Princeton Public Schools Takes on Positive and Negative Potential of AI 11
A Week of Wonders: Emily Dickinson, Hector Berlioz, and John Lennon 17
PU Concerts Presents Award-Winning Vocal Ensemble 18
With Freshman Gunty
Providing a Spark, Tiger Men’s Hockey Defeats Union, RPI to Extend Winning Streak to 4 26
Featuring Battle-Tested, Talented Senior Crew, PHS Boys’ Swim Team Primed For Big Winter 31
Town Health Officer
RSV
As the season for cold weather, holidays, and respiratory illnesses advances, the Princeton Health Department will be closely monitoring the health of Princeton residents, particularly those most susceptible to serious sickness.
Deputy Administrator/Director of Health Jeff Grosser stated that his department’s “greatest concerns right now are the seasonal increase in respiratory illnesses and ensuring that the community remains prepared.”
He continued, “Of course we focus much of our efforts on our most vulnerable, our younger and older population. With respiratory infections rising, particularly u and RSV, the focus is on vaccination efforts, public education, and maintaining health care capacity.”
In its most recent update on December 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that acute respiratory illness causing people to seek health care had recently increased to a moderate level for the rst time this season, though the numbers of severe cases in New Jersey remain low.
Nationally, emergency department visits with diagnosed respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are moderate, low for in uenza, and minimal for COVID-19. Nationally COVID-19 and in uenza activity are predicted to increase from their current low levels.
Grosser noted that rhinoviruses, the most frequent cause of the common cold, have been seeing higher levels than the other common respiratory illnesses recently. RSV is following a typical seasonal path, he said, while in uenza hospitalizations are predicted to remain similar to or slightly lower than last season.
COVID-19, Grosser pointed out, remains a concern, but widespread vaccination and improved treatments have resulted in generally less severe cases.
“COVID-19 is now endemic,” he said, “meaning it will continue to circulate seasonally similar to the u. The availability of vaccines and boosters is a key factor in combating severe cases and hospitalizations, particularly if more virulent strains come about.”
Grosser explained that COVID-19 has evolved into an illness that is now managed like other respiratory viruses, with public health responses shifting from emergency measures to routine
Council Takes Next Steps for Seminary Redevelopment
Princeton Council introduced an ordinance at its Monday, December 9 meeting that approves an application for a tax exemption and PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement with the redeveloper of the former Princeton Seminary property on Stockton Street at Hibben Road.
Herring Properties, formally known as HP 108 Stockton Urban Renewal LLC, plans to build a multi-family residential development of 240 units, 48 of which would be designated as affordable housing. The plan, which has been controversial, also includes public open space, 262 parking spots, and the renovation of an existing historic house.
According to a memo by Mayor Mark Freda recommending the agreement to members of Council, the project “will result in signi cant bene ts for the health, welfare, and nancial well-being of the municipality and its citizens.” In addition to the 20 percent affordable housing setaside, Freda notes a $200,000 contribution by the redeveloper to the town’s Sustainable Transportation Fund, the enhancement of the gateway into town, and the creation of jobs during the project.
“However, the redeveloper has identi ed certain costs associated with the
project, including the provision of the affordable housing units, that are beyond those customarily confronted by a developer,” the memo continues. Herring Properties submitted the application for a tax exemption under the Tax Exemption Law from the municipality.
A public hearing for the ordinance is set for Thursday, December 19, at 7 p.m.
Another topic that has sparked some recent controversy is the removal of the informational kiosks on Nassau Street; one at Vandeventer Avenue and the other
at Witherspoon Street. Councilwoman Michelle Pirone Lambros reported that the municipality is working on replacing them, and more details will be available in January or February.
“There will be something there,” she said. “There are some really good options. So wait, please, and we’ll get there.”
Councilman Leighton Newlin spoke brie y about a recent procurement disparity report by the State of New Jersey revealing that less than ve percent of
As the town of Princeton, along with the whole state, prepares to face changing federal priorities from the new Trump administration, a panel of New Jersey leaders will gather on Thursday, December 19 at 6 p.m. in the Nassau Presbyterian Church (Livestream available) to discuss “State of Protection: Strengthening New Jersey’s Rights in Immigration, Healthcare, Environment, and Law.”
NJ Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, Princeton University Professor and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and
Senior Services Heather Howard, and ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha will be leading the deliberations, moderated and organized by State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (District 16).
“After the results of the presidential election, I started to think quite a bit about the rst Trump administration and what I could do as a member of the N.J. state legislature to protect the people of New Jersey from what we expect will be coming out of Washington, D.C. over the
SEASONAL SOUNDS: Members of the Princeton High School Choir entertained passersby Sunday afternoon on Witherspoon Street. Residents and visitors discuss their holiday plans in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Sarah Teo)
Princeton
Area Community Foundation
The Princeton Area Community Foundation makes
The Princeton Area Community Foundation makes
The Princeton Area Community Foundation makes
quality education arts and culture
green spaces and environmental action
quality education
nutritious meals
health initiatives
arts and culture
disaster relief
green spaces and environmental action
nutritious meals
health initiatives
quality education
quality education
disaster relief
arts and culture
arts and culture
strong nonprofits after school and summer programs good ...possible through the power of collective giving.
In partnership with the Community Foundation Awareness Initiative
In partnership with the Community Foundation Awareness Initiative
In partnership with the Community Foundation Awareness Initiative
green spaces and environmental action
green spaces and environmental action
nutritious meals health initiatives
nutritious meals health initiatives
disaster relief
strong nonprofits after school and summer programs good ...possible through the power of collective giving.
disaster relief
strong nonprofits after school and summer programs good ...possible through the power of collective giving.
strong nonprofits after school and summer programs good ...possible through the power of collective giving.
Learn how you can help make more possible at pacf.org/more
Learn how you can help make more possible at pacf.org/more
Learn how you can help make more possible at pacf.org/more
Learn how you can help make more possible at pacf.org/more with the Foundation Awareness Initiative
Christmas Bird Count Set for This Sunday
On Sunday, December 15 starting at 7:30 a.m., The Kingston segment of this year’s Audubon Christmas Bird Count will begin at the Lock Tender’s House (near the intersection of Route 27 and the D&R Canal State Park in Kingston).
Participants will bird until noon, when they take a break for lunch at Urban
Spice on Route 27 in Kingston Center. The group then continues with the count in the afternoon. Birders can join for the morning, lunch, afternoon, or all of them. Those who wish to participate in the afternoon only should meet the group at Urban Spice at 1 p.m.
Call Karen Linder at (609) 683-0483 or visit kingstongreenways.org for more information. Help would be
appreciated from experienced birders, but novices are welcome. Dress warmly, and bring binoculars if possible.
well loved and well read since 1946
Leighton Listens: Councilman Leighton Newlin holds one-on-one conversations about issues impacting Princeton from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11 at Blue Bears in Princeton Shopping Center; on December 18 at Jammin’ Crepes, 20 Nassau Street; and on January 8 at Tiger Noodles, 255 Nassau Street.
Holiday Gift Drive: In the lobby at Princeton Airport through December 18, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., deposit unwrapped gifts for distribution by Mercer County Board of Social Services. PrincetonAirport.com.
Winter Clothing Drive: Through December 31, donations of gently used coats, jackets, scarves, gloves, and other winter wear are being accepted for needy families at The Jewish Center, 435 Nassau Street. Collection bins are in the lobby TuesdaysThursdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Sundays 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Homefront Treasure Trove Holiday Boutique: Through December 22 at 31 West Broad Street, Hopewell. Vintage and collectible décor, dinnerware, furniture, holiday décor, art, and jewelry. Proceeds benefit Homefront’s mission to end homelessness in central New Jersey. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays, and 12-4 p.m. Sundays. Homefrontnj.org.
Food Pantry: Arm In Arm’s mobile food pantry is at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of Mercer County Library System, 2751 Brunswick Pike, on Monday afternoons from 2-4 p.m. Fresh produce, eggs, milk, frozen proteins, and quality baked goods as well as canned and boxed items, and personal care items are available for those in need. Volunteer Land Stewards Wanted: In December, Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) is holding morning and afternoon stewardship sessions. Volunteers will work under the guidance of the FOPOS stewardship staff at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve in Princeton to help restore riparian and forest areas, remove invasive plants, and plant native trees and shrubs. Dates, start times, and registration at fopos.org/events-programs.
Sustainable Princeton “Lending Library” : Sustainable Princeton offers residents and nonprofits in Princeton the opportunity to borrow sustainable home items such as electric landscape equipment, induction cooktops, and repair tools, for free, for up to two weeks. Visit sustainableprinceton.org for more information.
Free Rabies Clinic: Open to all New Jersey residents, at Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, 1 Valley Road on Saturday, January 18 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Pets must be at least 3 months old. Dogs must be leashed; cats secured in a carrier. All pets must be accompanied by an adult. Visit princetonnj.gov for more information.
WATCHFUL AND WISE: The great horned owl is among the creatures participants might spot at the annual Christmas Bird Count in Kingston on December 15.
For Vivia Font, who plays the role of Margaret Cratchit in McCarter Theatre’s current production of A Christmas Carol, the stage and re-
It was at McCarter that the actor, who has appeared in regional theater, television, and films, found her vocation as a high school-aged
Carol last week. “I loved it. Kids who were in it came from all around the area. I found my crew there, my theater crew. It was hugely influential.”
Font, who lives in Princeton with her family and is a lecturer in theater at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, has longstanding connections to the town. She grew up in Highland Park and graduated from Stuart Country Day School. Her mother, Elba Barzellato, was for many years the adult services librarian at Princeton Public Library. After school, Font would spend time in the library waiting for her mother to finish for the day.
“She found things for me to do, through the library, McCarter Theatre, and the Arts Council,” Font said. “I did theater at Stuart. And then my mother told me about the Summer Shakespeare program at McCarter. I did that for the next four years.”
After graduating from New York University, Font went to graduate school in San Diego, where she taught in a bilingual theater program similar to the one at McCarter. Her fluency in English, Spanish, and Portugese, which was her first language, was a definite plus. After graduate school, Font spent some time back in New York, where she found representation and booked acting jobs in small and regional theaters.
Next were contracts at the
pictured are Andrea Goss (Christmas Present), Kenneth De Abrew (Bob Cratchit), and Joel McKinnon Miller (Ebenezer Scrooge.
“A
Continued from Preceding Page
I started to like and really work the language, and understand it.”
Having seen A Christmas Carol at McCarter only once before, Font didn’t know a lot about the current production, which is directed by Lauren Keating and stars Joel McKinnon Miller as Ebenezer Scrooge.
“Being in the show is a delight,” she said. “It’s such a wonderful story. And it’s a joy to be here, to be able to walk to work, and to be back at McCarter. I am really excited for people to see the show. Joel is a wonderful Scrooge, and Lauren has done a beautiful job. And I love working with all of these young actors, one of whom is actually from Stuart. So that’s especially exciting.”
A Christmas Carol continues through December 29. Choirs from local schools will perform 45 minutes before select performances. Visit Mccarter.org for ticket information.
—Anne Levin
Deadline Extended for Achievement Awards
Mercer County Executive Dan Benson and the Mercer County Commission on the Status of Women are seeking nominations for the 2025 Woman of Achievement and Young Woman of Achievement awards. The deadline to nominate an inspiring woman or high school senior is now 12 p.m. Friday, December 20.
The Woman of Achievement Award was established by the Commission to honor women in Mercer who volunteer their time to make Mercer County a better place to live, raise a family, and work. The Young Woman of Achievement Award honors a high school senior who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to volunteer work within the county.
“Volunteer work is integral to so many organizations throughout Mercer,” said County Executive Dan Benson. “So many in our community share their time, talents, and passions to make life better for others and these awards are an opportunity to highlight their leadership and their contributions.”
To nominate a Woman of Achievement, go to mercercounty.org/woaform.
To nominate a Young Woman of Achievement, go to mercercounty.org/ ywoaform.
Recipients will be recognized at a cocktail reception on Wednesday, March 26, at Mercer Oaks Clubhouse in West Windsor. More information regarding the reception will be available at a later date.
For more information regarding the nomination forms, email womenscommission@mercercounty.org or call (609) 989-6526.
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Question of the Week:
“What are your holiday plans this year?”
(Asked Sunday around town) (Photos by Sarah Teo)
“I’m looking forward to the winter break from school, and I’ll be decorating the Christmas tree with my siblings.”
—Mason Charles, Princeton
“I’m looking forward to finals being over! Our family is going away for a couple days after Christmas Day, but other than that, I’ll be having a quiet break.”
—Luca Teo, Princeton
Patrick: “My grandparents come every year. My sister got engaged recently, so we’re looping new family members into our plans.”
Cianna: “I’m going to be hanging out with my big family, and probably going to see a lot of extended family that I haven’t in awhile.”
— Patrick O’Brien, Scotch Plains, with Cianna Wong, South Brunswick
Daniel: “Both of our kids are a drivable distance from us for the first time in seven years, so we get to see both of them. Our son is down just south of D.C., and our daughter is just outside of Albany.”
—Daniel and Eloise Ungar, Montgomery
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Town Health Officer
continued from page one prevention and treatment strategies. The Princeton Health Department’s response to COVID-19 now includes vaccination and boosters; antiviral treatments, such as Paxlovid, that reduce the severity of infections in high-risk individuals; and ongoing surveillance, with monitoring of new variants, though most are less severe than the initial strain.
“As we move forward, COVID-19 will likely continue to peak in the winter months, similar to the flu,” he said. “While it remains a concern, the response is now integrated into the broader management of seasonal respiratory illnesses.”
Grosser continued to urge residents to get vaccinated. He described vaccinations as “critical tools in reducing the severity of illness,” adding, “This is your best defense against severe illness.”
His other advice as the respiratory illness season gains momentum includes: practice good hygiene — wash hands regularly, use hand sanitizer, avoid touching your face; use HEPA filters to improve indoor air quality; avoid crowded places during peak seasons; and stay informed, keeping up with local health advisories, the latest recommendations from the CDC, the New Jersey Department of Health, and the Princeton
HVAC filtration to a MERV13 rating or better to improve air quality,” he said.
Tracking the recent national E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots and onions is another item on the Princeton Health Department’s agenda. “The Health Department works closely with restaurants when food recalls occur through communication and product verification when necessary,” said Grosser.
In addition, the department is currently undergoing the reaccreditation process from the Public Health Accreditation Board. “This is a key focus for the department in 2024, ensuring continued excellence in public health services,” Grosser said.
It’s not clear how many live poultry reside in Princeton, but bird flu, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, has been detected in New Jersey among wild birds and some domestic poultry, Grosser pointed out, Human cases are rare but can occur through close contact with infected birds or contaminated environments. There is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission at this time.
Avoiding contact between poultry and wild birds, disinfecting equipment and footwear, and reporting any unusual bird deaths are recommended practices, and the CDC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also recommend proper
important to wear protective gear and avoid contact with sick or dead birds,” Grosser said. “While the risk to the general public is low, those in close contact with poultry should take additional precautions.”
In a few final words of wisdom for the Princeton community, Grosser reiterated his advice about vaccinations and good hygiene, as well as using proper respiratory etiquette, eating healthy, and getting enough sleep during the holidays.
“Remember, we’ve made tremendous progress in managing respiratory illnesses like COVID-19, and public health measures continue to improve as we navigate seasonal peaks. Stay safe, stay healthy, and continue to look out for each other in the town,” he concluded.
—Donald Gilpin
Rider University Recognized For Work with Arc Mercer
Reca, Rider’s vice president for University Operations.
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Rider University received the 2024 Community Partner Award from The Arc Mercer, an organization that provides employment opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Mercer County. The award was presented at the organization’s annual Fall Gala in Hamilton on November 15.
For more than six years, individuals from The Arc have been hired by Rider and Gourmet Dining Services, LLC, which operates Rider’s dining services. They work five days a week in Daly Dining Hall, Rider’s main residential dining facility, serving hot food, sanitizing dining tables, refilling napkin dispensers, and organizing seating areas.
Gourmet’s regional district manager, Peter Ehlin, played a central role in bringing Rider and The Arc together.
“We’re honored to receive this recognition from The Arc Mercer,” said Mike
“It’s inspiring to see how this partnership has created real opportunities for independence and personal growth, making a difference for the workers from The Arc as well as our campus community.”
The Arc Mercer is dedicated to supporting individuals with developmental disabilities by providing resources that help reduce the impact of their disabilities through education and advocacy. The organization serves more than 1,000 children and adults, offering programs that promote personal development, job training, recreation, and independent living.
The partnership reflects Rider’s commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive community. “This collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission to make a positive impact both on campus and in the wider community,” said Reca.
In addition to its partnership with The Arc, Rider Dining supports other community-based initiatives, including a collaboration with Meals on Wheels of Mercer County, which delivers nutritious meals to elderly and homebound individuals.
“Rider’s collaboration with our vocational program has not only enhanced opportunities and programs but has also resulted in real employment and greater independence for those we serve,” said Steven P. Cook, The Arc Mercer’s executive director.
HOLIDAY MENU
HONORED FOR PARTNERSHIP: Individuals from The Arc Mercer work in Rider University’s Daly Dining Hall each week. (Photos by Rider University/Peter G. Borg)
MARKING A MILESTONE: Enhancing the Health of the Delaware River Watershed was the focus of an awards presentation held by the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed. Coalition for Del. River Watershed Celebrates $17 Million in Grants
The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed is celebrating a significant milestone as the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announces 45 Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund (DWCF) awards, totaling over $17 million. Several grants went to projects in New Jersey.
This funding, which includes supplemental funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is made possible through the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act (DRBCA) and is administered by the NFWF in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Grantees have committed nearly $20.7 million in matching funds, bringing the total conservation impact to $38 million. These funds will support critical
restoration and protection projects throughout the Delaware River Watershed, including habitat restoration, improved water quality, and expanded public access to outdoor recreation.
Of the 45 projects funded, 32 are led by members of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, collectively receiving $11.5 million and generating $12.7 million in matching funds, for a combined conservation impact of $24.2 million. These projects include efforts such as creating a waterfront schoolyard, enhancing wildlife habitat, and increasing opportunities for community engagement and recreation.
This event also served as an opportunity to thank Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who has announced his retirement, for his unwavering leadership on clean water issues and his instrumental
role in advancing the health of the Delaware River Watershed. Carper introduced the original Delaware River Basin Conservation Act in 2016, establishing the foundation for the DWCF and its success in driving national attention and resources to the watershed.
“We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Senator Carper, who has been a tireless advocate for clean water and a champion of the Delaware River Watershed,” said Meagan Birkenmaier, communications manager, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed. “His leadership has been instrumental in raising awareness of the watershed’s importance and securing the resources needed for its protection and restoration. As we celebrate today’s achievements, we acknowledge that the work is far from over. It is essential for Congress to maintain its commitment to funding the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program (DRBRP), ensuring the DWCF continues to safeguard and enhance the watershed for future generations.”
The $17 million awarded this year represents the largest DWCF grant slate to date, underscoring the growing momentum and commitment to conservation within the watershed.
Princeton Public Schools Takes on Positive and Negative Potential of AI
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving at a rapid rate, bringing huge advantages along with some significant harms to all areas of society, and Princeton Public Schools (PPS) is looking for the best ways to benefit from AI’s potential to enhance the education of its students.
“We’re approaching the AI frontier together, and we’re all riding that balance of using it but also not abusing it,” said PPS Assistant Superintendent Kimberly Tew in a December 3 webinar, sponsored by PPS in collaboration with Common Sense Media, an organization working with the district to develop plans and policies concerning the use of AI in PPS.
Common Sense reports that 70 percent of teens nationwide have used at least one type of generative AI tool, with 53 percent using generative AI for homework help. Only 37 percent of parents with teens using gen AI, however, know that their children are using these tools.
A recently created PPS AI website, found under “Resources and Notices” at princetonk12.org, states, “The district recognizes that AI is a powerful tool that has the potential to support and enhance teaching and learning. However, it is also the responsibility of the district to teach students how to use AI critically and responsibly.”
Tew commented on some of the preliminary planning leading up to a two-day PPS AI Summit that took place this past summer, as the district gathered a group including board members, administrators, staff, and students to consider the future of AI at PPS.
“How do we find a balance and how do we provide more guardrails and safeguards?” said Tew. “We want to make sure that when students are using it that they aren’t overrelying on it and they’re reflecting as they use it.”
The PPS AI Summit explored uses and misuses of AI and developed policies and plans, organized professional development for staff, and updated the PPS web page — all while acknowledging that the process is ongoing, and constantly in need of revision as AI evolves.
Tew emphasized, “Our educators are the experts, and they are still leading the learning experience for the students. The teachers are designing real-time mentoring of student work.” She went on to note that the PPS’ SchoolAI platform allows students and teachers to work with AI in a structured, safe way.
In last week’s webinar, Quest Coordinator and Instructor Jenna Peluso discussed how the PPS elementary school teachers use AI as a teaching and student learning tool. “We use it as a creative planning tool for brainstorming, coming up with content,” she said. “It’s a jumping off point, and I can refine it and create resources to support it. I have the ability to customize this. It’s a way to have a teaching assistant at your beck and call and the ability to cater it to your students and your
Rider and MCCC Partner For Transfer Program
teaching style.” She described K-5 students using AI as a learning tool, generating ideas for potential projects, with the ideas carefully catered to their tasks and the teacher in control of the process.
Princeton High School (PHS) Spanish Teacher Francesca Nunez-Powers described AI as “a great way for students to engage in conversation.” She explained how AI helped her students who were nervous or frustrated about giving a presentation in front of the class.
“I was very skeptical about the use of technology in a world language classroom, but I find it to be great,” she said. “It’s amazing to see how engaged my students were. I’m very happy I was able to bring this into my classroom.”
Providing a student perspective at the webinar, PHS senior Angel Ash, who was also a participant in the summer PPS AI Summit, applauded the district’s initiative in embracing the challenges of AI. “As a proud member of a tech-savvy generation who’s grown up with these crazy advancements, I really understand why people are concerned,” she said. “Like, what if AI kills creativity? What if we lose our connection to thinking skills? But there’s the immense potential of this technology. We should continue to embrace it.”
She continued, “I’m really happy to see Princeton Public Schools taking the big steps to integrate AI into the classrooms and to educate the community in the best way they can to increase that understanding and also promote responsible use among students and parents, because ultimately I believe it ensures that our future generations will see AI not as an enemy or inhibitor, but rather as an ally.”
Karla Cosgriff, head of the New York office of Common Sense Media and a PPS parent, echoed Ash’s sentiments.
“It’s amazing that PPS has taken such a forward-thinking approach to this,” she said. “We’re getting a lot of questions from school districts across the country about how to develop policies on AI, and I think you all are approaching it really well. Parents are grateful.”
She went on to present a brief history of the past 20 years of developing technologies that impact young people and particularly the last two years since AI was released into the public sphere. “As parents, we need to understand that this is something we need to lean into,” she said. “One of the things we found in all of the research is how important it is to listen to kids. They have interesting perspectives on their future and on AI.”
—Donald Gilpin
On November 15, Rider University and Mercer County Community College signed a new five-year guaranteed transfer agreement, furthering their commitment to expanding educational access for students.
Signed by Rider President Gregory G. Dell’Omo and Mercer County Community College President Deborah E. Preston, the agreement includes 42 program-toprogram agreements, which have been updated to reflect the most recent curriculum. Some of the programs include education, film and television, game design and all of Rider’s business majors.
Symbolically, the program-to-program agreement for Mercer’s Associate of Applied Science in Information Technology: Cybersecurity Concentration to Rider’s Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity was signed, representing the institutions’ joint desire to help students enter growing fields equipped with the technical knowledge and real-world experience they will need to succeed.
“As higher education continues to evolve and students’ needs change, partnerships like ours are critical to ensuring that students can earn their degrees in a flexible, affordable and personalized manner,” said Dell’Omo.
Program-to-program agreements allow Mercer students who earn their associate degree in specific programs and maintain GPA requirements to seamlessly transfer to Rider to complete their undergraduate degree.
“Like our partners at Rider, we are committed to providing the most comprehensive, accessible and seamless transition toward a high-quality, four-year degree,” said Preston. “As educators, we have the opportunity to create convenient, supportive pathways to receiving a bachelor’s degree, and we are thrilled to work together with Rider to offer more than 40 exceptional programs to choose from.”
For more than a decade, the institutions have created pathways for students to complete their bachelor’s degrees. Recently, Rider and Mercer have expanded their partnership to include specialized room and board rates for Mercer County Community College students to live on Rider’s campus and tuition discounts for Mercer employees.
Rider has agreements with a number of institutions. To learn more about transferring to Rider, visit rider.edu/ transfer.
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TRANSFER AGREEMENT: From cybersecurity to the arts to business, the new partnership of Rider University and Mercer County Community College includes numerous programs. From left are Robert Schreyer, MCCC’s vice president of Academic Affairs; Deborah E. Preston, MCCC president; Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Rider president; and DonnaJean Fredeen, Rider’s provost and senior vice president of Academic and Student Affairs. (Photo by Rider University/Buddy Losavio)
Limited seating. Snacks and tapas will be served.
Council continued from page one procurement spending goes to minority-owned and women-owned businesses, despite their significant presence in the marketplace.
“As we approach 2025, I want to put us all on notice that we must take a hard look at how we spend taxpayer money,” he said. “It’s not just a problem of disparity. It’s a violation of fairness and equity. I want us, in the coming year, to commit to being accountable to equitable spending. Because as I understand it, it is the law.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, William Shields, president of the Princeton Fire Department’s Engine Company 1, urged Council to further explore its recently approved resolution to fund a study of the fire department’s headquarters at 363 Witherspoon Street. The study includes the possible consolidation of all elements of the fire department under one roof, which could affect the future use of the old firehouse on Chestnut Street.
The building currently fills several uses, including storage of two active fire police vehicles, a kitchen area used for Mercer County’s senior lunch program, and the storage of memorabilia including Currier & Ives prints, Shields said. The firehouse is also used regularly as a staging area for various events, and as a polling place, among other functions.
Shields, a past chief of the Princeton Fire Department, recommended that a committee made up of community
members, as well as past and present firefighters, be formed to look toward the possible uses of the Chestnut Street firehouse, which has flex state capabilities.
“Chestnut Street has been home to a firehouse from the early 1800s to the present day,” Shields said. “To consider moving this property from the town rolls in an effort to acquire quick funds to address renovations [at 363 Witherspoon Street] could result in major regrets. Once the Chestnut Street firehouse is gone, it may be impossible to duplicate a location like this, in the center of town, without high cost to the community and the municipality of Princeton.”
Council approved an ordinance that removes a restriction related to outdoor dining, updating local regulations to align with state and county guidelines. Approval is expected from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and the town wants to be prepared to issue permits once that approval comes in, said Princeton’s Assistant Municipal Engineer Jim Purcell.
Among other actions were a $1.5 million contract awarded to Earle Asphalt Company for the Cherry Hill Road bike path, and approval of a Memorandum of Understanding with Mercer County regarding the installation of school zone flash equipment on Rosedale Road for Johnson Park Elementary School.
—Anne Levin
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Virtual Talk on Syria
From Princeton University
“A New Era for Syria” is the title of a talk being given on Tuesday, December 17 at 12 p.m. The virtual event will include Amaney Jamal, dean of Princeton School of Public and International Affairs; Zeid Al-Ali, visiting research scholar, Lichtenstein Institute on Self-Determination; and Deborah S. Amos, Ferris Professor of Journalism in Resident, Lichtenstein Institute on Self Determination.
“Syria has been thrust into a new and unprecedented era,” reads a release on the event. “What are the factors that contributed to this sudden transformation? What are the prospects for the future, and for its people? Will the conflict continue in a different form, or will the country transition to a new period of stability? And how will its neighbors — Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel/Palestine — be impacted?”
Visit spia.princeton.edu for more information.
Holiday Peace Gathering Begins with Candlelight Vigil
The Coalition for Peace Action’s three part Holiday Peace Gathering will be held on Thursday, December 12, starting with a Candlelight Vigil for Peace on Earth from 5-6 p.m. at Palmer Square. Battery powered candles will be provided.
The second part will be a Potluck for Peace from 6-7 p.m. in the Assembly Room of Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street. Attendees should
Holiday Happenings
enter through the door at the right rear of the church, and go up a half flight of stairs. Those bringing dishes to share can drop them off starting at 4:30 p.m.
From 7-8:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room, there will be a concert of peace music by David Brahinsky and Friends.
For more information, visit peacecoalition.org.
SheTek Conference On Empowering Women in AI
SheTek, an organization dedicated to empowering women in technology, has announced the SheTek Women’s Tech Conference 2025: AI Evolution: Empowering Women in AI, taking place on January 29 (in-person) and January 30 (virtual).
The two-day conference will delve into the transformative world of artificial intelligence (AI), equipping women at all stages of their careers with the knowledge and skills to excel in this dynamic field. Included will be talks by leading women and allies shaping the future of AI, interactive workshops on prompt engineering, and networking opportunities.
The conference begins with a networking event on January 29 at Muller’s Pub, Rider University, in Lawrence Township. The event will be held from 5-8 p.m. The virtual part of the conference on January 30 is from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Topics include realworld insights, skill-building workshops, and discussions of ethical AI.
Speakers at the conference include experts such as Dr. Chitra Dorai, founder and CEO of Amicus Brain; Michele Siekerka, president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association; Chaya Pamula, founder of SheTek and cofounder and CEO of PamTen; Chrysti Reichert, AI solutions manager at Bausch and Lomb; Anusha Kakani, attorney and founder of First Light Legal; and many more. This conference is designed for women and allies working in technology, at all career stages. Visit shetek. net for more details and registration information.
Treks Around Trenton Resume this Winter
Trenton Walks! begins 2025 with a walk commemorating two Revolutionary War Battles of Trenton — 1776 and 1777 — on Saturday morning, January 4 starting at the Battle Monument and on to Mill Hill Park and back.
These walks show the commitment of walking enthusiasts who have come out by the dozens since the program launched in June. Since then, 162 people have turned out for 26 walks and have covered a collective 425 miles.
“We’re just getting started with our walking celebration of Trenton and our ability to enjoy its various sites of history, beauty, nature and urban landscapes,” said Larry Paul, chair of the Trenton Green Team and executive sponsor of the program.
“Our intention is to host two walks each month, one on Saturday morning starting at 9:30 a.m. at a different location and the other starting at lunchtime on the third Wednesday of the month.”
“For our full ‘good weather’ launch in April, we will create a robust schedule of one to two walks each week of each month through October or November,” said Becky Taylor, a Trenton Walks! co-chair and former co-chair of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail. The schedule for spring through fall will be announced early in 2025.
The Trenton Walks! program includes a number of walk leaders who helped conceive and host 26 walks:
Gulu Brewer, vice chair for the Trenton Green Team and Permanent Housing Case Manager with Homefront; James (J.R.) Capasso, City of Trenton Brownfields coordinator and Trenton Green Team liaison; MacKenzie Piggott, State Trails coordinator for the Green Acres Program at New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Jacque Howard, media guru with Trenton365; Shereyl Snider, community organizer for East Trenton Collaborative; and Zeke Weston, policy coordinator for New Jersey Future.
“We encourage others who would like to colead walks with us to let us know of their interest, and we also seek ideas for walking routes,” said Brill, who can be reached at tim. brill@njconservation.org or (609) 947-8530.
“But most of all, we invite everyone who enjoys being in and of the Trenton community to join us on any and all walks,” said Corey Hannigan, lead for the Mercer County Action Team of the Circuit Coalition, which cosponsors the walks program. To learn more, visit gmtma. org/trail-happenings.
43 Reenactor Regiments To Take Part in Event
A total of 43 reenactor regiments have so far committed to participate in the 2025 Experience the Battle of Princeton (EBOP) on Sunday, January 5 at Princeton Battlefield State Park. The forces reenacting the Battle of Princeton will include 33 American units and 10 British units, including infantry, artillery and cavalry.
“We are grateful to these men for their commitment to keeping the history of this battle alive. This was one of the most important battles of the war and it was fought right here in Princeton,” said Ben Strong, president of the Princeton Battlefield Society (PBS).
“I’m really excited by this turnout,” said Ken Gavin, PBS vice president, EBOP committee co-chair, himself a reenactor and overall commander of Continental Forces. “Twenty of the units represent units that fought on the Battle 248 years ago, and they’ll be joined by 23 other units who recognize just how important this is.”
in bone-chilling temperatures. The victory capped what historians now call the “Ten Crucial Days,” in which Washington and the American forces rescued the War for Independence after months of crushing battlefield defeats in New York and New Jersey. Without Washington’s successes in Trenton and Princeton, the war would have likely ended in American defeat.
Princeton Battlefield Society (PBS) is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to acquire, protect, preserve, and restore the lands and cultural landscape related to the Battle of Princeton of 1777 and to enlarge and improve the Princeton Battlefield State Park. As important, PBS’ mission is to educate the public about the Battle of Princeton, the Ten Crucial Days, and the American Revolution.
Visit pbs.1777.org for more information.
Benson to Speak on State of the County
On Tuesday, December 17 from 8-10 a.m., Mercer County Executive Dan Benson will deliver the State of the County Address at a meeting of the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber at Cooper’s Riverview, 50 Riverview Plaza in Trenton.
Benson was sworn into office in January of this year. His mission has been to restore the county’s financial stability, put an end to wasteful spending, and bring accountability and transparency to county government. At the meeting, he will report on what his administration has accomplished in his first year. Tickets are $25 for members of the chamber and county employees; $40 for others. Visit princetonmercer.org.
2nd Annual Heritage Trees
At Trent House Museum
The Trent House Association will host a display of lighted trees decorated by seven Trenton area organizations on the theme of their heritage and contributions. An opening reception will be held in the Visitor Center of the Trent House, 15 Market Street, Trenton, on Saturday, December 14 from 4 to 6 p.m., with tree lighting at 5 p.m. The event is free and all are invited.
“During the cold months of winter, we will continue walking, enjoying each other’s company and getting to know Trenton in a different way,” said the walks Co-Chair Tim Brill, who is Central Jersey project manager of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
Barring calamitous weather conditions, PBS hosts a reenactment of the Battle of Princeton on the historic battlefield each year. It was there, on the morning of January 3, 1777, that George Washington’s army met and defeated British Crown forces after an allnight march from Trenton
The Trent House Association documents, shares, and celebrates the long history of Trenton and its people. The second annual Heritage Trees event is an opportunity to recognize and honor community organizations that contribute to the community. This year’s participants include returning organizations (African American Cultural Collaborative of Mercer County, Trenton Puerto Rican Community & Friends, Trenton South Ward Neighborhood Association, and Epsilon Upsilon Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority) and first-time organizations (Black Women NJMercer County, Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County, and Trenton Area Soup Kitchen). The Heritage Trees can be visited on the museum grounds, which are open free of charge Wednesday through Sunday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and every Saturday until 6 p.m. through January 5.
For more information, visit williamtrenthouse.org.
NJ Leaders
continued from page one next four years,” Zwicker said in a recent phone conversation.
“I’ve met people on the street and people have called me up asking, ‘What can a state do to write laws and protections when it comes to our health care and immigration and environment and so much more?’” he added.
Zwicker reached out to the N.J. attorney general, to longtime health care expert and former Princeton Councilwoman Howard, and to civil rights leader and New Jersey ACLU Director Sinha, and the panel was quickly established. The event has been advertised statewide, and the signups for livestream and in-person attendance have been coming in rapidly.
Zwicker emphasized the important role that Princeton and other municipalities can play in protecting their citizens’ rights. “We saw in the first Trump administration that it wasn’t the states that were under attack, but the towns and cities in particular,” he said. “Princeton has always wanted to have the autonomy to have strong environmental regulations at the municipal level and to be able to govern as the members of the town see fit.”
He continued, “We saw federal officials come into Princeton during the first Trump administration, targeting our immigrant community, so it’s critically important that the mayor and the Council, and the people of Princeton are fully prepared for the second Trump
administration. This panel is just one piece of that goal to help inform people and to get people engaged.”
Zwicker mentioned some of his greatest concerns. “It seems apparent that we’re going to see a rollback of a variety of environmental regulations that stop people from polluting,” he said. “We’re going to see a rollback of renewable energy goals that will accelerate global warming. We’re going to see a targeting of our immigrant community as we saw in the first Trump administration. And we’re going to see attempts once again to gut the Affordable Care Act.”
He went on to emphasize the challenges of navigating the line between powers of the state and powers of the federal government. “Understanding where that dividing line is and what we can do easily and what we will struggle to do is the point here,” he said.
Understanding where that line is can help the legislature put forth legislation and work with the governor “to ensure that the people of New Jersey continue to have clean air and clean water, basic human rights, access to health care, and so much more,” he added.
State Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz already has a package of bills she’s been working on related to protecting health care in New Jersey, and Senate Environmental Committee Chair Bob Smith has been working to strengthen state environmental goals and regulations, Zwicker pointed out, noting that those efforts are likely to be accelerated.
Zwicker urged New Jersey residents from around the state to come to the Nassau Presbyterian Church on December 19, “because we want to come together in community and show strength. We’d like to fill up to capacity.” He went on to state that in the future, “What I’d like to see is towns banding together to work to ensure that everything they do at the municipal level they’re doing while the state and county governments are doing the same thing.”
“New Jersey is a national leader in safeguarding the rights of its residents across critical areas, including immigration, health care, environmental protection, and civil rights,” he continued. “Our state, however, faces challenges that require us to reexamine and strengthen those safeguards. By working together, I am confident New Jersey can set an example for the nation in protecting and enhancing the rights and services that define our humanity.”
He added, “The next four years are going to be difficult, and so it is beholden on all of us to come together, work together, and ensure that we are protecting every single person who lives in our great state.”
The December 19 public event will include moderated panel discussion followed by audience Q&A, with registration free but required. For more information and registration, visit andrewzwicker.com/ state-of-protection-panel.
—Donald Gilpin
DINNER MUSIC: The Rick Fiori Jazz Quartet entertained guests at a recent Cornerstone Community Kitchen weekly meal. Cornerstone Community Kitchen provides over 100 nourishing meals each Wednesday in a welcoming setting that affirms the dignity of all those who gather. They also provide guests the opportunity to shop free clothing and food stores during the meal. For more information, visit princetoncornerstone.com.
Black Business Community Is Focus of Gathering
“The New Jersey Disparity Studies Impact on Black Business and the Black Community” is the topic of a presentation on Wednesday, December 18 from 5-7 p.m. at the Social Profit Center, Mill One, 1 North Johnston Avenue, Hamilton. The gathering will feature leaders from throughout New Jersey including John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ); Douglas Palmer, CEO of Douglas H. Palmer and Associates; Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese, Mercer County Commissioner Sam Frisby; the Rev. John Taylor of Friendship Baptist Church, and several others.
“This is an important time not only for Black businesses, but the Black community as well,” said Harmon. “These disparity studies and the data suggest that there is a major opportunity gap in the New Jersey business landscape and significant intervention and best practice remedies are necessary for collective action. The Black community organizations and Black elected leadership must step forward and join the AACCNJ in our action call for fairness and a level playing field in the Garden State.”
Concierge Service!
For more information or to register, email johnbailey062@gmail.com.
The views of the letters do not necessarily reflect the views of Town Topics.
FOPOS Thanks All those Who Supported Annual Photography Contest, Exhibition
To the Editor:
Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) thanks members of the community who came to the Mountain Lakes House last weekend to see and celebrate our photography exhibition, which featured selected photos from our ninth annual photography contest. The contest, entitled “Perspectives on Preservation,” encouraged people to explore the Greater Mountain Lakes Recreation Area more deeply, and to linger a bit longer within its over 400 acres of preserved public open space and farmland.
The exhibition is a sampling of what photographers found on their wanderings including wildlife, a broad community of plants, diverse landscapes, and vestiges of the ways this land has seen human occupation and use. The photos are an homage to a place — accessible by close to nine miles of trails — where the community can relax and recharge in nature, and where native wildlife and plants can flourish.
We are deeply grateful to REI Princeton for their continuous support of our photo contest, to the participating photographers, and to our judges, Jody Erdman, Tasha O’Neill, and Frank Sauer. Frank’s annual co-exhibition of photos from the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve and its surroundings is always a visual delight.
Our conversations with visitors to the show made clear that the Princeton community places great value on open space, and that the youth of our community are passionate about doing what they can to mitigate the impacts of climate change by helping to maintain and restore healthy preserved lands.
FRAN MCMANUS
JESS ATKINS FOPOS Trustees
JACKIE HALAW FOPOS Program Coordinator Mountain Avenue
Community Solar Program Provides Way For Residents to Reduce Their Energy Bill
To the Editor:
Every person who has an electricity bill in Princeton has an opportunity to reduce their energy bill and contribute to improving the environment.
Sustainable Princeton explains on their website how the Community Solar program works. Subscribers to the program receive a financial credit [dollars] on their PSE&G utility bill.
This works for anyone, especially if one’s home or apartment is shaded or otherwise unable to add solar energy panels. One such approved providing company offers a 31 percent discount on one’s energy bill just for enrolling.
Community Solar projects are located around New Jersey and create electricity from solar that goes directly into the PSE&G power grid. The solar energy made by these arrays is then shared by all subscribers.
I have seen this program in action and it makes a difference in how one thinks about the electricity we need and
use every day. The PSE&G website shows you how much and when you are using electricity.
Just a regular review of the information is helpful in monitoring and thinking about how and when one can be more efficient with this valuable resource.
By helping make energy from the sun, we are not only reducing our personal energy bill, we are increasing our energy independence. Individuals and Princeton can be an even more influential community for others to follow.
KIRK GASTINGER Guyot Avenue
Noting That it is Imperative to Pass All Three Questions in Referendum
To the Editor:
When asked why we love where we live, there’s been one consistent No. 1 answer: We love the Princeton Public Schools. As parents of three children in the system, we are eternally grateful for the world-class education they all receive, and as parents we continue to remain dedicated to our public school system. We love that our kids’ classrooms are filled with diverse points of view, students from all over the country and the world, and that it truly feels like a safe space of inclusion.
In order to properly welcome in additional students, as well are uphold the quality of education for our existing students, it’s imperative that we pass all three questions in the January referendum.
MITCH AND ASHLEY HENDERSON
Princeton Kingston Road
The writers are parents of two Community Park students and one Princeton Middle School student.
Urging Community to Support January Princeton Public Schools Referendum
To the Editor:
We are lucky to live in a community that values high quality public education. In the service of this value, I urge my fellow Princetonians to support the January 28, 2025 public schools referendum.
This special election presents voters with three tiered questions. Question 1 provides funding to replace the endof-life HVAC system at Princeton High School (PHS) and to expand Community Park School. Question 2 expands our painfully crowded Princeton Middle School (PMS), and reconfigures parts of PHS to improve functionality. Question 3 will fund much-needed new classrooms and expanded common areas at Littlebrook School. Question 1 must pass in order for question 2 to pass, and both 1 and 2 must pass in order for question 3 to pass.
Based on the average assessed home value of $853,136, the cost of Question 1 is $222 annually in property taxes. Questions 1 and 2 together would total $447. The total price of all three questions would be $532/year for the average Princeton home.
Why are these expenses needed? Question 1, $37.9 million: The HVAC system at PHS is beyond its useful life; it must be replaced. As any homeowner knows, such an expense goes beyond our “maintenance” budget; it requires a separate infrastructure investment. Community Park is the most centrally-located of our elementary schools, but lacks the capacity to serve all of the students who are a short walk or bike ride away. Many of those students are currently bussed to other schools at significant taxpayer expense (not to mention traffic congestion and pollution).
The expansion would ease crowding across the other three elementary schools, reduce transit impacts, and promote walk- and bike-ability for hundreds of kids.
Question 2, $38.3M: Administrators, faculty, and staff at PMS have deftly orchestrated schedules over the past years to minimize the impact of overcrowding on students. But creativity can only go so far within finite walls. Question 2 would add multiple classrooms and labs, expand common spaces, and facilitate better traffic flow through the building. This would also move technology offices from PHS to new space at PMS, recovering more classroom space at PHS.
Question 3, $12.9M: The smallest of our four elementary schools by square footage, Littlebrook consistently accommodates the largest or second-largest student population among them. There is no longer a common space large enough for school assemblies, teachers must park on residential streets, and special services must often be delivered in the lobby. A comparatively small investment would have a huge impact here.
Like any savvy investor, taxpayers will have questions. For answers, please go to princetonk12.org/future. The FAQs link (upper right of page) addresses many questions you may have.
Growth in our town has happened and will continue to happen. Construction takes time, and our students desperately need us to act now so that these important expansions will come online in time to preserve the excellent public schools we expect. We owe it to our kids to meet their needs.
Extending Thanks to PPD Volunteers Who Assisted at Thanksgiving Feast
To the Editor:
I wish to thank volunteers from the Princeton Police Department, who once again assisted and served meals at the Thanksgiving feast held at Harriet Bryan House on November 22. This well-loved tradition, attended by senior residents of Elm Court and Harriet Bryan House as well as staff from Princeton Community Housing (PCH) and its trustees, is made special by the participation of these essential community partners.
In addition to the delicious food catered by Parker, there were foot-tapping tunes provided by musician Carmen Marranco — and even some dancing! It was a joyous afternoon. We were reminded of how generous our community partners are, and why our gratitude for their service lasts all year long.
MARGARET GRIFFIN Board of Trustees Princeton Community Housing Patton Avenue
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BRENDA FRAZIER Random Road
A Week of Wonders: Emily Dickinson, Hector Berlioz, and John Lennon
If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
In the opening sentence of Franz Kafka’s unfinished novel Amerika (New Directions), the Statue of Liberty is holding aloft a sword instead of a torch. There are disputes online about whether this was unintended or intentional. Not to worry. With a writer as infinitely suggestive as Kafka, errors can have prophetic consequences, and since he has, in effect, arrived in post-election America for a centenary exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum, some interesting connections are already in play, notably Barry Blitt’s New Yorker cover depicting a very nervous, verge-ofvertigo Lady Liberty walking a tightrope.
It’s also worth mentioning that the November 11 issue is centered on “The Home Front,” an article subtitled, “Some Americans are preparing for a second civil war.” A few days ago my wife and I watched Alex Garland’s dystopian fantasy Civil War. The week before, we saw London being spectacularly bombed in Steve McQueen’s no less devastating Blitz just as we were also finishing Josh Zetumer’s Say Nothing, a searing miniseries about “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland.
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Emily for the Ages
Moving on from the violent imagery that abounds in those three works, I found special pleasure in the ageless shock-and-awe of Emily Dickinson, whose 194th birthday was this Tuesday. The real Civil War “corresponded to Dickinson’s most intense period of productivity as a poet,” according to emilydickinsonmuseum.org, and although she wrote “roughly half of her total number of poems” during that time, “her precise relation to the war remains something of a puzzle.” In a February 1863 letter to her mentor and longtime correspondent Thomas Wentworth Higginson, she admits that “War feels to me an oblique place.”
There was nothing puzzling or oblique about the way Dickinson defined her relation to poetry early in her correspondence with Higginson: “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” Call it what you will, there’s violence in her art, played out on the page in the way she fires off dashes like those in “Much Madness is divinest Sense — To a discerning Eye,” a dash-driven poem that seems to anticipate the modification of her artillery: “Assent — and you are sane — Demur — you’re
straightway dangerous — And handled with a Chain.” In “chained” editions of this poem, all dashes but the last one have been removed or replaced by semicolons. Shakespearean Lightning
What poetry does to Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare does to Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), whose birthday is today, December 11. In Chapter 18 of his Memoirs, published posthumously in 1870, Berlioz describes the “sudden and unexpected revelation” of the Bard: “The lightning-flash of his genius revealed the whole heaven of art to me, illuminating its remotest depths in a single flash.”
In 1827, when Berlioz attended a British production of Hamlet at the Paris Odéon, it was “the supreme drama of my life,” and Shakespeare’s lightning was revealed by a 27-year-old Irish girl who translated Ophelia into a language Berlioz could understand, “her dramatic genius ... equaled only by the havoc wrought in me by the poet she so nobly interpreted.”
It took a five-year courtship before Berlioz married his Ophelia, his Juliet, and his Shakespeare in the person of Harriet Smithson. To win her, he composed a song cycle in 1930 based on Thomas Moore’s Irish Melodies and later that year projected his tragedy of unrequited love into Symphonie Fantastique , adding a sequel, Lélio, two years later. In 1833 Berlioz and Smithson were married at the British Embassy in Paris.
poet’s accompanying claim that he “has little melody and no real simplicity whatever.” Writing in Memoirs , Berlioz notes that the first performance of his oratorio L’Enfance du Christ took place three weeks after Heine’s book was published. On the next day, “I received a letter from Heine in which he apologized profusely for having misjudged me,” writing, “I hear from all sides that you have plucked a nosegay of the most exquisite blooms of melody, and that all in all your oratorio is a masterpiece of simplicity. I can never forgive myself for having been so unjust to a friend.”
the Memoirs . After describing “the horror” and “pity” of her “long vista of death and oblivion,” he writes: “Shakespeare! Shakespeare! I feel as if he alone of all men who ever lived can understand me, must have understood us both; he alone could have pitied us, poor unhappy artists, loving yet wounding each other.”
Listening to Lennon
Tender and Tremendous Berlioz is the only composer whose words reached me ahead of his music, coming by way of the Memoirs , which surge with the same genius of excess found in Balzac’s Human Comedy. In fact, Berlioz was caricatured with Balzacian vigor by Heinrich Heine, who called him a “gigantic nightingale, a lark the size of an eagle.” Berlioz quotes the line from Heine’s book Lutetia on the way to denouncing the
Fair enough, but Heine’s original outburst of hyperbole does do a crazy sort of justice to the tumultuous Requiem Berlioz goes on to quote, with obvious relish, Heine’s “visions of mammoths and other beasts long extinct, fabulous empires of preternatural depravity, and many a cloud-capped wonder. Its magical strains conjure up Babylon, the hanging gardens of Semiramis, the marvels of Nineveh.”
The essence of Hector Berlioz, at once tender and tremendous, is in the descent from the manifold trumpets of the Day of Judgment to the Shepherds’ chorus of the L’Enfance du Christ. Whether these shepherds are on their way to or from Bethlehem or Mecca or Brooklyn, what matters is the hushed, simple, swelling beauty of the singing and the grace it lends to the Christmas season.
Shakespeare and Love Berlioz has said that the love scene from his choral symphony Romeo et Juliette (1839) was his favorite work. Arturo Tosanini called it “the most beautiful music in the world.” David Cairns, who edited the Memoirs, suggests that Berlioz identified with Romeo, meaning of course that he “died’ with Smithson’s Juliet a decade before he wrote the symphony inspired by his love and decades before her painful and untimely death in 1853, which inspired one of the most memorable passages in
This week’s birthdays include not only Dickinson and Berlioz, but John Milton (December 9, 1608) and Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821). Saving Paradise Lost and Madame Bovary for another day (if only), I spent Sunday, December 8, with John Lennon, who was murdered on that day in 1980. After listening to the posthumous Beatles reunion songs “Free as a Bird,” “Real Love,” and “Now and Then,” I put on the Beatles CD closest at hand, which happened to be Rubber Soul With the classic love story lived and died by Berlioz still fresh in my mind, I heard Lennon sing classics like “Norwegian Wood” (“I once had a girl or should I say, she once had me”), “Girl” (“all about the girl who came to stay”), “Nowhere Man” (“Sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans for nobody”), and the brilliantly obsessive “The Word” (“Say the word and you’ll be free, Say the word and be like me, Have you heard the word is love?”).
This Sunday “The Word” was especially chilling because Lennon’s voice has an eerie afterlife ambience — the same is true of all the voices. Finally, there’s one of his most personal performances, “In My Life,” a song I didn’t have the heart to listen to: “With lovers and friends, I still can recall, some are dead and some are living: in my life, I’ve loved them all.”
Kafka in New York
The Morgan exhibit runs through April 13, 2025. I’m wondering if it’s best to go before or after January 20. Writing about Amerika in his essay collection, Expeditions to Kafka (Bloomsbury 2023), Stanley Corngold describes the novel’s mood “touched by a human quality only to the extent that it is anxious. In its world, authority is maintained by brute force; its violence is out in the open.”
One wonders what sort of New Yorker cover Barry Blitt will come up next spring. Will Lady Liberty have made it safely to the other side? Maybe Blitt will get some ideas from Kafka at the Morgan, where a manuscript of Amerika is among the items on display.
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Available in any denomination
The Christmas season and choral music are practically synonymous. To many audience members, the only choral concerts attended during the year are annual Messiah performances or carol sings. The Princeton area has always had many high-quality musical Christmas events to choose from, and one of the finest this year took place this past weekend. Chanticleer, a professional men’s vocal ensemble based in San Francisco, brought its special artistry to the Princeton University Chapel on Saturday night as part of the Princeton University Concerts series. The 12-member ensemble’s music director, Tim Keeler, was a 2011 graduate of Princeton, and the chorus has maintained a close association with the community. The nearly-full house in the Chapel on Saturday night was a tribute to both Chanticleer and the region’s appreciation for choral music in the holiday season.
Saturday night’s concert featured more than 20 choral selections grouped in a variety of ways, including works on the same texts by composers of different eras sung in succession. Chanticleer opened the evening with a candlelight procession singing four settings of a ninth-century Christian hymn of praise to the Virgin Mary. Beginning with the stark open chords of early 15th-century composer Guillaume Du Fay and leading to the complex melodic writing of Renaissance master Tomás Luis de Victoria, Chanticleer’s presentation of “Ave maris stella” traced the evolution of music history at the highest level of singing. With six counter-tenors, the upper voices carried well through the expansive Chapel space as the singers made their way down the long Chapel center aisle. As with most of the music within a given “set,” the works were sung one after another without pause, and before the audience knew it, 150 years of music history had passed, and the musicians were in position on the chancel steps.
Chanticleer subsequently returned to varied treatments of the same text with two pieces based on the medieval English poem “There is no rose of such vertu.” While the anonymous 15th-century carol was sung with spacious open intervals and with alternating solo and ensemble voices, Benjamin Britten’s setting (from A Ceremony of Carols ) flowed seamlessly between English and Latin with Britten’s trademark harmonies. Performing this piece without its usual accompanying harp, Chanticleer
presented Britten’s music almost as a Renaissance motet. Another selection from Britten’s Ceremony, “Balulalow,” was performed with the choristers singing the harp accompaniment in close harmony style under a soaring counter-tenor solo. In keeping with a commitment to contemporary choral composition, there were a number of newer works in this Christmas celebration. Canadian Sarah Quartel’s “This endris night” was centered on a folklike melody sung with a well-blended sound and diction which was well heard throughout the Chapel. Lance Wiliford’s arrangement of the Welsh lullaby “Suo Gân” was composed with the clarity of voices and melodic sensitivity of someone raised in a rich choral experience (Williford was a member of Princeton’s American Boychoir as a boy chorister) and the Chanticleer singers conveyed this precision well. The chorus has long had a solid partnership with local composer Stephen Sametz (conductor of The Princeton Singers), and in Sametz’s arrangements, his appealing musical style emerged effortlessly from the original medieval tunes. Keeler also provided a sensitive and effective version of the traditional Appalachian Mountain folk song “And the Trees Do Moan” to the program.
Chanticleer has a few signature pieces in their repertory with which they have built their world-wide reputation as an “orchestra of voices.” The ensemble’s graceful yet dramatic rendition of Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria,” which interspersed medieval chant in a mellifluous choral setting, showed why Chanticleer’s adoption of this piece as an unofficial anthem launched Biebl’s music into worldwide choral popularity.
Chanticleer’s concerts also traditionally include spiritual arrangements by former music director Joseph Jennings. “Somebody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Jesus” highlighted the tenor section, with several stand-out solos. The closing spiritual, “Oh, Jerusalem in the Mornin’” demonstrated how Chanticleer takes full advantage of the talent in the chorus, with call-and-response solos sprinkled throughout.
Saturday night’s performance was the first foray of Princeton University Concerts into holiday programming on a Saturday night event. Chanticleer has been heard in Princeton before, and last weekend confirmed that the ensemble is welcome back anytime.
—Nancy Plum
University Concerts has a full schedule of musical experiences in a variety of formats and locations. Ticket information can be obtained by visiting concerts.princeton.edu.
Performing Arts
GIGGLES GALORE: On Saturday, December 14 at 11 a.m., wintry children’s classics come to life with “Merry, Merry Mischief,” at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Kirby Theatre, on the campus of Drew University in Madison. The seasonal “Classics for Kids” offering features actors from the company’s family of artists with scripts in hand, presenting selections from L. Frank Baum, Louisa May Alcott, Clement C. Moore, and others. Visit shakespearenj.org for tickets.
Capital Harmony Works
Names Executive Director
Capital Harmony Works (CHW) has named Niki Spruill as its new executive director. Spruill has served for the past two years as CHW’s director of development, advancing corporate and community partnerships while also stewarding individual support for programs.
Spruill played a key role in planning and executing last spring’s successful “One Voice” gala, which raised significant funds for the organization.
“We are thrilled to have Niki step into the role of executive director,” said Genevieve Thayer, chair of the board of trustees. “Her deep understanding of the organization, her ability to foster community relationships, and her dedication to creative youth development make her the ideal leader to guide us into the future.”
In this role, Spruill will oversee CHW’s operations including fundraising, program development, and community outreach, while continuing the mission of fostering a supportive environment for youth through music and the arts.
“I am honored to take on this new role and continue to support the incredible
work Capital Harmony Works does to unite and inspire our community through music,” said Spruill. “I look forward to working with our talented team, board, and partners to expand our reach and impact even further.”
Born and raised in Trenton, Spruill discovered a passion for performance early on through programs like All Stars at the YMCA and Mill Hill Playhouse. She is on the board of Every Child Valued, and is a liaison for the Souls to the Polls voter registration movement. She is also an active member of the Community Foundation of New Jersey.
After earning a master’s degree in stage and production management from the California Institute of the Arts, Spruill became involved in Atlanta’s Jomandi Productions, followed by stage management roles at Alliance Theatre of Atlanta, the Evidence Room on Los Angeles, and the Classical Theatre of Harlem. Achievements include stage managing Beckett Shorts starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and the west coast premiere of SuzanLori Parks’ In the Blood
Capital Harmony Works Plans Winter Performances
Capital Harmony Works has announced holiday concerts taking place in Princeton and Trenton.
On Saturday, December 14 at 4 p.m., the nonprofit’s Trenton Children’s Chorus joins Voices Chorale NJ in “Sing Out, My Soul,” at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street. The program features Vivaldi’s Gloria, performed with chamber orchestra, plus contemporary compositions and arrangements. Tickets can be obtained at VoicesChoraleNJ.org.
Holiday Pops!
Saturday, December 14 3pm and 6pm
Next on Sunday, December 15 at 3 p.m., the Trenton Children’s Chorus joins Passage Theatre Company at Mill Hill Playhouse, 205 East Front Street, Trenton, for “Passage-Harmony Holiday,” including sing-alongs led by Music for the Very Young. Admission is free but donations are accepted.
Capital Harmony Works’ Trenton Music Makers present their winter concert on Thursday, December 19 at 6 p.m., at Trinity Church. The musicians of the organization’s string ensembles will perform. Admission is free; donations are accepted.
For more information, visit capitalharmony.works.
Holiday Events Planned
By High School Musicians
Princeton High School’s music department is holding two special events during the holiday season. “Jammin’ With Santa” is Saturday, December 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the school’s cafeteria. The 79th Annual Winter Concert is Thursday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Princeton University Chapel. Both are free.
“Jammin With Santa” features the PHS Studio Band and PHS Jazz Ensemble, and is designed for all ages. In addition to music, there will be crafts, games, face painting, and food. Admission is free but contributions for the PHS Band Students’ Travel Fund will be accepted to benefit band students in financial need. Visit princetonjazz.org for more information.
The Winter Concert includes all orchestras and choirs from the school. Choir alumni will be invited to join the current choirs at the end of the concert, singing the traditional Bach and Handel selections.
Kingston Presbyterian Church Celebrates Advent to Epiphany
Dec. 11th 7pm Advent Bible Study on Zoom. Please call the church for the Zoom link.
Dec. 15th 11am Worship Advent 3
Children & Youth Christmas Pageant
Everyone is invited to the presentation by the children of KPC of the musical The Christmas Present by Pam Andrews, which will be the sermon during worship (in person & online).
Dec.22nd 11am Worship Words for the Beginning Advent 4 ~ Do the Good That is Yours to Do ~ Luke 3:7-16
KPC’s Traditional Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Tuesday, December 24th at 7PM
Pastor Sharyl Dixon leads Lessons & Carols with the KPC HandBell Choir
KPC Praise Band, “Calling on Him” KPC Choir
Dec. 29th 11am Worship (in-person & online)
~ Words for the Beginning ~ God with Us ~ Luke 2:10 and Isaiah 9:2-3
Jan. 5th 11am Worship (in-person & online)
Epiphany with Star Words and Communion ~ Words for the Beginning ~ The Road Isn’t Straight ~ Matthew 2:1-12
Trenton organization with a 45-year history of organizing exhibits in such venues as the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton City Museum, Artworks Trenton, Trenton Free Public Library, Prince Street Gallery in New York City, and more.
The exhibitions are on view through January 19.
The Trenton City Museum is housed in Ellarslie Mansion, an 1848 Italianate Villa in the heart of Trenton’s historic Cadwalader Park, which was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The building is owned by the City of Trenton and operated by the nonprofit Trenton Museum Society, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Museum and museum store hours are Thursday through Saturday from 12 to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. There is no admission fee, but donations in support of the museum’s mission and programs are welcomed. Learn more at ellarslie.org or call (609) 989-1191.
Pop-Up Gallery Exhibit at MCCC
Ellarslie Celebrates Final New Exhibitions of 2024
The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie will host a reception to celebrate the art and artists of the museum’s final new exhibitions of 2024 on Friday, December 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. The two shows in separate galleries throughout the museum’s first floor are “Voices in Color” and “Mother + Son Continued.”
“Voices in Color” features
underrepresented creators in the community.
“Mother + Son Continued: Two Generations of Trenton Artists” features works by Peggy Peplow Gummere and John Gummere and is curated by John Gummere. It is presented by Trenton City Museum in conjunction with Trenton Artists Workshop Association (TAWA) and the Trenton Free Public Library. TAWA is a greater
ART AT ELLARSLIE: This oil painting by John Gummere is featured in “Mother + Son Continued: Two Generations of Trenton Artists,” on view at the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie in Cadwalader Park through January 19. A reception is on Friday, December 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. works by artists of the Trenton Community A*Team (TCAT) and curated by Anthony Catanese. The exhibit celebrates the unique voices and styles of TCAT artists in a colorful display of artistry that showcases their talent and creativity. This special event is an opportunity to meet the artists, hear their stories, and honor 25 years of TCAT’s mission to amplify the voices of
Trenton Music Experience (TME), a recently formed nonprofit whose goal is to celebrate the many significant music innovators and influencers who have graced New Jersey’s capital city over the decades, will host its first ever event in January featuring Sarah Dash, one of the city’s best known music influencers.
Dash, a singer with Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles, who also performed with the Rolling Stones and many other music greats, will be the focus of a three-day popup gallery exhibit at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) James Kerney Campus, 102 North Broad Street in downtown Trenton from Thursday January 9 to Saturday, January 11.
An opening reception will be held on Friday, January 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. Exhibit hours will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 12 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
“Sarah Dash served as the city’s music ambassador until her death in 2021, and we believe her renown and popularity will generate interest in Trenton’s musical heritage,” said Paul Zych, founder and president of TME. He noted that the goal of the nonprofit is to manifest pride in Trenton’s musical heritage.
“Through words, music, memorabilia, photos, and video, our event will underscore that while Dash is unique, her story is not. By celebrating Sarah Dash, TME will demonstrate that Trenton is home to many music influencers whose stories deserve to be told,” said Zych.
Dash, who died three years ago, will be remembered by her niece, Danielle Miller-Winrow, headmaster of Sprout U School of the Arts in Trenton, who will share how Sarah’s upbringing in Trenton influenced her career. As a youngster, Dash sang in the Trenton Church of Christ choir, and later launched a girls’ singing group as a young teen with fellow Trentonian Nona Hendryx , and the Bluebelles with Patti Labelle. Her biggest smash single was “Lady Marmalade.”
“My Aunt Sarah Dash was a visionary who believed in
the transformative power of the arts and that everyone deserved the opportunity to experience their magic,” said Miller-Winrow.
“This event is a tribute to her legacy and a reflection of her unwavering passion, which inspired me to integrate academia and the arts at Sprout U — creating a space where creativity and education come together to empower lives, just as she empowered mine.”
Miller-Winrow and her husband, the late Joseph Winrow, founded Sprout U School of the Arts at 27 East Paul Street, Trenton, and she remains the school’s headmaster.
“Aunt Sarah was a profound inspiration and an enthusiastic supporter of our vision. She contributed significantly by serving as a private voice instructor, spearheading fundraising efforts, and passionately advocating for the arts within our community,” said MillerWinrow.
More than a museum or a concert hall, TME hosts events featuring interactive displays that tell the stories of Trenton music influencers through personal memorabilia, career keepsakes, and photographs. For questions, email becky@btaylorpa.com.
Princeton Makes to Present “Roots and Radiance” Exhibit
Princeton Makes, the artist cooperative located in the Princeton Shopping Center, has announced the opening of its upcoming basement exhibition, “Roots and Radiance.” This exhibit will run December 16 through January 26, celebrating themes of growth, grounding, and the energy of new beginnings.
An opening reception will be held on Monday, December 16 from 5 to 7 p.m., offering an opportunity for art enthusiasts and community members to meet the artists, explore their work, and engage in conversations about the inspirations behind the exhibit. Light refreshments will be provided.
“Roots and Radiance” delves into the essence of connection, stability, and the dynamic energy that arises from our founda -
tions. Participating artists, all members of Princeton Makes, have been invited to interpret the theme through their unique creative lenses. The exhibit explores how roots — whether literal, cultural, or personal — serve as a foundation for growth, while radiance symbolizes the brilliance of potential, light, and forward momentum.
This exhibit will feature an eclectic mix of artwork that embodies this duality, from grounded, introspective pieces to works bursting with energy and color. Visitors can expect to be inspired by the diverse perspectives that illuminate the powerful relationship between stability and aspiration. All art will be available for purchase.
Princeton Makes is an artist cooperative dedicated to fostering creativity and community engagement. The addition of Art in the Basement, a curated exhibition space within its studio collective, marks a new chapter for Princeton Makes, offering member artists a dedicated platform to share their vision with the public.
The “Roots and Radiance” exhibit is free and open to the public during Princeton Makes› regular hours: Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Special holiday schedule: Princeton Makes will be open every day 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through December 31.
The Princeton Shopping Center is at 301 North Harrison Street. For more information about Princeton Makes, visit princetonmakes.com.
“SUNSET BIRD”: This work by Cathy Dailey is featured in “Roots and Radiance,” on view at Princeton Makes in the Princeton Shopping Center December 16 through January 26. An opening reception is on December 16 from 5 to 7 p.m.
“When the Land Calls” Opening at D&R Greenway D&R Greenway Land Trust’s new art exhibit, “When the Land Calls,” opens with a reception on December 15 from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Marie L. Matthews Gallery at the Johnson Education Center, 1 Preservation Place. Featured artists Ellen Rebarber and Mike Benevenia will speak at 2 p.m. about their unique sculptural works, fine art paper bowls, handcrafted jewelry, and bold paintings.
The festive holiday opening offers music and refreshments and includes a Legacy Estate Sale of colored glass, crystal, pottery, and landscape art of Lambertville artist Joseph Shannon. All art is for sale and comes with a gift tag to show that purchases support D&R Greenway’s mission to preserve and care for land and inspire a conservation ethic.
“When the Land Calls” was inspired by one person’s will, determination, and passion for uniting the beauty of the natural world with art. Plainsboro resident Yvonne Amalina De Carolis was recovering from a lengthy illness when she received a clear vision from her land calling for music and sculpture, and thus began a personal journey that would lead her to sculptors Rebarber and Benevenia.
“From early in life, the core of my being has watched and listened to nature, life, and humanity with an open and creative eye and ear. Listening for the magic, the picture, the story to all that surrounds me,” said De Carolis, who is co-curating the exhibit. “When my land called out, I knew I had to listen and act. This sculpture exhibit was birthed from listening to my inner spirit and my desire to connect these artists’ superior talents and visions of the natural world with others. I thought what
better place to share this vision than at D&R Greenway’s gallery. It is an honor and privilege to collaborate with such stellar leaders in land preservation and conservation to inspire and support their work.”
Rebarber has worked with wood, metal, stone, ceramics, fused glass, and handmade paper. After 33 years as a teacher in Highland Park, she began working with sculpture and ceramics at the Mason Gross School of Visual Arts at Rutgers University. She studied painting with sculptor George Segal, whose influence forged a pathway to pursuit of her love of art. Her work blends organic forms and radiant colors, taken from the natural world. Rebarber’s work has been acquired and commissioned by private collectors in the U.S. While at Rutgers, she created large metal sculptures that can now be seen on De Carolis’ land.
Benevenia was a recipient of a Fulbright-Nehru research fellowship in 2019. His work uses a wide range of materials including steel, fiberglass, wood, and found objects. His art pushes physical limits, addressing the duality of fragility and resilience. The exhibition includes articulated steel sculptures with painted panels that Benevenia refers to as “alter pieces,” as well as a group of boldly colored abstract paintings with raised textured gesso surfaces that were inspired by British painter Howard Hodgkin. A friend of Rebarber’s, Benevenia helped De Carolis’ vision come to life on her land. De Carolis said, “Unbeknown at the time, I discovered that Mike and Ellen’s art studies at Mason Gross-Rutgers University overlapped. This show is a coming together of their talents and connection and my vision for my land.”
Complementary to the art of Rebarber and Benevenia,
Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, has “Annual Member Show 2024” December 19 through January 18. Artscouncilofprinceton.org.
David Scott Gallery, 253 Nassau Street, has “Available Light,” a collection of paintings by New York architect and artist Mark Oliver, through December 31. Davidscottfineart@gmail.com.
D&R Greenway Johnson Education Center, 1 Preservation Place, has “When the Land Calls” December 15 through February 28 in the Marie L. Matthews Gallery. An opening reception is on December 15 from 1 to 5 p.m. drgreenway.org.
Ficus Bon Vivant, 235 Nassau Street, has “Capture the Rhythm” through January 12. Ficusbv.com.
Gourgaud Gallery, 23-A North Main Street, Cranbury, has “Flora, Fauna, and Water” through December 27. Cranburyartscouncil.org.
Green Building Center, 67 Bridge Street, Lambertville, has an art show by the MUGA Group through December 31. Greenbuildingcenter.com.
Grounds For Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton, has “That’s Worth Celebrating: The Life and Work of the Johnson Family” through the end of 2024, among other exhibits. Groundsforsculpture.org.
through Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m. Princetonhistory.org
Mercer Museum, 84 South Pine Street, Doylestown, Pa., has “The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution” through December 31, 2026. Mercermuseum.org.
Michener Art Museum, 138 South Pine Street, Doylestown, Pa., has “Monuments and Myths: The American Sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French” through January 5 and “Charlotte Schatz: Industrial Strength” through March 9. Michenerartmuseum.org
Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, has “Morven Revealed: Untold Stories from New Jersey’s Most Historic Home,” through March 2. Morven.org.
Russell Marks Gallery at Princeton Windrows, 2000 Windrow Drive, has “Learning Curves: Works from the Beginning Drawing Classes” through December 31.
Silva Gallery of Art at the Pennington School, 112 West Delaware Avenue, Pennington, has “Alia Bensliman: From North Africa to North America” through December 13. Silvagallery@ penningtonschool.org.
Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, has “Worldling Art Show,” featuring art from past and present employees, through January 7. The exhibition is also at the 254 Nassau Street location through January 7. Smallworldcoffee.com. West Windsor Arts, 952 Alexander Road, West Windsor, has “Off the Wall Affordable Art Show ” through December 21. Westwindsorarts.org.
Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, 71 George Street, New Brunswick, has “Smoke & Mirrors” through December 22. Zimmerli. rutgers.edu.
“Where quality still matters.” 4621 Route 27 Kingston, NJ 609-924-0147
a Legacy Estate Sale of works by Shannon will be offered in the downstairs gallery. An art teacher for decades at Columbia University, Shannon amassed large art collections of beautiful objects along with his lifetime collection of paintings. He left a legacy bequest to D&R Greenway Land Trust to support the organization’s work “…in recognition of the outstanding accomplishments of the D&R Greenway in preserving the health and beauty of the landscape of New Jersey.”
“Our lively holiday reception and continuing sale of this art and legacy collection into the new year is truly a gift to all of us who benefit from preserved land,” said D&R Greenway President and CEO Linda Mead. “The sharing of this art provides a place where we can all join together in celebration of land, while asking ourselves how the land calls to us personally and what actions we will take to care for it.”
The gallery is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. RSVP for the December 15 reception at drgreenway.org or call (609) 924-4646.
Area Exhibits
Art@Bainbridge, 158 Nassau Street, has “Heléne Aylon: Undercurrent” through February 2. Artmuseum.princeton.edu.
Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville, has “Mostly Small Works” through January 5. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lambertvillearts.com.
Art on Hulfish, 11 Hulfish Street, has “Under a Southern Star: Identity and Environment in Australian Photography” through January 5. Artmuseum. princeton.edu.
Historical Society of Princeton, Updike Farmstead, 354 Quaker Road, has “Princeton Reflected: Stories from HSP’s Collection” and “Einstein Salon and Innovator’s Gallery.” Museum hours are Thursday
Christmas Day Worship Service
11am Princeton University Chapel Open to all.
Join us in the magnificent Princeton University Chapel for a Christmas Day Worship Service, preached by Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames, Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel.
Music performed by Jennifer Borghi ‘02, soprano, and Eric Plutz, University Organist.
“CIRCLE OF LIFE”: This work by Ellen Rebarber is part of “When the Land Calls,” on view at D&R Greenway Land Trust’s Marie L. Matthews Gallery December 15 through February 28. An opening reception is on December 15 from 1 to 5 p.m.
Town Topics | Mark Your Calendar
Wednesday, December 11
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Leighton Listens. Councilman Leighton Newlin is available to discuss current events with members of the public at Blue Bears, Princeton Shopping Center.
7 p.m.: Author Michael Gabriele explores the rich history of taverns in Colonial New Jersey at Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street. Princetonlibrary.org
7:30 p.m .: Canadian
violinist James Ehnes will make his Princeton University Concerts debut with Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning pianist Orion Weiss at Richardson Auditorium with works by Beethoven. Puc.princeton. edu or (609) 258-2800.
Thursday, December 12
7 p.m.: The Lawrence Community Concert Band performs “Sounds of the Season” at Lawrence Senior Center, 30 Darrah Lane East. With oldfashioned singalong. Free.
7-10 p.m .: Bingo at Congregation Beth Chaim, 329 Village Road East, West Windsor. Open to those 18 and over. Bethchaim.org.
7:15 p.m.: Black Voices Book Group discusses South to America: A Journey Below the MasonDixon to Understand the Soul of America by Imani Perry, on Google Meet. Princetonlibrary.org.
7:30 p.m.: The Temptations and The Four Tops perform at State Theatre New Jersey, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. $59-$159. Stnj.org.
Friday, December 13
9 a.m.-6 p.m.: Book Fair at ESG Bookstore, 195 Nassau Street. Specializing in books on environmental science, social, and governance books. Free. Esgbestreads.com.
10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Hunterdon County Rug Artisans Guild monthly meeting at the Administration Building of Hunterdon County Complex, Route 12 outside Flemington. Hcrag.org.
5-10 p.m.: Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market “Wreck the Halls” at Cure Insurance Arena, 81 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton. Vendors, food trucks, celebrity guests, sideshow performances, onsite tattooing, live DJs, and more. Tprfm.com.
7-10 p.m.: PHS Big Band Dance featuring all of Princeton High School’s jazz bands including the PHS Studio Band. In the school cafeteria, Walnut Lane. $5 students, $10 adults. Proceeds benefit the band program. Princetonjazz.org.
8 p.m .: “An Evening of Readings and Carols” at Princeton University Chapel. Performed by the choirs of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, organists, and others. Rider.edu/arts.
8 p.m .: Princeton Folk Music Society presents singer/songwriter David Roth at Christ Congregation Church, 50 Walnut Lane. Princetonfolk.org.
Saturday, December 14
9 a.m.-6 p.m.: Book Fair at ESG Bookstore, 195 Nassau Street. Specializing in books on environmental science, social, and governance books. Free.
10-11:30 a.m .: Tai Chi lessons by Todd’s Tai Chi Group at Plainsboro Public Library, 9 Van Doren Street, Plainsboro. Beginners through intermediate. For more information contact gedenfield@aol.com
10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market “Wreck the Halls” at Cure Insurance Arena, 81 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton. Vendors, food trucks, celebrity guests, sideshow performances, on-site tattooing, live DJs and more. Tprfm.com.
10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: PHS Jammin’ with Santa , featuring the Princeton High School Jazz Ensemble and the PHS Studio Band as well as games, food, and a visit with Santa. Free. In the high school cafeteria, Walnut Lane. Princetonjazz.org.
11 a.m.-5 p.m. : Christmas tree and wreath sale : Boy Scout Troop 43 is selling them at the YMCA lot, Paul Robeson Place, through December 24. They can also deliver. Visit princetontroop43.org for link.
12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music Series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Wine, light bites, hot cocoa kits, and music from 1-4 p.m. by Brian Bortnick. Terhuneorchards.com.
12-2 p.m.: Strolling Santa at Palmer Square. With entertainment. Palmersquare.com.
12:30-5:30 p.m .: Off the Wall Holiday Market , at West Windsor Arts, 952 Alexander Road. Oneof-a-kind artisan products and original artwork on view and for sale. Free. Westwindsorarts.org.
1 p.m.: “Hand -
Crafternoon ” with Kyle the Craftivist at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, 12 Stockton Street. Rustincenter.org.
1 and 5 p.m .: American Repertory Ballet presents The Nutcracker at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, Trenton. Arballet.org.
3 and 6 p.m .: Princeton Symphony Orchestra presents the Holiday POPS! concert with Broadway vocalist Andrea Ross and the Princeton High School Choir. John Devlin conducts. At Richardson Auditorium. Princetonsymphony.org.
4 p.m .: Voices Chorale NJ and the Trenton Children’s Chorus present “Sing Out, My Soul!” at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street. Voiceschoralenj.org.
4-6 p.m.: Opening reception for Heritage Trees at the Trent House , 15 Market Street, Trenton. Free and open to all. Lighted trees decorated by local Trenton organizations with a theme of their heritage and contributions. Williamtrenthouse.org.
7 p.m .: “ An Evening with Professor Mikhail Voskresensky, Pianist,” at Bristol Chapel, Westminster Choir College, 101 Walnut Lane. $45 ($20 students). Works by Beethoven, Mozart, Grieg, Scriabin, and Chopin. Tinyurl.com/ VoskresenskyTickets.
Sunday, December 15 7:30 a.m. to dusk: Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Meet at the Lock Tender’s House near Route 27 and the D&R Canal in Kingston. Lunch break at Urban Spice. Take part in some or all of the event. Visit kingstongreenways.org
DECEMBER
or call Karen Linder at (609) 683-0483 for information.
9 a.m.-6 p.m.: Book Fair at ESG Bookstore, 195 Nassau Street. Specializing in books on environmental science, social, and governance books. Free. Esgbestreads.com.
10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market “Wreck the Halls” at Cure Insurance Arena, 81 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton. Vendors, food trucks, celebrity guests, sideshow performances, on-site tattooing, live DJs and more. Tprfm.com.
12-3 p.m. : Christmas tree and wreath sale : Boy Scout Troop 43 is selling them at the YMCA lot, Paul Robeson Place, through December 24. They can also deliver. Visit princetontroop43.org for link.
12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music Series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Wine, light bites, hot cocoa kits, and music from 1-4 p.m. by Jeff Peque. Terhuneorchards.com.
12-2 p.m.: Strolling Santa at Palmer Square. With entertainment. Palmersquare.com.
12:30-5:30 p.m .: Off the Wall Holiday Market , at West Windsor Arts, 952 Alexander Road. Oneof-a-kind artisan products and original artwork on view and for sale. Free. Westwindsorarts.org.
4 p.m.: Princeton Pro Musica presents “A Feast of Carols” at Richardson Auditorium. Favorites from Handel’s Messiah , the Christmas music of Bach, and more. Princetonpromusica.org.
Monday, December 16
Recycling
3 p.m.: The movie Love, Actually is screened at Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street. Princetonlibrary.org.
Tuesday, December 17 7 p.m.: Songwriters Circle and Open Mic at Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street. The Princeton Chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association provides feedback and tips to help songwriters improve. Princetonlibrary.org.
Wednesday, December 18
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Leighton Listens. Councilman Leighton Newlin is available to discuss current events with members of the public at Jammin’ Crepes, 20 Nassau Street.
4:30 p.m .: Annual Menorah Lighting on Palmer Square, on the patio of the Nassau Inn. With musical entertainment. Sponsored by The Jewish Center of Princeton. Palmersquare.com.
5-7:30 p.m.: Mercer County Black Business Alliance for Opportunity and Equity presents “The New Jersey Disparity Studies Impact on Black Business and the Black Community” at Mill One, 1 North Johnston Avenue, Hamilton. Participants include Douglas H. Palmer, John Harmon, Robert Johnson, and several others. RSVP to John Bailey at johnbailey062@ gmail.com.
5:30 p.m.: Princeton Public Library’s Board of Trustees meets at the library, 65 Witherspoon Street. Princetonlibrary.org.
Thursday, December 19
6 p.m.: Panel discussion, “State of Protection: Strengthening New Jersey’s Rights in Immigration, Healthcare, Environment, and Law,” moderated by State Sen. Andrew Zwicker. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, Princeton University Professor Heather Howard, and ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha are the panelists. At Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street. Free and livestreamed. Registration required at andrewzwicker.com.
6:30 p.m.: The Southside Wanderers rock ‘n roll band appears at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of Mercer County Library System, 2751 Brunswick Avenue. Mcl.org.
Friday, December 20
7:30 p.m.: The Princeton Symphonic Brass , led by Lawrence Kursar, holds its annual Classics and Carols Holiday Concert at Community Middle School Auditorium, 95 Grovers Mill Road, Plainsboro. Carols, Christmas classics, Hanukkah music, and more. $5-$20. Psbrass.com.
Saturday, December 21 10-11:30 a.m .: Tai Chi lessons by Todd’s Tai Chi Group at Plainsboro Public Library, 9 Van Doren Street, Plainsboro. Beginners through intermediate. For more information contact gedenfield@aol.com.
Long History of Musical Excellence Is Hallmark of Princeton Pro Musica
What is wonderful about music is that it is a gift for all of us. We are fortunate in Princeton to have many opportunities to enjoy a wide selection of music in many styles and formats.
IT’S NEW To Us
“I think at a very fundamental level, people are drawn to the way music breathes life into our experience as human beings,” says Kenny Litvack, marketing manager of Princeton Pro Musica (PPM).
As part of this remarkable and highly respected organization, he has been in a unique position to see the truth of these words. Since he joined Princeton Pro Musica in 2005, he has performed as a chorister, and also served as president of the board of trustees, in addition to his current role.
Choral Masterworks
Founded in 1979 by Frances Fowler Slade, Princeton Pro Musica was established as a symphonic chorus to perform major works with orchestra.
As its mission statement reports, “Princeton Pro Musica exists to perform choral masterworks and other works of the choral literature with energy, passion, and uncompromising artistic excellence. We believe in the power of choral music to uplift and transform our present and future audiences, performers, and communities.
“Frances Fowler Slade’s focused vision and firm commitment to the pursuit of the highest levels of excellence guided the ensemble for three and a half decades.
“Princeton Pro Musica welcomed its second artistic director, Ryan James Brandau, in 2012. Under his artistic leadership, PPM continues to establish itself as one of central New Jersey’s premier symphonic choral ensembles.”
With a chorus of 100-plus voices, including primarily highly skilled non-professionals and also selected
professional singers, PPM gives four performances a year. It also features orchestras with experienced professional musicians, drawn from New York City, Philadelphia, and New Jersey.
The Met Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and New Jersey Symphony are among those that have participated.
Performances often take place at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium (PPM’s unofficial home), as well as at the Princeton University Chapel, The College of New Jersey’s Kendall Main Stage Theater, and also at the Patriots Theater at the Trenton War Memorial.
Lifelong Activity
Singers audition twice a year, reports Litvack, and they are all ages, from 18 to those in their 80s.
“The beauty of singing,” he adds, “is that if you take care to keep your voice in good working order, just as you would for any physical activity, it can be a lifelong activity.”
Chorus members come from Princeton and beyond. As he reports, “A significant portion of the chorus lives in Princeton and its immediate environs, but the more time passes, the wider our radius seems to grow. I have been commuting to rehearsals from Burlington County for 20 years. We have folks coming from even farther — from the shore in Monmouth and Ocean counties, into Bucks County, and up to Hunterdon County. I think our artistic director Ryan James Brandau travels the farthest, though, from Manhattan’s West Village.”
An important feature of PPM is its performances with symphony orchestras. As Litvack explains, “For a least three out of four concerts per year, we hire players to become the Princeton Pro Musica Orchestra, and although many of the same players return from concert to concert, it is essentially an ad hoc group of professional musicians. It’s a model not often seen in the region, and we are proud to have been making it work all these years.
“Typically you might have to travel an hour or more to New York or Philadelphia to hear much of the repertoire we perform. Princeton Pro
Musica makes it possible to hear a large chorus singing the best the repertoire has to offer with fully professional orchestras comprising players from New York, Philadelphia, and of course, New Jersey.”
Regarding the repertoire, he goes on to explain that PPM’s performances encompass a wide array of music.
“In the 20 years I have sung with the group, we have performed music that has its origins in the very earliest Gregorian chant, all the way through music composed the very year we performed it. Choral music is an art that is very much alive and growing, with new works being written and premiered all the time.”
Performance History
Of course, he continues, “the likes of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Brahms are all well-represented in our performance history, and we continue to program these giants on a regular basis. In recent years, we have also made an intentional effort to program at least one work per season that is both recently-composed, and carries an especially relevant message.
“Last season, we performed ‘Sanctuary Road’ by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell, which focused on the life and work of William Still, a conductor for the Underground Railroad (a New Jersey resident whose descendants still live here), who helped lead more than 800 enslaved Americans northward to freedom in Canada.
“This May, we will perform “Codebreaker” by James McCarthy. This work focuses on three episodes in the life of Alan Turing whose work in cracking German ciphers helped turn the tide of World War II to the Allies’ advantage. Ultimately, Turing meets a heartbreaking end, but the musical setting of his story is stirring, and we are very excited to share it in Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University — the very institution where Tuning earned his Ph.D. in mathematics.”
Litvack notes that this year’s “A Feast of Carols” has been sold out since Thanksgiving, a tribute to its continuing popularity. “It is a thrilling afternoon of music. We have been really
touched by how many people in the community have made ‘A Feast of Carols’ part of their annual holiday tradition.”
He is also looking forward to next March, when PPM will perform Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” with the Roxey Ballet company.
“This will be the third time we have collaborated with them on this work, and each time it gets better and more exciting — a spectacular in the truest sense of the word. I would also note that our previous performances in 2017 and 2019 sold out quickly, so if drama, passion, and storytelling through song and dance are your thing, get your tickets soon.”
Vision and Insight
Litvack also points out the contribution and artistic expertise of Brandau, who has been artistic director since the 2012/2013 season.
“We have been so pleased to work with Ryan, who is not only an extraordinary musician of the highest caliber, but who also happens to be an exceptionally kind human being who brings a sense of vision and insight to music-making that isn’t found in your average volunteer chorus,” he says. “We consider ourselves especially fortunate to sing under his leadership.”
Litvack himself wears many hats in addition to his role as marketing manager. He also interacts with the development committee, which is responsible for the fundraising goals.
As he says, ”The fundraising goals cut across a wide swath of the community, including foundations, state and local funding entities, corporate sponsors, and — most importantly — individual donors.”
Certainly, as a small arts nonprofit organization, PPM’s continuing operation depends on donations. They are essential, and always welcome.
In addition, Litvack points out, “Patrons may become a subscriber, which earns them a discount, and ensures that they get to sit in precisely the spot they like for each performance.”
Positive Reviews
“As a staff, we take very seriously the work of managing this nonprofit. Our executive director, Mary Trigg, has done just outstanding work over the past 13 years
in expanding PPM’s operational capacity. She secures performance venues, and handles contracts for our orchestral players, vocal soloists, and pro-choristers.
She is an unwavering steward of the organization’s finances, and she oversees myriad volunteers and our volunteer coordinator. This sense of professionalism has enabled our growth and visibility in the community over the years.”
Indeed, PPM continues to receive consistently positive reviews from music critics and audiences alike.
In 2021, it won first place in the community division of the American Prize for Choral Performance.
It is also important that PPM is an inclusive organization, emphasizes Litvack.
“We welcome singers regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, etc. We celebrate diversity within our chorus, among our collaborators, and in the music we program.
“We strive to create safe and inclusive spaces for our singers, players, and audiences, and continue to learn about best practices to help us elevate the ideals of access, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.”
Litvack is very proud of PPM, and pleased to be part of this special musical adventure. As he observes, “Choral singing is among the most cooperative endeavors one can undertake. Studies have shown that when groups of people sing together, their heartbeats begin to synchronize.
“It is noteworthy that we count among our current roster of singers a handful of folks who have been with PPM almost since day 1. Last spring, we bid farewell to the last singer who sang on PPM’s very first concert 46 years ago. He is still around and now supports us in other ways. Our singers take great pride in being members of this chorus.”
Primary Mission
And what means the most to Kenny Litvack about his own connection with PPM?
“I think if I consider all the things I love about it, they all have one thing in common: the impact we have on people. For me, this has two-fold implications — first, we affect people through music, which is our primary mission, of course. Singers and audiences alike are changed by participating in our concerts.
“The other way we affect people is interpersonally. I have met some of my very best friends through my involvement in music in general, but Princeton Pro Musica especially. I suppose it’s true that you can’t tackle giants like Bach’s ‘Mass in B Minor’ or Britten’s ‘War Requiem’ without growing closer to your choral compatriots, but I think I speak for a great many of us when I say that the opportunity PPM affords its singers to become part of a big musical family is one for which we are extremely grateful.”
As he looks ahead to PPM’s future, he is optimistic.
“What excites me is that the sky is the limit! As we grow, as both an artistic ensemble and a nonprofit business, I look forward to expanding our reach within our community, attracting an evergrowing and ever-diversifying audience of music lovers, and exploring music from across the centuries and around the world. Between the artistic leadership of Ryan Brandau and the administrative leadership of Mary Trigg, there has been very little we haven’t been able to achieve, and I think we will continue this tradition of excellence long into the future.
“What choral music provides is important. It’s good for the heart, mind, and soul in myriad ways.”
For further information and ticket availability, call (609) 6835122. Visit the website at princetonpromusica.org.
—Jean Stratton
MUSIC MAESTRO PLEASE! Princeton Pro Musica Symphonic Chorus and Orchestra presented “Reflections on a Requiem” in March 2024 at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium. Featured were Mozart’s “Requiem,” Jasmine Barnes’ “Portraits: Douglass & Tiubman,” and selections by guest artists from the Glassbrook Vocal Ensemble. (Photo by Ron Wyatt)
TAKING A BOW: Princeton Pro Musica Artistic Director Ryan James Brandau acknowledges applause from the audience at last year’s December holiday concert, “A Feast of Carols,” at the Princeton University Chapel. “Our annual December ‘A Feast of Carols’ includes the Christmas music of Bach and Handel and a wide variety of carols from across the ages,” says Kenny Litvack, Princeton Pro Musica’s marketing manager. (Photo by Ron Wyatt).
S ports
With Freshman Gunty Providing a Spark, Tiger Men’s Hockey Defeats Union, RPI
Miles Gunty sensed a different vibe around the Princeton University men’s hockey team last week in the wake of its two-game sweep of No. 12 Ohio State.
“It was huge, this week at practice you could feel the energy every day,” said Gunty. “We are starting to believe a little bit more and last weekend was huge for that. Hopefully we are going to keep it rolling through the rest of the season.”
On Friday, Princeton kept rolling as it edged Union 2-1. Gunty played a key role in the win, assisting on a pair of Tigers goals in the second period. On his first assist, he set up classmate Luc Pelletier as he scored his first career goal.
“I think our line, Pells, Kevin [Anderson] and who are playing really well, the past couple of weeks especially, mainly in the forecheck,” said Gunty. “It has been a long time coming, that goal, for the whole line. I am excited to see if we can keep building on that.”
Gunty’s second helper came on a power play goal by senior star defenseman Noah de la Durantaye.
“I think our power play was great last weekend, we are continuing to get a lot of chances every time we are out there,” said Gunty. “Hopefully we can keep building. It was an unbelievable
shot from de la Durantaye, hopefully he can keep shooting it like that.”
A night later, Gunty picked up another assist in a 6-2 win over RPI as the Tigers posted their fourth straight win and improved to 5-4-1 overall and 3-4-1 ECAC Hockey.
“It is just the details, Benny (Princeton head coach Ben Syer) talks about it all of the time. He talks about it with me, d-zone especially,” said the 5’11, 185-pound Gunty, a native of Bethesda, Md., who now has five assists and was later named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week.
“It is just making sure you are always aware of where everybody is and sticks down on the forecheck. It is just little things you have to keep in mind all of the time. Just making sure that your head is dialed in at all times is the biggest thing.”
Gunty saw his performance against Union as a big step forward in his growth.
“It is more just like starting to figure out little spurts in terms of the details,” said Gunty. “I think tonight was my best night with that. I like the direction my line is heading in and the team overall as well.”
Princeton head coach Syer liked the way his squad took care of business as it prepared for last weekend.
“They earned their confidence last week,” said Syer. “They did a really nice job in
practice all week with not being complacent and working on their game.”
Although Princeton skated to a 0-0 stalemate with Union in the first period, Syer was happy with the jump the Tigers displayed.
“I thought our guys did a really nice job of coming out and playing hard in the first period,” said Syer. “Our guys did a nice job of competing and really applying a quality forecheck early in the game.”
Seeing Pelletier break the ice in the second period was a highlight for Syer.
“It was great, he got rewarded for going hard to the net,” said Syer. “Pells hasn’t had a ton of points but he is a great player. He thinks the game. It was nice to see him get rewarded for that here tonight.”
The tally by de la Durantaye was just part of what he brought to the Tigers in the win.
“That was a big goal, it was a timely goal and a momentum builder for sure,” said Syer. “I think there are other things about Noah’s game here tonight. He settled things down for the D-corps tonight. He is really a balanced defenseman and he got rewarded for that simplicity here with the power play. He really has a calming effect for our entire group back there.”
Gunty is starting to have a
major effect on things for the Tigers.
“Miles has got a nice stick, he gets a lot of different opportunities,” said Syer. “He has done a nice job moving in on the power player here as well too. He is a real nice player.”
The Tigers did really well at the defensive end against Union as they held a foe to one goal for the third straight game.
“I thought we did a solid job, there are still some things we can still clean up,” said Syer, noting that the team blocked a number of shots in holding off Union. “I was pleased collectively. I would say there
is not a shift that comes to mind that I didn’t feel like the five guys on the ice weren’t bought in to playing defense in our own zone. The boys like to eat pucks.”
With Princeton on an exam/holiday hiatus until it plays at Army West Point on December 28, Syer is hoping his squad will pick up where it left off when it returns to action. The team’s recent surge is the longest regular season winning streak for the program since the Tigers won five in a row in the 2017-18 campaign.
“It is hard not to be pleased when you give up one goal in three games in a row,”
said Syer. “Now it is time to get excited about that. It is can you make it habitual and really want that, night in, night out and be able to do that consistently shift in, shift out.”
Gunty is excited by how the Tigers are coming together. “This is one of the best team cultures, if not the best, I have ever been on,” said Gunty. “You can see it on the bench when Karny (Joshua Karnish) blocks that shot at the end, guys are going absolutely insane. That is what is it all about.”
—Bill Alden Tell them you saw their ad in
YOUNG GUN: Princeton University men’s hockey player Miles Gunty skates into the crease in recent action. Last Friday, freshman forward Gunty contributed two assists as Princeton defeated Union 2-1. Gunty, who picked up another assist in a 6-2 win over RPI a day later, was later named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week. Princeton, now 5-4-1 overall and 3-4-1 ECACH, is next in action when it plays at Army West Point on December 28. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)
PU Women’s Hockey Edges Quinnipiac in OT
As
Paul’s Finishing Touch Makes the Difference
With the Princeton University women’s hockey team trailing Quinnipiac 1-0 in the third period last Saturday at Hobey Baker Rink, Sarah Paul took matters into her hands.
Junior forward Paul tallied a power play goal with 13:33 left in the third period to knot the game at 1-1 and force overtime. Then at the 2:06 mark of the extra session, Paul slotted a feed from Jane Kuehl into the back of the net to give the Tigers a 2-1 win as they posted their fourth straight win and improved to 9-5 overall and 4-5 ECAC Hockey.
After a strong first period which saw Princeton outshoot the Bobcats 11-6, the Tigers sputtered in the second period as they fell behind 1-0. Heading into the third period, Princeton was looking to recapture the jump they displayed in the early stages of the contest.
“It was just go back to our game and how we played in the first and bring that back,” said Paul. “It was re-focus, re-set and keep playing our game.”
Sharp-shooting Paul showed her game with her power play blast. “It was an empty slot, I had half the net to shoot at,” said Paul.
In the pivotal sequence of overtime, Paul helped the Tigers gain possession of the puck and as Jane Kuehl got loose on a breakaway, it looked like she was going to get the game winner. Instead, Kuehl slid the puck over to Paul who closed the deal.
“I thought she was absolutely going to shoot it, her patience freaked out that goalie,” said Paul of Kuehl’s rush to the net. “That play was amazing, it was all Jane. The patience was fantastic too. I would not have been upset if she just wanted to float it into the net. It was kind of a freebie, she had an empty net and didn’t want it and gave me an empty net. I will take it.”
With Princeton going 7-1 after a 2-4 start, Paul points to taking better advantage of scoring opportunities as leading to that surge.
“We just started coming together a little bit more, clicking and jelling offensively,” said Paul. “Our first years are getting a lot of ice time. Getting young players just a little bit more experience through a couple of more games is huge. I think that was a big difference.”
Paul has assumed a mentorship role with the squad’s newcomers.
“I have enjoyed getting to play with some of the younger girls,” said Paul. “I have been in their shoes before and being able to mentor them a little bit has really been fun for me too.”
Competing for the Canada’s National Development Team this summer has helped Paul have more fun with Princeton this winter.
“It was good, it just helped me realize that I can play at that level and bring that here as well,” said Paul, a 5’8 native of West Kelowna, British Columbia, who now has a team-high 16 goals this season. “To continue pushing the pace, keeping it fast, has been amazing.”
For Paul, who missed the 2022-23 season due to injury, being at full speed means a lot to her.
“At the end of the day, I am just grateful for my health and that I get to be here every day,” said Paul.
Princeton head coach Cara Morey is grateful to have Paul on the ice for the Tigers.
“When Paulie gets the puck on her stick and has a lane to the net, I don’t think there is a goalie in our league that can stop her from the tops of the circle in,” said Morey.
As the Tigers headed into OT against Quinnipiac, Morey was confident that her squad would come through.
“We love overtime,” said Morey. “The girls love it, it is one of their favorite things and we are really good at it.”
As the extra session unfolded, Morey thought that Kuehl was going to end things.
“I was surprised to see Sarah score because I thought Jane was going to put it in the empty net,” said Morey.
“Jane had to shoot it right away, I don’t know why she didn’t because the net was wide open but then once she didn’t shoot it, she made the right play. They all stared at the puck and Paulie was standing on the back door. Paulie forced that play to happen so that was good.”
Morey liked the way the Tigers played defensively in stifling the Bobcats.
“I thought our defenders were really good today, Jen [Olnowich] played well in the net,” said Morey. “That was one of our better defensive games from our actual defenders. Our forwards were playing fine but our defenders really played solid. They played within themselves, they kept it simple and they played defense first. I thought they were outstanding today.”
In reflecting on the team’s 7-1 stretch, Morey believes it comes down to her younger players developing a comfort level.
“We just needed time, we are so young and we still need some more time to clean up some of that stuff,” said Morey. “They will probably write upset again after this but they should be giving us a little more credit for what a good team we have.”
With the Tigers slated to host LIU on December 10 before going on an exam/holiday break, Morey is hoping to end the 2024 portion of the schedule on a high note.
“I would love to go out on a five-game winning streak and go into the holidays happy, that is our plan,” said Morey, whose team will return to action when it plays at RPI on January 3. “We have one more game Tuesday. Then it is give them a break, let them celebrate and go have holidays with their families and then we get back to work in January.”
Paul, for her part, believes that Princeton will keep up the good work.
“We definitely want to finish it off strong — it is a quick turnaround,” said Paul. “We will build off of this and learn from what we need to change and then we will be ready to go Tuesday.”
—Bill Alden
WORKING OVERTIME: Princeton University women’s hockey player Sarah Paul controls the puck in a game last winter. On Saturday, junior forward Paul scored both goals for Princeton as it edged Quinnipiac 2-1 in overtime. The Tigers, who improved to 9-5 overall and 4-5 ECAC Hockey with the win, were slated to host LIU on December 10 before going on an exam/holiday break.
(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
Tiger Men’s Water Polo Defeated in NCAA Quarters
Seeing a stellar season come to an end, the Princeton University men’s water polo team fell 15-8 to fourthseeded and host Stanford in the NCAA quarterfi nals last Friday.
Freshman Adam Peocz scored three goals and senior Roko Pozaric added two to lead the way for Princeton as it finished with a 23-9 record.
PU Women’s Hoops Loses at Utah
Skye Belker scored a career-high 24 points but it wasn’t enough as the Princeton University women’s basketball team lost 79-76 to Utah last Sunday in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Tigers trailed 62-44 with 12 minutes left in the game and rallied to draw within 77-76 with 40 seconds left before falling to the Utes.
Princeton, now 5-4, hosts Rhode Island on December 11.
Princeton Wrestling Falls to Rutgers
Mikey Squires and Dan Jones provided highlights as the Princeton University wrestling team fell 32-7 to Rutgers last Sunday at Jadwin Gym.
Senior Squires earned a win at 184 pounds while freshman Hines prevailed at 133.
The Tigers, now 2-4 in duals, will be competing at the Midlands Championships from December 29-30 at Hoffman Estates, Ill.
Princeton Men’s Squash Defeats Williams 8-1
Ending the 2024 portion of its schedule on a high note, the No. 3 Princeton University men’s squash team defeated No. 11 Williams College 8-1 last Saturday in Williamstown, Mass.
Princeton posted seven 3-0 wins in the match as it improved to 3-0.
The Tigers return to action when they host Yale on January 11 and Trinity on January 12.
Tiger Women’s Squash Sweeps Williams 9-0
Producing a dominant performance, the fourthranked Princeton University women’s squash team defeated No. 14 Willams College 9-0 last Saturday in Williamstown, Mass.
In beating the Ephs, the Tigers earned seven 3-0 wins in moving to 2-0.
Princeton is back in action when it hosts Yale on January 11 and Trinity on January 12.
PU Women’s Swimming Second at Big Al Meet
Eleanor Sun excelled as the Princeton University women’s swimming team took second as it hosted its annual Big Al
Invitational last weekend at DeNunzio Pool.
Sophomore Sun took first in both the 200-yard individual medley and 400 IM, and third in the 200 butterfly.
In the team standings, Penn had a winning score of 1,072 with Princeton taking second at 1,004.
Princeton is next in action when it hosts Navy on January 10 and Kenyon on January 11.
Tiger Men’s Swimming Prevails at Big Al Meet
Mitchell Schott starred as Princeton University men’s swimming team placed fi rst at its annual Big Al Invitational last weekend at DeNunzio Pool.
Junior Schott placed fi rst in the 200-yard individual medley, 400 IM, and 200 butterfly and helped the Tigers to wins in the 800 and 400 freestyle relays.
In the team standings, Princeton had a winning score of 1,090.5, with Penn taking second at 842.
Princeton is next in action when it hosts Navy and Kenyon on January 10 and 11.
Princeton Field Hockey Has 6 Named All-Region
In the wake of a superb campaign that saw it go 7-0 in Ivy League action and advance to the NCAA quarterfinals, the Princeton University field hockey team was well-represented on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Mid-Atlantic All-Region team released last week.
The Tigers, who had a final record of 14-6, had six players honored, two of whom were fi rst-team and four of whom were second-team.
2024-25 WINTER YOUTH HOOPS REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN WORKOUTS START DECEMBER 9TH!
Sophomore midfielder Ella Cashman and junior midfielder Beth Yeager were the two first-team selections, making it five for five for the two of them on All-Region
selections. For Yeager, it was her third first-team selection in her three seasons, while Cashman was a second-team selection a year ago. The four second-team
selections were freshman defender Clem Houlden, senior forward Grace Schulze, junior forward Talia Schenck, and senior goalie Robyn Thompson.
TRAVEL TEAMS FOR BOYS GRADES 3-8
• 2 practices per week, team shirt plus games
• Practices on Tuesday/Thursday
• Grades 3-6, 6:15 to 7:30pm
• Grades 7-8, 7:30 to 8:45pm
• Games will be scheduled for weekends through the Monroe Sports Center League.
• Practices beginning Tuesday, December 10 through March 11.
MONDAY SKILLS SESSIONS
(Open to boys and girls once weekly)
• Grades 3-6, 6:15 to 7:30pm
• Grades 7-8, 7:30 to 8:45pm)
• Skill sessions begin December 9 through March 10
WEDNESDAY SKILLS SESSIONS
(Open to boys and girls once weekly)
• Grades 3-6, 6:15 to 7:30pm Grades 7-8, 7:30 to 8:45pm)
• Skill Sessions begin December 11 through March 12. THE BBA TRAVEL TEAM PRACTICE AND PLAYER DEVELOPMENT SKILL SESSIONS will be held at the Princeton Middle School, 217 Walnut Lane(December Only) and Community Park Elementary School, 372 Witherspoon Street(January-March Only). SPECIAL CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY HOOPS HAPPENING
BBA 2 Day Christmas Holiday Player Development Skills and Shooting Camp
• Thursday, December 26th and Friday, December 27th.
• Elementary and Middle School Boys and Girls Camp Schedule:
• Full Day from 9:00am-3:30pm
• Half Day from 9:00am-12:00pm or 12:30pm-3:30pm
• First Hoops Options for ages 5-8 years old from 9:00am-11:45am
TRIPLE PLAY: Princeton University men’s basketball player Xaivian Lee heads to the hoop in recent action. Last week, junior guard Lee recorded the first-ever triple double in program history, tallying 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists to help the Tigers defeat Saint Joseph’s 77-69 on December 3. Last Saturday, Lee scored a team-high 16 points in a losing cause as Princeton fell 69-63 at Furman. Princeton, which dropped to 7-4 with the loss to the Paladins, was slated to host Monmouth on December 10 before facing Rutgers on December 21 at the Prudential Center in Newark. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
PHS Girls’ Volleyball Star Lygas, Hun QB Moran
Get the Nod as Town Topics’ Leading Fall Performers
Naomi Lygas realized that the Princeton High girls’ volleyball team wasn’t going to sneak up on anyone this fall after rolling to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 3 state title in 2023.
“Last year we were the underdogs, we were coming up putting Princeton on the map and this year we had a lot of pressure coming into it so that was a big thing,” said PHS junior outside hitter Lygas. “We were trying to prove ourselves. People have asked us if it is an option not to repeat and we said not really because of how hard we work.”
It didn’t take long for the Tigers to prove that they were going to be dominant once again as they brought a 19-1 record into the Burlington County Scholastic League (BCSL) tournament. PHS ended up rolling to its third BCSL title, defeating Princeton Day School 2-0 (25-6, 25-10) in the final.
In a win over fellow powerhouse Williamstown in mid-October, Lygas moved her career kills total to 736, breaking the previous program record of 724 set by Gillian Hauschild ’20.
“I think it is so cool, I honestly didn’t know it was coming,” said Lygas “Gillian was amazing. I could not have done without my team and everybody around me. It is such a team effort but to reach it is so cool.”
In reflecting on her
record-breaking star, PHS head coach Patty Manhart credited Lygas with displaying versatility and a competitive fire.
“Naomi is clutch 100 percent,” said Manhart. “She is so well-rounded, she can do anything. Other schools know who she is. Even when they try to put the focus on blocking her, she is able to just go right through it. She is fearless being matched up. She knows she has the power to win those points.”
With Lygas continuing her powerful play at the net, the Tigers cruised to the second straight Group 3 state final posting four 2-0 wins as they won the Central Jersey Group 3 sectional title and then topped Moorestown in the Group 3 state semis.
In the final against Ramapo, Lygas led the way with a game-high 11 kills as PHS jumped out to a 15-3 lead in the first set and never looked back on the way to a comprehensive 25-8, 25-11 win as it ended the fall with a 28-1 record and ranked No. 1 in the state by NJ.com.
“We had never played that team before, we watched some film on them,” said Lygas, who ended the fall with a team-high 318 kills to push her program record total to 852. “The biggest thing was getting out to an early lead. We didn’t really know what they had with them. We know we play the best when we have that confidence going.”
In reflecting on winning a second straight title, Lygas pointed to the squad’s camaraderie and work ethic as keys to its success.
“It is everything about it; we are so connected, we are such a hardworking team,” said Lygas, who has committed to attend Tulane University and play for its women’s beach volleyball program. “If there is something that is not working, we find it and fix it. That is something that is so huge about us. We probably spend the most time together out of a lot of teams. We have lunches, we have after school bonding. That just makes it so easy to play together, it is such a supportive team.”
For producing another huge season in helping PHS continue its Group 3 state dominance, Lygas is the choice as the top girl performer this fall.
Top Boy Performer
Jack Moran soaked up some valuable lessons in his first three seasons with the Hun School football team, biding his time backing up star quarterback Marco Lainez Jr. and then sharing playing time with Myles O’Neill.
“My first couple of years with Marco, it was just kind of absorbing everything that he did to see what it took to be able to play at the level that Hun plays at, especially at the quarterback position,” said senior Moran. “So I definitely looked up to him. And then my junior
year with Myles, it was kind of a tough situation because we were both obviously very good quarterbacks splitting reps. But we made the best out of that situation. We both had great seasons. I definitely got better playing with him last year.”
Moran got his season off to a great start, passing for 517 yards and five touchdowns as Hun defeated Mount Carmel (Ill.) 42-38.
“This is all I’ve wanted ever since I got to Hun was to be the starting quarterback,” said Moran, reflecting on the win. “So the excitement was unmatched. I couldn’t wait to lead the guys out the first series we had in Chicago. But there was definitely some nerves too, though. Obviously not having as many reps as most kids would get, there was still some question marks, ‘Can I do this? Can I play four quarters?’ I’d never done it, but as of right now, I think I’m definitely making the best out of it.”
Hun head coach Todd Smith wasn’t surprised to see Moran take advantage of his opportunity to start.
“We wanted him to prepare last year like he was the starter and I think he did that week in and week out,” said Smith. “He is the guy now, so he’s going out there and I think he takes charge of the huddle a little more. But overall there’s really not much of a difference between last year and this year, just other than the amount of attempts he has each game. And he’s responding. He’s got a great arm and he’s got a quick release. He’s not afraid to get rid of the ball and he can put it wherever he wants to throw it and we have the guys who can go catch it.”
Moran’s stunning performance in the opener proved to be a harbinger of things to come as he ended up with astronomical stats, connecting on 203-of-278 passes for 4,513 yards and 47 TDs as Hun went 9-1. Those numbers show that Moran was primed to lead the Hun air attack.
“ We’ve definitely been a run heavy team in the past,” said Moran, who has committed to play at Charlotte. “ We’ve always been pretty balanced. We’re definitely not afraid to line up in the I-formation and run the ball if we have to, but we have so many weapons. Any kid who’s on the field at any times, I know I could trust them to make a play. So I’m not afraid to put the ball up there for them, make tough throws and just let them go get it.”
Moran’s amazing production in his first year as a starter for Hun earns him the nod as the leading boy performer this fall.
Top Newcomers
Coming off a 2023 season which saw the Princeton High girls’ tennis team advance to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 3 final, the Tigers brought a battle-tested squad into this fall.
“With six returners and a freshman at the top of the
lineup we hope for good things,” said PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert.
That freshman, Kathleen Xu, emerged as a star at first singles.
“Kathleen is a tournament player, she trains a lot, she works very hard,” said Hibbert. “She started off the season really well. She has a good all-around game. She does stay at the baseline a lot but she has a good serve and is willing to move the ball around, move forward, and volley.”
Xu produced a superb debut campaign. She took fourth at first singles at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament as the Tigers placed second in the team standings.
“Kathleen played great against two really strong opponents,” said Hibbert, reciting on Xu’s permanence at the event. “It’s a lot of tennis.”
Playing some more good tennis, Xu helped the Tigers
advance to the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 sectional final and finish with a 12-2 record. Xu, for her part, ended up with an 8-5 record as she faced the best players on PHS’ foes.
Xu’s solid performance at first singles for PHS in her freshman season makes her the pick as the top girl newcomer.
Hun School boys’ soccer head coach Pat Quirk knew he had something special when Kyiv, Ukraine native Sasha Mykhalchuk joined his squad this season.
“Sasha plays out on the wing,” said Quirk. “He is a strong, fast player. There are times when he just puts his head down and wants to dribble.”
Junior midfielder Mykhalchuk was motivated to come to the U.S. for the combination of soccer and academics offered by Hun along with the opportunity to be reunited with his older brother.
SERVING UP A WINNER: Princeton High girls’ volleyball player Naomi Lygas blasts a serve in action this fall. Junior outside hitter Lygas starred as PHS went 28-1 and won its second straight New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 3 state title. Lygas tallied a team-high 318 kills, breaking the program record for career kills in the process.
(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
KICKSTARTER: Hun School boys’ soccer player Sasha Mykhalchuk dribbles the ball against Hopewell Valley in September. Junior midfielder Mykhalchuk, a native of Ukraine, joined the Hun squad this fall and made an immediate impact, tying for the team lead in goals with six and tallying a team-best assists with 10. Mykhalchuk helped Hun go 13-4-2 and advance to the Prep A state final.
(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
“American can provide soccer and an education, that is why I came here,” said Mykhalchuk. “My brother is here, that is a big reason as well. I didn’t see him for three years. Being with family is very important for me as well.”
Joining the Raider team this summer for preseason training, Mykhalchuk fit right in.
“It was like a family since the first day, it was not hard to settle,” said Mykhalchuk . “I found friends, the guys are like my brothers now. It is very easy.”
Settling in with his new friends, Mykhalchuk developed into an offensive catalyst for the Raiders.
“I thought I would score more goals at the start of the season,” said Mykhalchuk . “I feel like I pass more. I feel like I can pass and shoot. I am trying to provide for my teammates as well as trying to score myself. I don’t care whether I score or whether my teammates score as long as we win the game.”
Quirk credited Mykhalchuk with stepping up in big way this fall as Hun went 13-4-2 and advanced to the Prep A state final.
“Sasha has been great, he has the most assists,” said Quirk of Mykhalchuk , who tied for the team lead in goals with six and had the most assists with 10. “I think in the preseason we might have expected him to score a little more. Now that he is getting a little more assists, it frees him up a little more to be a little more
creative. He is physical, he can hold on to the ball. He can battle shoulder to shoulder with any of them.”
Mykhalchuk ’s immediate impact as he helped Hun produce a memorable campaign earns him the selection as the leading boy newcomer.
Top Coaches
In early October, the Princeton High girls’ cross country team served notice that despite a lineup featuring only one senior, it’s lack of experience wasn’t going to keep it from being a powerhouse.
In early October, the Tigers won the Girls Varsity B race at the Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel Park in dominant fashion as their top five all placed in the top 20.
That victory set the tone as PHS produced a historic campaign, taking first in Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) championship meet, winning the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 sectional meet, finishing first in the Group 4 state meet for the first time in program history and then coming in second in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, the highestever finish for the program at that competition.
“A big part of our success is we’re really deep and we’ve got a lot of a lot of girls who are hungry to get race opportunities,” said PHS head coach Jim Smirk in assessing his squad’s superb campaign. “So there’s a lot driving that team component and everybody looking to contribute.”
For Smirk, winning the Group 4 title was a product of the group’s hunger to excel.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team,” said Smirk. “They’ve grown tremendously in the year. I think if anybody coming out of the fall last year pegged us to be Group 4 champions this year, they have a better crystal ball than I do. But the girls put in a ton of work. They’ve set their goals. They stuck to it. They committed to doing the work. And I think more importantly, they committed to each other.”
That commitment was further demonstrated by the second-place finish at the MOC.
“It proves that if you commit to the people you’ve got and you give them opportunity to find success, that there’s a lot of opportunity there,” said Smirk. “And I think that’s what we showed. We have some new bodies on the team, and some new athletes on the team with Phoenix coming over from track and a couple of freshmen. But the reality is these are people who are involved in our program and we invested in them and they invested in each other. And this is kind of the end result.”
With so many young runners in its lineup, the future looks bright for the Tigers.
“The big thing is, can we take the lessons we learned this year about caring about each other, finding joy in hard work and commitment and seeing ourselves through the entire season,” said Smirk, whose team took fourth at the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional
meet on November 23 to cap its stellar season. “If we can take those lessons and build on them, then I think we’ll be where we are now and have a shot at maybe the next step, which would be challenging for that top spot at Meet of Champions.”
For guiding his squad to new heights, Smirk is the choice as the top coach of a girls’ team this fall.
Coming off a historic 2023 campaign that saw it go 22-2 on the way to winning the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 4 state title, the Princeton High boys’ soccer team knew that it had a big target on its back this fall.
Despite losing nine seniors to graduation from last year’s squad and with two other stars not coming back this year to play academy instead, PHS head coach Ryan Walsh believed his players wouldn’t be fazed by wearing that bull’s eye.
“The guys know that every team is going to bring their best against us but they are really excited,” said Walsh, who was in his second year at the helm of the program. “These guys love the competition and they love the challenge.”
The Tigers got off to a bit of a shaky start, going 3-1-1 and scoring only six goals in these first five games. With senior stars Azariah Bretiman and Archie Smith leading the way, the Tigers caught fire as they went on a 7-1-2 run heading into the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament.
PHS outscored its first three foes 15-2 in the CVC competition on the way to a title game clash against Notre Dame. The Tigers ended up edging the Irish 1-0 on a second half goal by Chase Hamerschlag.
“We are really happy to bring this trophy back to PHS,” said Walsh, reflecting on the title “Pennington has won it a lot recently; it is different without them but we are still excited to win.”
Continuing the postseason run, the Tigers won their second straight NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 sectional crown, nipping Monroe 1-0 in the final
“It has been great, this team is so different from last year,” said Walsh after the win over Monroe. “There is great leadership and togetherness on this team, that is a similar feel from
last year. You can tell all of these guys just want to win so bad. They do all of the dirty work to win games 1-0, 2-1. That is what it takes to win a tournament.”
Although the Tigers came up short against Southern in the Group 4 states semis as they suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss, that setback didn’t dim what PHS achieved this fall as it went 18-3-4.
“The message to the team was how proud I was of them this year, the seniors especially,” said Walsh. “They have won everything that they could win in the last two years. To have so much success they should be proud of what they accomplished at Princeton High School.”
For Walsh, helping the squad achieve that success required some creativity and flexibility.
“Early on after losing so many important players from last year, we had to fill this team in,” said Walsh. “I thought that after about five or six games, we really started to catch our stride. There was so much growth from August 19th all the way until the end. It was great to see. There was a lot of mixing and matching, we tried some things out. Some things didn’t work but we figured it out.”
In figuring things out and leading PHS to another superb postseason run, Walsh gets the nod as the top coach of a boys’ team.
—Bill Alden
RYAN’S HOPE: Princeton High boys’ soccer head coach Ryan Walsh, right, makes a point to his players during a game this fall. Walsh guided the Tigers to a superb campaign as they went 18-3-4, winning the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 sectional title. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
Featuring Battle-Tested, Talented Senior Crew, PHS Boys’ Swim Team Primed for Big Winter
In its first three seasons with the Princeton High boys’ swim team, the squad’s Class of 2025 has helped the program produce a dominant run.
The Tigers have gone 40-3 in dual meets over that span, winning three county titles, making one New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group B state final and two North 2 Group B sectional finals.
As that battle-tested, talented core of swimmers heads into their final campaign, they are looking to go out with a bang.
“It is always a goal, ‘How can we make it one step further than we did the previous year?’” said PHS head coach Carly Fackler, who guided PHS to a 13-1 record and the sectional final last winter.
“We graduated some pretty talented swimmers in Henry Xu and Zach Guan but the group of seniors that we have returning is probably one of the standout group of seniors that we have had in a while. They are hungry, they are excited.”
The senior class features a quartet of standouts in the Xu twins, David and Jaiden, along with David Brophy and Daniel Guo.
As PHS defeated Lawrence High 113-57 last Thursday in its season opener, those stars were shining. Brophy placed first in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly while Guo won the 50 free and David Xu finished first
in the 100 backstroke. Jaiden Xu placed second in both the 200 individual medley and 500 free.
The Xu twins have developed into a powerful onetwo punch for the Tigers.
“They have been phenomenal in their past three years, they have only gotten stronger and stronger every season,” said Fackler, whose team defeated Steinert 9844 last Monday to improve to 2-0.
“It is picking up different events. Jaiden picked up that 500 for us last year a little bit more and David did more in the butterfly and the IM. The two of them are so versatile. I feel in the beginning of their career, it was more David and how versatile he was but now they have both become such wellrounded athletes. They will and can do almost any event for us.”
Brophy, who has committed to attend Colgate University and compete for its men’s swimming program, has displayed an incredible versatility in freestyle events.
“Daniel is a great IMer, his 200 free is good, and he is good in the 100 free,” said Fackler. “We have to think how we fill in back of Henry Xu and think of the events pretty strategically and what makes sense. That will change every single meet, depending on who we are up against and where they are strong.”
The squad boasts some other strong seniors in Mark Lackner, Tyler Cenci, Matias Da Costa, and Jaden Jung.
“They had all been really solid,” said Fackler. “Someone who really stands out for me in that group is Tyler. He has never been club swimmer. He is such a wellrounded athlete, he is big into triathlons. He is always in shape. Because he is a high school only swimmer, being able to watch him drop as much time as he has over the last three years has been great. Mark has done freestyle, backstroke, and IM. He has definitely been someone who has been versatile for us as well. Matias is one of our top go-to breaststrokers.”
contribution from freshman Gabriel Colon. “Gabriel swims at X-Cel,” said Fackler. “He is a good sprinter, he should be pretty good for us as well.”
In Fackler’s view, her senior stars are motivated to do some very big things in their final campaign for PHS.
“It is crazy; right now his 50 free is faster than our record and two weekends ago, he went after our school record in the 500,” said Fackler. “He broke the 200 free record last year. He said, ‘I would love to take the 50, 200, and the 500.’ At club, his mile and 1000 are also very good. His fly has gotten better.”
Guo has continued to get better and better over his PHS career.
The Elwood brothers, junior Shawn and sophomore Darren, give the Tigers some solid depth.
“Shawn is another high school-only swimmer, he has been pretty good for us,” said Fackler. “His younger brother, Darren, is going to be a sophomore this year. The two of them are people who I could see contributing for us this year too.”
Fackler is expecting a nice
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“They have had the last four years to swim together where they are on different club teams and they see each other at club meets,” said Fackler, whose team has meets at Hightstown on December 13 and at Robbinsville on December 16. “This is the opportunity that they get to forget about club swimming. You put that sense of me away a little bit and you are representing your school so there is the sense of pride as far as that as concerned.”
—Bill Alden
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FREE AND CLEAR: Princeton High boys’ swimmer David Brophy competes in a freestyle race last winter. Senior star and Colgate University-bound Brophy has helped PHS get off to a 2-0 start this season. In upcoming action, the Tigers have meets at Hightstown on December 13 and at Robbinsville on December 16.
(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
As Remboski Takes Helm of PHS Girls’ Swimming, It Should Be Business as Usual for Powerful Tigers
Although Patrick Remboski has taken the helm of the Princeton High girls’ swim team, it should be business as usual for the squad.
Having served as an assistant coach for the PHS boys’ and girls’ programs for the last six seasons under head coach Carly Fackler, who is now just coaching the boys, Remboski has enjoyed a smooth transition in leading the squad.
“I taught a lot of them in middle school, they have been really welcoming,” said Remboski, who also serves as an assistant coach for the PHS boys’ soccer program. “Carly and I split up certain roles between boys/girls but for the most part it is more of a change for us than the athletes.”
With the PHS girls having gone 14-1 last winter on the way to making the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group B final, there was no change in their winning ways as they defeated Lawrence High 94-61 last Thursday in their season opener.
Tiger senior Sabine Ristad placed first in both the 100-yard butterfly and 500 freestyle against Lawrence while junior Annie Flanagan won both the 100 free and 100 backstroke. Other individual victors for PHS in the meet included freshman Jenna Barry in the 200 free, senior Rachel McInerney on the 200 individual medley, sophomore Hannah Ploss in the 50 free, and junior Nia Zagar in the 100 breaststroke.
“It was great, we had some different swimmers swim some different events that they are not used to,” said Remboski. “We were excited with the times. We lost a bunch of good seniors and at first we were wondering what the season was going to be like. After the first meet that excitement came back again.”
Remboski is excited about his group of seniors, which includes Lola Jimenez, Priya Bakshi, Elizabeth Chorba, Julia Godfrey, Ella Hernon, Vakentine Mathews ,and Eva Zizak along with Ristad and McInerney.
“Sabine, Rachel, and Lola will play some big roles,” said Remboski. “Sabine is great, she is someone that the team really looks up to. She has been around some big time meets, she is a great swimmer. She has been a great leader of the team and had some really good swims last year. Rachel is more of a leader with her times. She is quieter but when she is in the pool, that is her way of leading.”
Juniors Annie Flanagan, Emily Walden, and Nia Zagar will be playing big roles as well.
“Annie brings a ton of spirit and a ton of confidence,” said Remboski, whose team improved to 2-0 with a 9364 win over Steinert last Monday and has meets at Hightstown on December 13 and at Robbinsville on December 16. “She is only a junior, but people look up to her. We are so excited for her this year and how she is going to help us out. Emily is so great, she is also a soccer player. She goes right from the pool to practice with her club team for soccer. She is awesome. She does a ton of things, freestyle, backstroke. She is great on relays. Nia had a great year
last season. She is dealing with an injury right now but she is on the mend from it. She is really dialing in. She is another one who is fearless and leads with her swimming times.”
The Tigers also feature some younger swimmers who are dialed in.
“Hannah Ploss is a sophomore and is a great breaststroker,” said Remboski. “We also have some really good freshmen too. We have Jenna Barry and Charlotte Flanagan who are going to help us out in some roles too.”
Looking forward, Remboski is looking for his swimmers to focus on the present.
“It is laying brick by brick every meet, like last year, it is just laying the foundation,” said Remboski. “It is all going to come together eventually but it is just about staying positive and making sure you are doing your best. It is trusting the process. You are not always going to swim your best time and that is OK. It is being resilient. You are going to be OK. We are learning at each practice and each meet.”
— Bill Alden
Having Lost a Corps of Seniors to Graduation, PDS Girls’
Hockey Will Be a Work in Progress
Having said goodbye to a stellar group of 10 seniors from last year’s squad, the Princeton Day School girls’ hockey team will be featuring new faces in new places on the ice this winter.
“There is a lot of opportunity available, we are just trying to feel it out,” said PDS head coach Jamie Davis, who guided PDS to a 12-6 record and a spot in the semifinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) state tournament last winter. “It is going to take a little bit of learning for everyone because we have some players who aren’t used to the ice time and have the opportunity to step up. We also have our players who have been contributors for us.”
With two of the Panthers’ top returning forwards, senior Eibhleann Knox (9 goals and 12 assists in 2023-24) and junior Brynn Dandy (4 goals, 5 assists), currently sidelined by injury, others will have opportunity to step up.
A pair of freshmen, Layla Sosner and Alexis Moslin, are poised to emerge as
“They are both talented players so they are going to contribute a lot this year,” said Davis, nothing that sophomore Della Gilligan (4 goals, 3 assists) and senior Grace Ulrich (2 goals, 6 assists) will be seeing time at forward.
On defense, PDS will be relying on a trio of veterans — senior Aerin Bruno (1 goal, 4 assists), sophomore Sam Dandy (2 goals, 5 assists), and junior Mariana Lee (1 goal) — to hold the
“Bruno is looking really good she has been banged up but is finally healthy,” said Davis, whose team was slated to start the season hosting Morristown-Beard on December 10, Oak Knoll on December 12, and Trinity Hall on December 17. “She is a really hard worker, she is a leader on the team and a great defender. Sam brings security on defense. She is a great puck carrier. She can break out any pass in our zone and also contributes offensively. That is another player we are hoping takes that next step. We are going to run Mariana on defense, she is holding her own. She is a player who can play offense or defense. With light numbers, we are trying defense first.”
At goalie, junior transfer Kelly Stevens will be a welcome addition for the Panthers.
“Kelly is a really strong goalie,” said Davis. “She hasn’t been totally tested yet, we have only had one scrimmage. In practice, she stands on her head. She is a competitor, which is nice. She is going to be one of our best players this year.”
With PDS starting the season with nine skaters plus Stevens, Davis believes the squad can grow into a force.
“Once we have our injured players back we have a really strong team,” said Davis. “Until then, it is going to take a little work. We have got good players that don’t get the usual ice time and hopefully they get used to it. We will do some rebuilding and get a couple of key players back and hopefully it all comes together at the right time.”
—Bill Alden
IN THE FAST LANE: Princeton High girls’ swimmer Sabine Ristad displays her freestyle form in a race last season. Senior Ristad will be playing a key role for PHS this winter as she looks to produce another stellar campaign. The Tigers, who have a new head coach in Patrick Remboski, started the season by defeating Lawrence High 94-61 last Thursday. PHS, which improved to 2-0 with a 93-64 win over Steinert last Monday, has meets at Hightstown on December 13 and at Robbinsville on December 16. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
Mickens Erupts for 23 Points in 2nd Half
But Hun Boys’ Hoops Falls to Haverford
AJ Mickens went scoreless for the Hun School boys’ basketball team in the first half as it hosted Haverford School (Pa.) last Thursday evening.
With Hun down 35-22 at halftime, senior guard Mickens acknowledged that it was a tough 18 minutes for the Raiders collectively.
“The first half we came out and we were really flat,” said Mickens. “We turned the ball over, they were just getting way better looks than we were. I think for us, it was coming out with more energy in the second half.
After scoring five points in the third quarter, Mickens provided a major jolt of energy for the Raiders down the stretch. He poured in 18 points on five 3-pointers and three free throws in the fourth quarter to finish the game with 23 points but it wasn’t enough as Hun lost 70-61 to the Fords.
“This year I feel like I am stepping into a bigger role so I felt like I had to come out and be aggressive,” said Mickens. “I only got up two shots in the first half. I was trying to get them up, trying to give us any boost we could. I was just letting it go.”
In the view of Mickens, the furious rally by the Raiders fell short due to some defensive lapses.
While the loss stung, Mickens liked the way Hun battled to the end.
“I think our ability to not give up and keep fighting says a lot about the team,” said Mickens. “There is a lot to build on, a lot to work on. We have such a good group. We are the closest we have been in my three years being here.”
As one of the squad’s most experienced players, Mickens is looking to play a big role in leading the group.
“Each year it has grown, this year is my first year as captain,” said Mickens. “I feel like for me stepping into it, it is like being aggressive, leading the guys, talking, communicating and leading by example; all stuff coach [Jon] Stone and I have been talking about.”
Hun head coach Stone credited Mickens with keeping Hun in the game against Haverford.
“AJ made a ton of shots, which we needed. If he didn’t make any of those we probably would lose by 30,” said Stone. “Nobody else could make shots today. From his shotmaking, we got a little bit of energy. It gave us a little bit of a run. It was too little, too late, we did not have enough time.”
Although Stone liked what he saw in the late run, he was disappointed by how the Raiders played in the early stages of the contest.
“They are a good team, I feel like any time we scored, they answered us,” said Mickens. “They are a well-coached team. I think if we just got stops when we were starting to score more that would have done it for us.”
“I think we have to focus more on the first quarter, not what happened in the fourth quarter,” said Stone. “Sometimes that is easy when you are down 20 to start letting things fly and playing harder, but you can’t come out with no energy like we did.”
Despite the loss to Haverford, Stone likes the play he has been getting from sophomore Blake Hargrove, senior Evan Brown, junior Sage Mateo, and junior Luke Wafle.
“Blake has been great, he has got a really bright future,” said Stone, whose team moved to 3-2 after losing 86-83 to Northfield Mount Herman (Mass.) last Sunday and will play at the George School (Pa.) on December 11 and then compete in the 2024 Scholar Roundball Classic at the College of Holy Cross from December 14-15. “He is going to be really good for us. Evan is a strong defender and a high energy player. Sage has been playing great. Luke has been terrific for us. We have had a lot of good moments.”
Mickens, for his part, believes that taking lessons from the loss to Haverford can lead to some good moments over the rest of the winter.
“This is good, we knew this is going to be a tough team,” said Mickens. “Coming off a huge win Tuesday night where we won by almost 60 (105-51 over Life Center on December 3), seeing that not every game is going to go our way is something we can use positively as a team if we look at it the right way.”
—Bill Alden
With Junior Star D’Agostino Focusing on Playmaking, Hun Girls’ Hoops Looking Formidable as it Starts 7-1
Gabby D’Agostino carried the scoring load for the Hun School girls’ basketball team last winter as a sophomore.
The sharpshooting guard tallied 370 points in 15 games during her debut campaign with the program, more than the team’s next two top scorers combined.
But with Hun adding some talented newcomers this season, there is less pressure on D’Agostino to pile up the points.
“We have so many new people this year, we move the ball so well,” said D’Agostino. “When someone is playing bad, we have people on the bench who will step up and come in. We have full trust in everybody that starts the game on the bench. The starting lineup switches every game.”
Last Wednesday against Academy of New Church (Pa.), Hun displayed that balance as seven different players scored in the first quarter to help Hun build a 24-7 lead.
“We knew we had to start out hot because we have five games this week,” said D’Agostino. “It was making sure that we have the momentum to get into there. We were energy to start, defense led to our offense.”
With Hun up 34-17 heading into the second half, the Raiders put the game out of reach as they outscored ANC 20-6 in the third quarter on the way to a 67-31 win.
“We wanted to increase the lead a little bit,” said D’Agostino, who ended up 12 points in the victory. “They were playing a zone so it was move the ball around and get the best shot possible.”
D’Agostino is happy to be on the move again as her 2023-24 season was cut short by appendicitis.
“I couldn’t do anything for a week plus it was leading up to AAU season,” said D’Agostino. “It was kind of hard to get the flow back, the competitive nature back.”
To get back in the flow, D’Agostino put in some extra work over the summer.
“I worked on everything, threes, floaters, and lay-ups, just trying to get back in the swing,” said D’Agostino. “I was practicing a little longer and lifting a little harder just to catch up with everyone else.”
With Hun improving to 7-1 after defeating the Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) 7558 last Sunday in the Hill School (Pa.) Girls’ Basketball Tournament, D’Agostino sees selfless play as a key to its early success.
“I would say ball movement for sure, everyone is so unselfish,” said D’Agostino. “If you have a good shot, pass it up for a great shot. Defense leads to offense and easy transition points. If you play hard on defense you kind of relax on offense.”
Having less scoring responsibility, D’Agostino has focused on facilitating things.
“It is definitely playmaking,” said D’Agostino in describing her role. “When I am driving if they are double-teaming, I can kick it out and I have full trust that they are going to make the shot.”
D’Agostino has bonded with the team’s three freshmen.
Sienna Golizio, Meso Nwobu, and Jayla Williams.
“It is really easy on this team to make friendships,” said D’Agostino. “The freshmen are so developed. My freshman year, I don’t think I was as good as any of them. We switch up the backcourt every time. It can be me and Meso, me and Sienna and me and Addi [McNally].”
Hun head coach Sean Costello has been mixing and matching to find which combinations work best.
“We have been experimenting with a lot of lineups,” said Costello. “That was a completely different group of kids starting the game than we have had. The whole thing is we are just seeing what we have got. We played yesterday and I said the starters today are not going to start tomorrow. We are going to mix it up and see what we have got.”
In the win over ANC, Costello liked the way his squad turned up the defensive heat in the second half.
“Team defense is something we are working on in general,” said Costello. “I said, ‘We are sitting back a little bit, there were some passing lanes that we could jump.’ We know we can score off of pressure in transition, but we are working on some other stuff.”
While Costello is happy to see D’Agostino focusing on playmaking this season, he wants her to still look for her shot.
“As long as she doesn’t stop trying to score,” said Costello. “She played great today, she is an unbelievable passer. It is something that she hasn’t really had the opportunity to do a lot. I think the challenge will be for her to find that balance this year, making sure that she is still being aggressive and that alpha scorer but then at the same time distributing and getting other people shots.”
The addition of freshmen Golizio, Nwobu, and Willams has given Hun more offensive balance.
“They are great, they all play a little bit of a different game,” said Costello. “They complement one another well, they fit in really well. They are good kids.”
The pair of seniors, CeeJay Thomas and Amira Pinkett, gives Hun a strong inside game to go with the perimeter play. “CeeJay is a good interior player,” said Costello. “Amira defends on the interior a lot, she can actually shoot the ball really well. We have a lot of different ways we can play, we can go big, we can go small. We can get some shooting on the floor. It is an interesting team. We have a lot of different pieces that we are trying to figure out.”
As the Raiders experiment with different lineups, Costello wants to see gritty play from his squad.
“I just tell them get better each game; we are going to learn a little bit more about our team and figure out where we go,” said Costello, whose team plays at the Perkiomen School (Pa.) on December 11 before competing in the She Got Game Classic at The St. James in Springfield, Va. from December 13-15 and then hosting Tower Hill (Del.) on December 1. “For us, it is not just if we are making shots we are doing well; we are going to score. We have some kids who are talented but we need to defend and rebound.”
Costello is encouraged by how his players have blended their talents.
“The thing I am most happy about is the teamwork,” said Costello. “They share the ball really well, they enjoy other people’s success. This is something we are really focused on, knowing that we have some depth. It might not be your day, it might be somebody else’s day and that is good for us.”
D’Agostino, for her part, believes that sharing the wealth has become the squad’s calling card.
“I think it is just calming everything down, being unselfish,” said D’Agostino. “We don’t care who plays well if we play well as a team.”
—Bill Alden
DRIVE TIME: Hun School girls’ basketball player Gabby D’Agostino heads to the hoop in a game last winter. Last Wednesday, junior guard D’Agostino tallied 12 points to help Hun defeat the Academy of New Church (Pa.) 67-31. The Raiders, who defeated the Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) 75-58 last Sunday in the Hill School (Pa.) Girls’ Basketball Tournament to improve to 7-1, play at the Perkiomen School (Pa.) on December 11 before competing in the She Got Game Classic at The St. James in Springfield, Va., from December 13-15 and then hosting Tower Hill (Del.) on December 17. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
A-GAME: Hun School boys’ basketball player AJ Mickens dribbles past a foe in a game last winter. Last Thursday, senior guard Mickens scored 23 points but it wasn’t enough as Hun lost 70-61 to the Haverford School (Pa.). Hun, which fell 86-83 to Northfield Mount Herman (Mass.) last Sunday to move to 3-2, plays at the George School (Pa.) on December 11 and then competes in the 2024 Scholar Roundball Classic at the College of Holy Cross from December 14-15. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
Boys’ Basketball : Sparked by Destine Evans and Kae Kilic, Pennington defeated Springside Chestnut Hill (Pa.) 65-61 last Friday. Evans tallied 20 points and Kilic chipped in 18 to help the Red Hawks improve to 2-1. Pennington hosts Germantown Academy (Pa.) on December 11 before competing in the Scholar Roundball Classic at the College of Holy Cross from December 13-14.
Girls’ Basketball : Sparked by Izzy Augustine, Pennington defeated Lawrenceville 52-42 last Monday. Augustine tallied a
Lawrenceville
Girls’ Basketball : Aryana Iyer scored 21 points but it wasn’t enough as Lawrenceville fell 52-42 to Pennington last Monday. The Big Red, now 0-3, host the George School (Pa.) on December 11, play at Penn Charter (Pa.) on December 14, and then host Holy Cross Prep on December 16.
Hun
Boys’ Hockey : Bailey Cook scored the lone goal for Hun as it fell 3-1 to the Pingry School last Monday. The Raiders, now 1-3-1, host St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.) on December 11 before facing Gloucester Catholic on December 16 at the Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell.
GRACE: Princeton High boys’ hockey goalie Noah Vitulli knocks aside a shot in a game last season. Last Friday, senior
made 30 saves as PHS defeated Notre Dame 6-3 in its season opener. The Tigers, who lost 4-2 to Hopewell Valley last Monday, play East Brunswick at Pro Skate in Monmouth Junction on December 12, face Robbinsville on December 13 at the Mercer County Skating Center, and then play Hillsborough on December 16 at Pro Skate.
Local Sports
Bailey Basketball Academy Offering Winter Programs
The Bailey Basketball Academy (BBA) has announced the schedule for its upcoming winter hoops programs.
The winter lineup will include opportunities for competitive travel play, individualized instruction, skills development, and fundamentals as well as league play. BBA is led by former Princeton Day School girls’ hoops coach and Philadelphia 76ers camp director and clinician, Kamau Bailey.
The BBA winter program will include two competitive boys travel teams (3rd-8th grade), weekly practices and Shot King Shooting Program, and Player Development Skill Sessions for elementary through high school players (boys and girls) and a BBA two-day shooting and skills camp during the Christmas holiday. BBA programs stress fundamentals and team play with emphasis on ball handling, shooting, passing, footwork, speed, agility, movement with and without the ball, one-on-one moves, defense, and other skills.
The BBA Player Development Skill Sessions will take place every Monday and Wednesday, beginning on December 9 with grades 3-6 from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. and grades 7-8 from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m.
The practices for the BBA boys’ travel teams begin on December 10 for grades 3-6 from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. and grades 7-8 from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. BBA teams will play games on weekends in the Monroe Sports Center leagues.
The BBA Christmas holiday skills and shooting camp will be held on December 26 and 27. The program is open to elementary and middle school boys and girls. The camp includes a full day option from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or half day options from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. In addition, there will be a First Hoops option for players 5-8 years old from 9
to 11:45 a.m.
The BBA travel team and player development sessions will be held at the Princeton Middle School and/or Community Park Elementary School in Princeton. The Christmas holiday sessions will take place at the South Brunswick Community Center gym at Woodlot Park, 124 New Road, Monmouth Junction.
For more information and to register, contact Kamau Bailey at (917) 626-5785 or kamau.bailey@gmail.com.
Dillon Hoops League
Accepting Registrations
The Princeton Recreation Department is now taking registrations for the 2025 Dillon Youth Basketball League.
The Dillon Youth Basketball League is entering its 53rd season and is a cher -
ished tradition in the Princeton community. The league consists of both games and practices. It is open to boys and girls in grades 3-8 who are Princeton residents and non-residents who attend school in Princeton.
The league’s games will be taking place from January-March and will be held Saturday mornings at local schools. A recreational league intended for players of all skill and experience levels, Dillon Basketball is about playing the game the right way, teamwork, and having fun.
To register, log onto register.communitypass.net/ princeton under “2025 Winter Sports Programs.” Registration is open until January 3, or until divisions are at capacity. More information can be found online at princetonrecreation.com.
LEADING LADY: Leah Suffern displays her form as she competed in the Princeton Athletic Club’s Winter Wonder Run 6K last Saturday in the Institute Woods. Suffern, 29, of Princeton was the first female finisher in the event, placing ninth overall in a time of 28:39.8. Ruaridh Mon-Williams, 26, of Princeton, took first overall of 91 finishers in 19:43.8.
SAVING
Vitulli
(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
Obituaries
Aaron Sam Blanchard
August 15, 1968 – December 2, 2024
Aaron Sam Blanchard, known to all as Sam, died peacefully on December 2 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, surrounded by his wife and daughters after complications from heart surgery. He was 56.
With loved ones spread across the country, Sam left a wide void in the lives of those he touched, from the young and old fencers he coached in Princeton and Lambertville, to countless friends in the fencing and comics communities.
Sam’s life, full of adventures, began in Oregon and took him to New Jersey.
Born in Salem, Oregon, he grew up in Independence, Oregon, enjoying a near-mythical Gen X childhood filled with freedom. He spent his days bicycling, racing in soapbox derbies, reading comics, and honing his artistic talents, which he inherited from his parents.
Sam first encountered fencing in 1987 while studying at the University of Oregon. Years later, as a young single father to his son, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Oregon Institute of Technology.
After moving to Portland, Sam began fencing competitively at the Studio of American Fencing in 1995. He met his wife, Cate, a New Jersey native, in 1997, and they relocated with his son to the Garden State in 1998. On September 15, 2000, the family moved to Princeton, but three days later, Sam was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. He successfully overcame cancer through nine months of grueling treatment while continuing to commute to New York City daily.
Sam began fencing at the Princeton YMCA in 2004 under the guidance of coach and friend Charles Hurley. In 2012, he became the coach of the Princeton High School fencing team, a role he cherished. Coaching his daughter Ursula during her high school fencing career brought him special joy.
Eileen Gwynneth (Gwen) Southgate
Eileen Gwynneth (Gwen) Southgate passed away peacefully in her home on November 26, 2024, at the age of 95. Gwen lived in Amherst for the past six years, and previously in the Princeton, NJ, area for more than 50 years.
Gwen was born in London, England, in 1929. She earned a B.Sc. in Physics from University of London and an M.Ed. from Rutgers University. From 1950 to 1955, Gwen worked at Mullard Research Laboratories in the UK, where she met her husband, David. They were married in 1952.
In 2018, Sam joined the Bucks County Academy of Fencing in Lambertville, New Jersey, as a coach after years of being a member. He also founded the Princeton Interscholastic Fencing Club that year to further share his love for the sport.
After leaving the corporate world in December 2019, Sam achieved his dream of coaching fencing full-time. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted his plans, he devoted himself to his other passion—art. Working under the pen name “Shlepzig,” inspired by a character in Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, Sam gained recognition as an indie comics artist. After the world reopened, he became a regular at comic conventions and amassed fans worldwide.
Sam had many plans for the future, including creating more comics, teaching fencing classes and afterschool fencing clubs, and embracing the adventures of grandparenthood.
Sam was preceded in death by his father, Melvin Blanchard, in May 2021, and his son, Bjorn Blanchard, in July 2024.
He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Cate; three daughters, Phoebe Blanchard, Ursula Blanchard (Riley) of Burnaby, British Columbia, and Jessica LeDuc (Michael) of Portland, Oregon; his mother, Merry Ann Blanchard of Lincoln City, Oregon; his sister, Andrea Whitaker (Ben) of Sherwood, Oregon; and two grandsons, Nikolai and Hawthorne of Portland, Oregon. He is also survived by several nieces, nephews, friends, students, former fencing students, and fans of his artwork.
A celebration of Sam’s life will be held in January at the Bucks County Academy of Fencing. The family asks that donations be made in his memory to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society givenow.lls.org or the United States Fencing Foundation usafencing.org/ donate-foundation.
Gwen came to the U.S. with her family in 1959 and lived in the Chicago area for seven years before settling in Princeton, NJ, in 1966. She taught science at Highland Park High School for over 20 years, until her retirement in 1992.
After retirement, Gwen spent many summers at the family cottage in Maine, enjoying reading, sailing, hiking, and local summer arts. She loved the use of words, and spent time playing Scrabble, creating cryptic crossword puzzles, and writing her memoir, Coin Street Chronicles. She also enjoyed gardening at their home in New Jersey and the wildflowers of Maine.
Gwen was active in many local and national organizations in the Princeton area. She was a founding member of the Princeton Evergreen Forum, a lifelong learning community; an active member of the League of Women Voters; and served on the board for the conservation organization Friends of Princeton Open Space. Gwen also recorded science textbooks for the national Recordings for the Blind, in honor of her mother who lost her vision with age.
Gwen was born into life with little means, other than her mother’s warm heart and a will to learn and succeed in life with educated discipline. As a child she survived the WWII London bombings and was evacuated to safe harbors with families away from the city of London air raids. She was reunited safely with her family after the war.
Gwen Southgate is predeceased by her husband of 66 years, David, and her brother Derek. She leaves behind her sister, Maureen, as well as her four children Diana, her husband Govind, Tim, his wife Deb, Jennie, her husband James, and Jill. She also leaves behind her 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
University Chapel Choir with Nicole Aldrich, Director of Chapel Music and Chapel Choir, and with Eric Plutz, University Organist.
In lieu of flowers, and in keeping with Gwen and David’s lifelong interests and concerns, the family suggests a donation to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection. We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you. ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection. We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you.
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection. We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you.
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection. We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you. ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection.
We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you. ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection. We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you.
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection. We encourage you to make an appointment,
ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection.
options available to you.
We pride ourselves on being a small, personal, and service oriented family business. With five generations of experience, we are here to help guide you through the difficult process of monument selection. We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you. ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you
We encourage you to make an appointment, with no obligation, to discuss the many options available to you
ITS EASIER THAN YOU THINK TO MAKE THE PERFECT MEMORIAL
Robert Vichnevetsky
Robert Vichnevetsky, of Princeton, NJ, passed away on December 6, 2024 at Merwick Care Center in Plainsboro Township at the age of 94.
Robert was born in Brussels, Belgium. His education included Brussels Free University with a Master in Mechanical-Electrical Engineering and a Doctorate in Mathematics. He served in the 1950s for two years in the Belgian Air Force, at the time part of NATO. His early career was a member, later director of EAI’s European Computing and Research Center, newly established in Brussels to bring in new technologies to post-war recovering Europe, participating among others in the development of Europe’s nuclear electric power program. He moved in 1964, with his family, to the U.S. to join EAI’s Princeton Computing and Research Center, collaborating among others with the Apollo Space Program, and became an Associate Fellow of AIAA, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He joined Rutgers
University in 1971, from which he retired in 2003 as Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering — also retiring from Princeton University, where he had been a Visiting Research Scientist and Lecturer in the 1960s and Visiting Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the 1970s and ’80s.
Important in those years was the new discipline of computer simulation, made possible by the appearance of new technologies including powerful electronic computers. The mathematics of science and engineering used in industry had to be updated, leading to a new scientific community organized first as local, then national societies, then an international association named IMACS, the International Association for Mathematics and Computer Simulation. Vichnevetsky played an important role in this process, and in 1973 was elected President of IMACS, bringing him, in the 1970s and ’80s, to serve with UNESCO-Paris as a member of FIAAC — the Five International Associations Coordinating Committee aimed at giving human advice for the introduction
of advanced technologies to the developing world, also establishing principles of non-interference of politics with the growing international science community. It is the case that scientists are rated by their accomplishments, not any national or political affiliation, this resulting, in those Cold War years, in difficulties between two worlds that had to be resolved with common understanding and diplomacy more than politics.
Other than for articles and books that he published, he was the founding editor of three international scientific journals, two of them with Elsevier-Amsterdam and one with World Scientific – Singapore, all three published to this day. He was in 2005 elected to HOFEST – the Hall of Fame in Engineering, Science and Technology and presented with the Rockwell Medal. Locally, he has been President de ULB AA, the Alumni Association of his Brussels Alma Mater in the US, was member of the Old Guard, the Nassau Club, the Community Without Walls, and was a member of Le Cercle Francais de Princeton serving as President from 1992 to 2000.
His wife Rolande predeceased him in 1992.
He is survived by his beloved children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild.
Visitation will be on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Avenue, Princeton, NJ, followed by services beginning at 11 a.m.
Burial will take place at Princeton Cemetery, Princeton, NJ.
Extend condolences and share memories at TheKimbleFuneralHome.com.
John Winfrid Ager
John Winfrid Ager, 98, of Princeton, NJ, died peacefully at home 22 November 2024, 61 years to the day that he moved in, his family by his side. He was born 2 November 1926 in Birmingham, Alabama, to John Winfrid Ager and Leila Lanier Lamar. In the midst of the Great Depression, the family moved to Black Mountain, North Carolina, where he graduated from Asheville School in 1944. He served honorably in the U.S. Navy until 1946, crossed the Equator, and witnessed the Bikini Atoll atomic tests.
After his service, he attended Harvard, graduating in 1949, having been captain of the fencing team and playing
on the winning Harvard-Yale Prentice Cup tennis team in 1948. He then received a Fulbright Scholarship to attend the University of Amsterdam and Balliol College of Oxford, where he played for the Oxford-Cambridge Prentice Cup team in 1954. He also played tennis throughout Europe and made two appearances at Wimbledon in 1954 and 1955.
While at Oxford, he met his wife, Sheila Margaret Wilcox, who predeceased him in 2015. They initially lived in upstate NY, where he was a research chemist with Olin. They moved to Princeton in 1960 and he began his career with FMC, where he was
awarded 10 patents for agricultural compounds. He was predeceased by his brothers, John Curtis Ager and Law Lamar Ager, and his sisters Alice Isbell Ager and Frances Gary Ager. He is survived by his loving children, Catherine (Kit) Ager Chandler and John Winfrid Ager III, and five grandchildren — Sarah, William, Elizabeth, Georgiana, and Belle. A brilliant chemist and gifted tennis player, he adored his family, and lived life on his own terms. He will be remembered with love and appreciation, always. Mr. Ager’s family will be celebrating his life in a private ceremony.
www.princetonmagazinestore.com
DIRECTORY OF RELIGIOUS SERVICES
S unday S
8:00 am: Holy Communion Rite I
10:00 am: Holy Communion Rite II
5:00 pm: Choral Compline or Evensong
The Rev. Paul Jeanes III, Rector
The Rev. Canon Dr. Kara Slade, Assoc. Rector Wesley Rowell, Lay Pastoral Associate
33 Mercer St. Princeton 609-924-2277 www.trinityprinceton.org
Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church
904 Cherry Hill Rd • Princeton, NJ 08525 (609) 466-3058
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"Without Truthfulness progress and success, in all the worlds of God, are impossible for any soul." -Shoghi Effendi Rabbani
Principles of the Baha'i Faith: One God- the Mover of the Universe Oneness of Religion All People are members of One Human Family Elimination of all forms of prejudice For more information go to: https://princetonbahais.org www.bahai. org/beliefs Sunday Service at 10:30 AM Wednesday Testimony Meeting at 7:30 PM
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RELIABLE WEEKEND HELP
Shopping, driving, bill paying, house/ pet sitting, personal assistant. Local references available. (609) 481-7059. 12-25
BEST DOG WALKER IN TOWN!
Experienced walking and caring for dogs of all sizes. Available all week and early mornings. Call John at (609) 756-7163. 12-11
We invite you to join us for an important discussion on the recent National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement and its implications for the real estate market. This seminar will dig into how this landmark decision may reshape the dynamics of the industry and influence buyer and seller behaviors moving forward.
As inflation moderates and interest rates begin to stabilize, we ’ll analyze the potential impacts of any Federal Reserve projected interest rate cuts on the broader economy and housing market. Our session will cover various critical factors, including interest rates, employment trends, inflationary pressures, and inventory shortages, all in light of the new regulatory landscape.
We will also make our market forecast for 2025 for the Real Estate market across Central NJ and Bucks County.
Saturday December 14th at 11:00am RSVP at:
Live interactive presentation through Zoom conference
Personal care, nutrition, social activities, support, respite care & family relief. Live-in and live-out in the greater Princeton and other NJ areas. Personal Home Care of Hillsborough (609) 216-5000 or (908) 306-0985 tf 41 Leigh Avenue, Princeton www.tortugasmv.com
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
ADVERTISING SALES
Witherspoon
gifts that are
Collaborate
Prepare strategic sales communications and presentations for both print and digital.
Develop industry-based knowledge and understanding, including circulation, audience, readership, and more.
Prepare detailed sales reports for tracking current customers’ activity and maintain pipeline activity using our custom CRM system.
Positions
Compensation
Please
Interior Painting, Exterior Painting, and Drywall Repair
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www.fivestarpaintinginc.com License # 13VH047 Professional, Courteous and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
