 to Princeton High last Wednesday. Barber scored a game-high 15 points on five 3-pointers for the Panthers, who dropped to 1-7 with the setback. PDS plays at Robbinsville on January 26 and then hosts Hightstown on January 30.

Girls’ Hockey: Eibhleann Knox scored the lone goal of the contest as PDS edged Oak Knoll 1-0 last Wednesday. The Panthers, now 6-3, play at Immaculate Heart on January 24 before hosting Randolph High on January 26 and Immaculate Heart on January 29.

PDS

Pennington

Boys’ Basketball: Gary Boys’ Basketball: DesJennings scored 12 points as tine Evans posted a doublePDS fell 54-37 to Princeton double in a losing cause as

WEBMASTER: Princeton High girls’ swimmer Courtney Weber displays her breaststroke form in a meet earlier this season. Last Thursday, senior star Weber placed first in the 100-yard butterfly to help PHS top Steinert 111-53 and improve to 11-0. The Tigers are next in action when they compete in the Mercer County Swimming Championships at WW/P-North from January 25-27.

(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Pennington fell 66-37 to the Hill School (Pa.) last Saturday. Evans tallied 14 points and had 13 rebounds as the Red Hawks dropped to 11-6.

Pennington hosts the Peddie School on January 24 and the Haverford School (Pa.) on January 27.

Girls’ Basketball: Morga n Mat t hews a nd I z z y Augustine each scored 19 points but it wasn’t enough as Pennington got edged 59-58 by the Hill School (Pa.) last Saturday. The Red Hawks, who moved to 4-8 with the loss, play at the Perkiomen School (Pa.) on January 30.

PHS Boys’ Basketball : Jahan Owusu came up big as PHS defeated Princeton Day School 54-37 last Friday.

Owusu tallied 25 points to help the Tigers improve to 6-5. PHS hosts Marlboro on January 24, plays at Lawrence on January 26, and then hosts Delaware Valley on January 27 and Steinert on January 30.

Boys’ Hockey: Emil Vecchi and Graham Baird scored goals in a losing cause as PHS fell 7-2 to Middletown South last Thursday. The Tigers, who moved to 1-6 with the defeat, face Hopewell Valley on January 25 at the Mercer County Skating Center, play at Lawrenceville B on January 26, and then face WW/P-South on January 30 at the Mercer County Skating Center.

Girls’ Hockey: Taylor Davidson had a huge game as PHS edged the Lawrenceville JV 13-12 last Thursday.

Freshman star Davidson tallied eight goals and one assist in the win for the Tigers.

PHS plays at the Lawrenceville JV on January 25 before hosts Holton Arms (Md.) on January 26 at Hobey Baker Rink.

Boys’ Swimming: Showing its depth, PHS won each of the eight individual races

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Harris each had six points for Ivy Rehab.

As for the Boys’ 7th/8th grade division, the Celtics nipped the Nets 27-23. Asa Collins scored 10 points for the Celtics while Devan Jayachandran had 14 points for the Nets. The Knicks topped the Sixers 45-27 as Quinton DeFaria tallied 15 points and Ai’Bree Green added 11 in the victory. Shaan Patel had seven points for the Sixers.

In the Girls’ 3rd/5th grade division, the Sparks edged the Liberty 13-11. Maelin Meggers scored eight points in the victor y while Alia Chokshi and Parker Friedland each had four points for Liberty. The Mystics posted a 22-16 win over the Sparks.

Jaya Verma tallied 12 points and Caroline Win added 10 to lead the Mystics. Layla Bak had eight points for Sun. As for the Girls’ 6th/8th grade division, Delizioso Baker y + K itchen, nipped Princeton Restorative and Implant Dentistry 18-17 as Morgan Pease tallied six points to lead the way. Eme Moorhead scored six points in a losing cause. Homestead Princeton defeated Princeton Pettoranello 328. Carmela Crepezzi tallied 18 points to lead Homestead while Madeleine Pepek scored eight points for Princeton Pettoranello.

Basketball: Taylor States and Annarose Bourgin led the way as Stuart defeated the Central Jersey College Charter 60-19 last Wednesday. States had a doubledouble with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Bourgin Princeton 5K Race contributed 18 points to Slated for March 16 help the Tartans improve to The Princeton 5K is re3-3. Stuart hosts Montgomturning on March 16 for its ery High on January 29.

15th year.

The event annually brings together athletes — young and old, big and small, fast and not so fast — to run or walk while supporting the Princeton High cross country and track programs.

Dillon Youth Hoops The in-person race starts Recent Results in front of the Princeton In action last weekend in Middle School at 217 Walthe Boys’ 3rd/4th grade di- nut Lane at 8:30 a.m. In vision of the Dillon Youth addition to the 5K, there is Basketball League, Milk & a 300-meter kids’ dash for Cookies defeated Princeton children under 10.

Supply 22-9. Kaden Taffer To register and get more had 10 points in the win information on the event, with Brady Goldsmith tally- log onto https://runsignup. ing seven in a losing cause. com/Race/NJ/Princeton/ Tortuga’s Mexican Village PrincetonNJ5K. edged Branning Collision T-shirts are guaranteed for Centers 34-33 in triple overthose who register by Februtime. Rohan Gregory scored 20 points and Ahaan Balan- ary 25. Registration is also trapu added 14 to lead Tor- available in-person on race tuga’s while Evan Boyle had day.

The Princeton 5K is the 19 points for Branning. largest annual fundraiser for I n t h e B oy s’ 5t h /6t h the Princeton High School g r ade d iv is ion, Maj e s k i Cross Country Track and Foundation posted a 35-29 Field Booster (PHSCCTF) a win over Locomotion. Logan Aguila scored 15 points and 501(c)(3). All donations diBatholomew Gore added rectly support the PHS boys’ 12 in the victory. Henry and girls’ cross-country and Scriven had 15 points for track teams.

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with eight different swimmers prevailing and all three relays as it topped Steinert 103.5-58-5 last Thursday.

The Tigers, now 12-0, are next in action when they comp e te i n t h e Me rc e r County Swimming Championships at WW/P-North from January 25-27.

Wrestling : Cole Rose, Blase Mele, Christian Paul, Noah Kassas, and Kwagena Afrifah each posted three wins as PHS went 2-1 in a quad last Saturday, topping Steinert 47-30 and Trenton 54-24 while falling 46-32 to Robbinsville. Rose went 3-0 at 126 pounds while Mele (144), Paul (157), Kassas (190), Afrifah (285) were all triple winners on the day for the Tigers. PHS, who fell 44-16 to Point Pleasant Boro last Monday to move to 8-8, have a match at WW/PNorth on January 24 before competing in the Mercer C o u nt y To u r n a m e nt o n January 27 at Robbinsville.

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Robin Fox

IN PRINT. ONLINE. AT HOME.

Ellen Molwitz Tabell, 93, of Exeter, NH, and formerly of Princeton, NJ, died peacefully with her daughters at her side, on Sunday, January 14, 2024.

She was born in New York City on May 5, 1930 to Henry and Roberta (McClenahan) Molwitz. Ellen grew up and attended schools in New York City until her family moved to Connecticut in 1944. She graduated in 1948 at the top of her class at Greenwich Academy, and went on to study history at Wellesley College, from which she graduated in 1952. She married her high school sweetheart, Anthony W. Tabell, in 1953. They were married for 67 years before his death in 2020.

She embraced the roles and responsibilities of a woman of her generation with grace, determination, and patience. She chose not to have a job outside the home after having children, opting for the life of primary caregiver for her three daughters. She was an indefatigable household manager and parent, and an active community volunteer. She never missed a school event. She contributed countless hours of service to the Wellesley Club of Princeton and Stuart Country Day School; she coordinated regular meetings of a local women’s investment group that she founded, and she was recognized for

IN PRINT. ONLINE. AT HOME.

Ellen Molwitz Tabell

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in her honor to Stuart Country Day School, 1200 Stuart Road, Princeton, NJ 08540 (give. stuar tschool.org ) or The Fresh Air Fund, 633 Third Avenue, 14th Floor, NY, NY 10017 (freshair.org/junemid-donate).

For more information, visit brewittfuneralhome.com.

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29 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

Obituaries

her longtime service as an adult literacy teacher for the Princeton Public Library.

She never missed her shift at the soup kitchen in Trenton.

Ellen embraced travel adventures with her family, no matter what challenges were involved. She managed numerous solo drives to Vermont under treacherous conditions. She also presided over glorious family vacations in Africa, numerous tropical destinations, as well as ski trips to Canada, Sun Valley, Switzerland, and France.

She enjoyed downhill skiing well into her 60s. She was an avid reader, crosswor d p u z z l e r, S c r ab b l e fiend, acrostic solver, and a fiercely competitive backgammon and bridge player.

Anyone who knew Ellen knew what she was thinking. She was never shy about sharing her thoughts, and even if someone disagreed, most people seemed to appreciate her direct (at times blunt) judgments. While Ellen adhered to many of the traditional values of her generation, her mind remained open, and she never expected or pressured her daughters or grandchildren to replicate her choices. Instead, she remained engaged in and cur ious about t heir lives. Her firmly held opinions about many subjects may have belied this openmindedness, a paradox that perhaps best defined her.

She is survived by her three daughters: Meg Kasprak and her husband John; Roberta Jordan and her husband Bob; and Sarah Nocka and her husband Steve. She will be missed by her eight grandchildren : A lex Kasprak; Nicholas K as pr a k ( w ife Emily Burton); Chris Kasprak (husband Danny Chin); Molly Jordan Kim (husband Andrew Kim); Sarah Jordan (wife Elle Yesnes); and Andrew, Kristen, and Thomas Nocka. She leaves behind one great-granddaughter, Alice. She is also survived by her brother, Harry Molwitz, of Katonah, N Y, several nephews, and a niece.

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Robin Fox, 89, passed away on January 18, 2024, One-Year Subscription: $20 while in skilled nursing at Two-Year Subscription: $25 princetonmagaz Stonebridge. He had noticeSubscription Information: able dementia in the last year 609.924.5400 ext. 30 of his life. He was born in or Yorkshire, England. He told subscriptions@ stories of his boyhood that witherspoonmediagroup.com included visiting prisoners Member of KAVOD: princetonmagazine.com of war near his home. His Independent Jewish Funeral Chapels parents, John, a British solServing All Levels of Observance dier, and Nancy, a nanny, predeceased him. He had One-Year Subscription: $20 no siblings.

Two-Year Subscription: $25 Robin attended Harvard and the London School of Subscription Information: Economics. He taught an609.924.5400 ext. 30 thropology at Exeter Univer1534 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ or sity, and later returned to the subscriptions@ LSE to teach. witherspoonmediagroup.com JOEL E. ORLAND MAX J. ORLAND His early lectures were princetonmagazine.com Senior Director, NJ Lic. No. 3091 Funeral Director, NJ Lic. No. 5064 turned into the book Kinship and Marriage. He later wrote The Imperial Animal with Lionel Tiger, whom he met at the London Zoo. From his first marriage he had three sweetheart daughters: Kate, Ellie, and Anne, all of whom live in England.

He also had grandsons and great-grandchildren. They knew their Pappy adored them.

Robin became an American citizen in 2002. On that rainy day he immediately went to a diner and had Yankee pot roast to celebrate.

In between writing other books, he enjoyed sailing around Sanibel Island with friends and his loving wife, Lin, where they kept a winter retreat. His other interests included choral groups, watching football, and even entering into the fray around the Shakespeare authorship HOPEWELL • NJ HIGHTSTOWN • NJ question.

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WePrinceton encourage you to make an appointment, with obligation, You are Gone.”

Area. We pride storefront to help no guide you Lin expresses her gratitude ourselves being a small throughout the to selection We encourage you tomany make an appointment, with noyou obligation, toon discuss the options available to all who cared for Robin in boutique-type, personal and process. to discuss the many options available to you his fi nal days. There will be service-oriented business. no memorial service.

609-883-1400

OrlandsMemorialChapel.com

ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL THE PERFECT MEMORIAL

ONLINE www.towntopics.com

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TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 • 30

CLASSIFIEDS

Town Topics

To place a classified ad, please call:

Deadline: Noon, Tuesday

tel: (609) 924-2200 x10 • fax: (609) 924-8818 • e-mail: classifieds@towntopics.com WHAT’S A GREAT GIFT FOR A FORMER PRINCETONIAN? A Gift Subscription!

Call (609) 924-2200 ext 10; circulation@towntopics.com tf HOME HEALTH AIDE: 25 years of experience. Available mornings to take care of your loved one, transport to appointments, run errands. I am well known in Princeton. Top care, excellent references. The best! Call (609) 356-2951 or (609) 751-1396. tf LOLIO’S WINDOW WASHING & POWER WASHING: Free estimate.

Next day service. Fully insured. Gutter cleaning available. References available upon request. 30 years experience. (609) 271-8860. tf

EXPERIENCED AND PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVER Available Part-Time With Excellent References in the Greater Princeton Area (609) 216-5000 STORAGE UNIT FOR RENT 10 minutes north of Princeton in Skillman/Montgomery. 10x21, $210 discounted monthly rent. Available now. https://princetonstorage.homestead. com or call/text (609) 333-6932.

01-31

HOME REPAIR SPECIALIST: Interior/exterior repairs, carpentry, trim, rotted wood, power washing, painting, deck work, sheet rock/ spackle, gutter & roofing repairs.

Punch list is my specialty. 40 years experience. Licensed & insured.

Call Creative Woodcraft (609) 586-2130 tf

FOR HIRE: House cleaning, dog care, babysitter, elderly companion.

Experience with installing sheetrock and doing other home remodeling tasks (painting, etc). Very organized, have my own transportation, speak English, good references. I have a flexible schedule. Please call me at (609) 635-2588.

01-24

(609) 547-9570 eqfoxcarpetcleaning@gmail.com Licensed and insured Residential and commercial tf

Let’s Talk Real Estate...

You’re invited to a FREE Workshop on understanding the residential Tax Appeal Process

Presented by Jennifer R. Jacobus, Esq.

FOX CLEANING

JOES LANDSCAPING INC. OF PRINCETON Property Maintenance and Specialty Jobs Commercial/Residential Over 45 Years of Experience • Fully Insured • Free Consultations Email: joeslandscapingprinceton@ gmail.com Text (only): (609) 356-9201 Office: (609) 216-7936 Princeton References • Green Company HIC #13VH07549500 tf

Topics will include:  How property Assessment Values are set  To Appeal or Not Appeal  The Appeal Process

Join us on Zoom!

Monday, January 29th at 6.30PM

Visit www.TaxAppealSeminar.com or call 609Ͳ577Ͳ2989 to register.

We’ll send you a link upon registration as well as program materials.

Sales Representative/Princeton Residential Specialist, MBA, ECOͲBroker Princeton Office 609Ͳ921Ͳ1900 | 609Ͳ577Ͳ2989(cell) | info@BeatriceBloom.com | BeatriceBloom.com

Carpet cleaning and upholestry Pressure and soft washing • Area rugs Strip and wax floors • Sanitizing Water damage • Grout cleaning 01-17-25 MEET YOUR NEW ADMINISTRATOR! As your new administrator, I will take the devil out of the details of your busy day. I will give you more time to devote to your business by taking care of all front office functions from streamlining processes to managing your correspondence. You will find that I am highly communicative, cooperative and personable. Thank you for stopping by – I look forward to working with you, your staff, and your clients.

With over 10 years of admin experience, I am looking for full-time position in Princeton, where I will soon be relocating.

So, let’s set up an informational interview to see if we’re a good match. My name is Emily and I can be reached at AtWorkForYou@yahoo.com.

02-07 CARPENTRY–PROFESSIONAL

All phases of home improvement.

Serving the Princeton area for over 30 yrs. No job too small. Call Julius Sesztak: (609) 466-0732 tf HANDYMAN–CARPENTER: Painting, hang cabinets & paintings, kitchen & bath rehab. Tile work, masonry. Porch & deck, replace rot, from floors to doors to ceilings. Shelving & hook-ups. ELEGANT REMODELING. You name it, indoor, outdoor tasks. Repair holes left by plumbers & electricians for sheetrock repair.

RE agents welcome. Sale of home ‘checklist’ specialist. Mercer, Hunterdon, Bucks counties. 1/2 day to 1 month assignments. CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED, Covid 19 compliant.

Active business since 1998. Videos of past jobs available. Call Roeland, (609) 933-9240. tf I BUY ALL KINDS of Old or Pretty Things: China, glass, silver, pottery, costume jewelry, evening bags, fancy linens, paintings, small furniture, etc. Local woman buyer. (609) 9217469.

10-11-24

“Home is anywhere that

you know all your friends and all your enemies."

—Orson Scott Card

BUYING: Antiques, paintings, Oriental rugs, coins, clocks, furniture, old toys, military, books, cameras, silver, costume & fine jewelry. Guitars & musical instruments. I buy single items to entire estates. Free appraisals. (609) 306-0613.

06-28-24 TOWN TOPICS CLASSIFIEDS GET TOP RESULTS! Whether it’s selling furniture, finding a lost pet, or having a garage sale, TOWN TOPICS is the way to go!

We deliver to ALL of Princeton as well as surrounding areas.

(609) 924-2200 ext. 10; classifieds@towntopics.com

HOME HEALTH AIDE: 25 years of experience. Available mornings to take care of your loved one, transport to appointments, run errands. I am well known in Princeton. Top care, excellent references. The best! Call (609) 356-2951 or (609) 751-1396. tf LOLIO’S WINDOW WASHING & POWER WASHING: Free estimate.

Next day service. Fully insured. Gutter cleaning available. References available upon request. 30 years experience. (609) 271-8860. tf

tf ESTATE LIQUIDATION SERVICE: I will clean out attics, basements, garages & houses. Single items to entire estates. No job too big or small. In business over 35 years, serving all of Mercer County. Call (609) 306-0613.

06-28-24

WE BUY CARS Belle Mead Garage (908) 359-8131 Ask for Chris tf WHAT’S A GREAT GIFT FOR A FORMER PRINCETONIAN? A Gift Subscription!

Call (609) 924-2200, ext 10 circulation@towntopics.com tf WHAT’S A GREAT GIFT FOR A FORMER PRINCETONIAN? A Gift Subscription!

Call (609) 924-2200 ext 10; circulation@towntopics.com tf

JOES LANDSCAPING INC. OF PRINCETON Property Maintenance and Specialty Jobs Commercial/Residential Over 45 Years of Experience • Fully Insured • Free Consultations Email: joeslandscapingprinceton@ gmail.com Text (only): (609) 356-9201 Office: (609) 216-7936 Princeton References • Green Company HIC #13VH07549500 tf HOME REPAIR SPECIALIST: Interior/exterior repairs, carpentry, trim, rotted wood, power washing, painting, deck work, sheet rock/ spackle, gutter & roofing repairs.

Punch list is my specialty. 40 years experience. Licensed & insured.

Call Creative Woodcraft (609) 586-2130 tf EXPERIENCED AND PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVER Available Part-Time With Excellent References in the Greater Princeton Area (609) 216-5000 tf

Employment Opportunities in the Princeton Area Witherspoon Media Group

HOUSEKEEPER NEEDED for family in Princeton area who is willing to help with cleaning, laundry and cooking for couple with adult children and grandchildren visiting occasionally and summer months - June, July, August in Cape Cod area with private quarters also part of the job. Drivers license required. Please contact: snlorenzo@earthlink.net.

1-31

Custom Design, Printing, Publishing and Distribution

· Newsletters · Brochures · Postcards ADVERTISING SALES Witherspoon Media Group is looking for · Books an Advertising Account Manager, based Catalogues out of our ·Kingston, NJ office, to generate sales for Town Topics Newspaper · Annual Reports and Princeton Magazine The ideal candidate will:

• Establish new sales leads manage For additional infoand contact: existing sales accounts for both publications

melissa.bilyeu@

witherspoonmediagroup.com • Develop industry-based knowledge and understanding, including circulation, audience, readership, and more.

• Collaborate with the advertising director and sales team to develop growth opportunities for both publications

Heidi Joseph Sales Associate, REALTOR® Office: 609.924.1600 Mobile: 609.613.1663 heidi.joseph@foxroach.com

Track record of developing successful sales strategies and knowledge of print and digital media is a plus.

Insist on … Heidi Joseph.

Fantastic benefits and a great work environment.

Please submit cover letter and resume to: charles.plohn@witherspoonmediagroup.com

PRINCETON OFFICE | 253 Nassau Street | Princeton, NJ 08540

609.924.1600 | www.foxroach.com

©2013 An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.© Equal Housing Opportunity. lnformation not verified or guaranteed. If your home is currently listed with a Broker, this is not intended as a solicitation.

4428C Route 27, Kingston, NJ 08528 609.924.5400

90 Olden Lane, Princeton, New Jersey | callawayhenderson.com/id/9B3Z73 | $2,750,000 Standing on an acre immediately adjacent to the glorious meadow that introduces the world famous Institute for Advanced Study, this gracious 1930’s home deftly blends traditional polish and contemporary edge. Not only was the house strategically enlarged, an incredible studio built behind the garage features a 16-ft tall stone fireplace and inspiring garden views. The main house is filled with rooms large enough for festive entertaining, yet comfortable for a quiet evening alone.

22 Willow Street, Princeton, New Jersey | callawayhenderson.com/id/NGBN5H | $1,499,000 Experience urban sophistication in this 3 bedroom/2 bath townhouse, designed by J. Robert Hillier in 1980, and exquisitely updated to cater to contemporary tastes.

Triple paned windows and sliding glass doors spill light over the hardwood floors. The living room features a 10 ft. ceiling and wood burning fireplace. The gourmet kitchen opens to formal dining and entertaining spaces. A lower level features a study with sliders to a terrace, walled in gardens, and attached 2-car garage.

Barbara Blackwell, Broker Associate For more information about properties, the market in general, or your home particular, please give me a call.

c 609.915.5000

o 609.921.1050

BBLACKWELL@CALLAWAYHENDERSON.COM

4 Nassau Street Princeton, New Jersey 08542 Subject to errors, omissions, prior sale or withdrawal without notice. Each office is independently owned and operated.

CALLAWAYHENDERSON.COM

31 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

Traditional Charm or Contemporary Sophistication

We cannot wait to meet your son!

Looking for the best K-8 school experience for your son?

Visit Princeton Academy at an Admission Open House on

Friday, January 26 at 9:00 a.m. www.princetonacademy.org/visit

We bring out the best in boys...

All that we do is premised on bringing out the best in boys. We understand how important it is to create a positive association with learning as early as possible in a boy's developmental journey. Princeton Academy ensures today's boys become the best version of tomorrow's men. #HeCanBe