Town Topics Newspaper, December 21, 2022

Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Ban Resumes Until Next March

Last Friday, December 16, was the first day of the winter ban on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, which will remain in effect through March 14, 2023, when it will be lifted for a two-month period before it returns from May 16 to September 30.

During the ban “residents and landscapers shall use only electric or battery-powered leaf blowers for leaf and debris-blowing needs. Property owners and their landscape contractors are co-responsible to reduce the amount of noise and air pollution and to achieve more sustainable landscaping practices in our community,” according to the ordinance adopted unanimously by Princeton Council in October 2021 after nearly a year of deliberations.

The community compliance officer has reported that 30 landscapers and 74 homeowners have received notice of violations since June. Most expressed willingness to comply without resistance. Some stated that they were not aware of the new ordinance. Landscape contractors were frustrated by the ban, the compliance officer said, but they are doing their best to comply.

“No fines have been imposed this year,” she said, though, in accordance with the ordinance, a number of warnings have been issued. “This year we considered a learning year. There were challenges this year with supply chains, increased demand, and equipment malfunction, which meant landscape contractors who were working to comply either couldn’t get the equipment or their new equipment was in service for only a very short time.”

She continued, “For landscapers it’s a matter of changing their mindsets. It’s not simple, not a one-to-one change from gas to electric. It’s not just a matter of changing leaf blowers. It’s changing a

Mowers, gas-powered as well as battery-powered, can be used year-round, but the ordinance encourages landscapers to replace gas-powered with battery-powered equipment. Through its Landscape Equipment Transition Fund, Sustainable Princeton has awarded up to $1,000 in financial assistance, more than $15,000 in total, to a number of qualified small landscaping companies for purchasing new equipment.

PPS Plans Four New Preschools for 2023

High quality preschools have proven to be a key element in closing achievement gaps for students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and Princeton Public Schools (PPS) has announced that it will be expanding its free public preschool program in September 2023 by adding four new classes and increasing the number of preschool students from 90 to 150.

“High quality preschools —they have to be high quality — is a game changer in terms of equity,” said PPS Supervisor of Preschool and Special Projects Valerie Ulrich. “Kids who otherwise would not have exposure to that kind of environment come into kindergarten already with an achievement gap. By offering free public preschool, especially for families that come from those kinds of backgrounds, we close that achievement gap before it even starts in kindergarten.”

The PPS began expanding its preschool program in 2019 when the district gained preschool expansion aid from the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) through a competitive process. High quality preschool has been a priority of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s

administration, and the NJDOE will be providing $3 million in additional preschool aid to support the four new classrooms.

Ulrich added that money invested in high quality early childhood programs pays off in the long run, with fewer kids needing special education or extra support in reading or elsewhere in the elementary school program.

PPS Superintendent of Schools Carol Kelley emphasized the importance of

early attention to students’ needs and the value of community partnerships that have come together to make this preschool expansion possible.

“I am thrilled that we will be able to significantly expand our successful preschool program,” she said. “One of our key goals is to support the needs of our early learners, ages 3 to grade three. We are fortunate to have strong community partners in this endeavor.”

In September new preschool classes

Delivering Aid to Ukraine is Mission Of Area Native Matthew Mateiescu

Like many people, Matthew Mateiescu is home for the holidays, taking a break from the stress of his job. But unlike most anyone else, his work puts his life in danger — on a regular basis.

Raised in Princeton and West Windsor, Mateiescu is vice president of Medical Disaster Response Inc., an organization that delivers humanitarian aid to people in warravaged Ukraine. For nearly 10 months, he has been perilously close to the front line, dodging Russian attacks to deliver

medical supplies to those in need.

“There are times when artillery is landing 100 yards in each direction while we’re distributing aid,” he said this week. “Sometimes we do these front line runs. We move fast.”

A graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, the 34-year-old is the son of Carmen Mateiescu, a composer, choir director of the Orthodox Transfiguration Chapel of Princeton University, and retired music professor at Westminster

VIGIL AGAINST HATE: Princeton Mayor Mark Freda, center, and Councilman David Cohen, second from right, were among the demonstrators at the Solidarity Vigil Against Hate and Bigotry held Saturday afternoon at Tiger Park. The event was sponsored by the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action along with the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, Not In Our Town Princeton, and the Princeton Community Democratic Organization. Participants share what brought them to the vigil in this week’s Town Talk on page 6.

(Photo by Weronika A. Plohn)

Princeton’s

DONALD C. STUART, 1946-1981

Friends of Lawrence Library Plan January Book Sale

The Friends of the Lawrence Library January Book Sale will offer used, gentlyread books for readers of all ages. The sale opens to the public on Friday, January 27, 1 to 4:30 p.m. and ends on Monday, January 30 at 4:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of the Mercer County Library System, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrenceville. Cash or checks only will be accepted.

The book sale’s Early Admission on Friday,

January 27, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., is free for current members of the Friends of the Lawrence Library. New memberships can be purchased during the Early Admission event. Entry to the Early Admission event is $5 for the general public. Patrons with scanners will be charged $20 and will only be allowed to use scanning devices during Early Admission.

After the Early Admission event, entry to the sale is free and open to the public. No scanning devices will be allowed. The book sale

will be open from 1 to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, January 27; from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 28; from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 29; and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, January 30, which is a $5 a bag day.

Book donations for the sale are being accepted at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch. Proceeds from the book sale fund programs and other library services that benefit library patrons of all ages. Visit mcl.org for more information.

Topics In Brief A Community Bulletin

Caroling Around the Square : On Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24 at 4:30 p.m., the public is invited to gather around the Palmer Square Green to sing holiday songs. The Christmas Eve Brass Band will lead the festivities, and Santa is expected. Free.

Ice Skating on the Square : On Hulfish Street behind the Nassau Inn, skate on the outdoor synthetic rink through February 26. Tickets are $10, sold at the door. Visit palmersquare.com.

Virtual Public Hearing on Inland Flood Protection Rules: On Wednesday, January 11 at 1 p.m., the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is seeking public comment on the proposed rules having to do with flood hazard area and stormwater management. Visit nj.gov/dep.

Join Boards, Commissions or Committees : The municipality is looking to fill vacancies with residents of Princeton who are willing to attend regularly scheduled meetings. Visit princetonnj.gov for more information.

Blood Donors Needed: The American Red Cross needs blood and platelets to keep supplies from dropping ahead of the holidays. All types are needed, especially type O. Visit RedCrossBlood.org or call (800) 733-2767 for more information.

Free COVID-19 Test Kits: Available at Princeton Health Department, 1 Monument Drive, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. There is limit of four per household; you must reside in Princeton to get the kits.

Free Vision and Dental Services for Low Income Residents : The municipality is offering these services for low-income Princeton residents impacted by the pandemic. For application information, visit Princetonnj.gov.

Flu Shot Clinics : Several clinics are being held throughout the fall at different area locations. For a full list, email healthdepartment@princetonnj.gov.

LYNN

MELISSA

JEFFREY EDWARD TRYON Art Director

VAUGHAN BURTON Senior Graphic Designer

SARAH TEO Classified Ad Manager

JENNIFER COVILL Sales and Marketing Manager

CHARLES R. PLOHN Advertising Director

JOANN CELLA Senior Account Manager, Marketing Coordinator

REMEMBERING A FELLOW STEWARD: This group of volunteers from Rutgers University recently spent a Sunday morning honoring the memory of their coworker, Mark Kelly, by completing an annual stewardship project at his favorite preserve. Sourland Conservancy staff members and rangers from the Somerset County Park Commission led the crew as they removed invasive shrubs, improved trails, and picked up trash.

A MAJOR GIFT: When the new Princeton University Art Museum, shown here in a rendering, opens its doors in late 2024, important works of abstract art donated by Preston H. Haskell III ’60, and an education

center named for him, will be key elements.

A donation announced last week by Princeton University Art Museum is considered one of the most important gifts of art in the museum’s history.

Hofmann, Jean-Paul Riopelle, and Gerhard Richter. Haskell’s name will be on a new education center in the museum, which is being designed and expanded on its former footprint by architect Sir David Adjaye, in collaboration with architects Cooper Robertson.

Haskell’s gift is among several made by alumni toward construction of the new building, doubling its space. “While the museum’s expansive collections include over 114,000 works of art from cultures spanning the globe, no more than two percent of these could be on display at any time in the former building,” reads a release on the University’s website.

TOPICS

Of the Town

Haskell is a major collector whose primary interests are abstract expressionism, minimalism, and pop art from the mid-to-late 20 th century, especially the 1940s-1970s. He has shared some of his collection with the museum in the past, primarily the exhibit “Rothko to Richter: Mark-Making in Abstract Painting from the Collection of Preston H. Haskell” in 2014. He served on the museum’s advisory council for 24 years and was its chair for four years. He remains an honorary member. In 2010, he endowed the Haskell Curatorship of Modern and Contemporary Art at the museum, which is currently filled by Mitra Abbaspour.

“Without Preston’s steadfast volunteer leadership over many years, I doubt very much that the project of making a new art museum at Princeton would be becoming reality,” said James Steward, director of the museum, in the release. “His early commitment of financial support led to many of the fundraising successes that have followed, and now Preston’s commitment of art takes our collection of modern art to a new level.”

The eight artworks Haskell has donated include de Kooning’s Woman II, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 1961; Frankenthaler’s Belfry , acrylic on canvas, 1979; Hofmann’s The Chair, oil on panel, 1944 and Composition #3, oil on canvas, 1952; Mitchell’s Aires pour Marion , diptych, oil on canvas, 1975-76; Richter’s Abstract Painting (613-3 ),

oil on canvas, 1986; Riopelle’s Terre Promise , oil on canvas, 1960; and Rothko’s Untitled , oil on paper mounted on canvas, 1968. Haskell is founder and chairman of the Haskell Company, an engineering, architectural, and construction firm in Jacksonville, Fla., which he established in 1965. “I became interested in art through my first boss, Bob Jacobs, a collector who once gave me a Gabor Peterdi in lieu of a year-end bonus,” Haskell said. “Early on, I focused on the American postwar abstract expressionism movement, works that are entirely nonobjective and highly spontaneous, colorful and emotional. I found myself passionately drawn to the energy, mystery and excitement of these works — a

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passion that is as difficult to rationalize as the art itself.”

The new museum will occupy three stories, with nine interlocked pavilions containing many of its new galleries. Six new classrooms and social gathering spaces are part of the plan, aimed at being a “town square for campus and community.”

“Having a great art museum is important to the primary mission of the University, which is teaching, learning, and research,” said Haskell. “Without the great collection and the scholars, curators and researchers — both permanent and visiting — you couldn’t have a great museum and you couldn’t have a great educational experience. It’s also the community museum, located in the central part of campus and open to the public. This gift was motivated by helping one of the finest art museums in the region move to the next level.”

Additional major gifts are to be announced over the next year.

—Anne Levin

Rustin Center Welcomes All on Christmas Day

The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ) will once again celebrate the season by opening their doors, both literally and figuratively, on Christmas Day.

Every year the Princeton LGBTQIA safe space is open on December 25. All friends, allies, and chosen family are welcome to join them at 12 Stockton Street, the organization’s new home.

“As we all know, this day is for most a wonderful and warm occasion full of giving and receiving, but sadly for some, it is a day that is a difficult reminder of a lack of welcome, respect, or love from one’s own family,” reads a press release. “So, the Center and all their staff and volunteers intend to be there for those kids, those adults, and any folks in the greater community who are looking for a chosen family that will not only accept them for who they are, who they love, or how they identify, but indeed celebrate them for just being themselves.”

The BRCSJ will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and later if necessary. Singing, dancing, playing music, and refreshments are part of the day. RSVP is requested, but not required. Visit rustincenter.org.

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

Question of the Week:

“What brought you to the vigil today?”

(Asked Saturday at the Solidarity Vigil Against Hate and Bigotry at Tiger Park)

(Photos by Weronika A. Plohn)

“I was happy to see the group that usually has a general focus pay more attention to other types of bigotry such as racism, antisemitism, and anti-LGBTQ. The vigil has a broad focus.“

“I am a member of Not In Our Town Princeton, which is a local racial justice organization focused on building inclusive communities. We have seen a real uptick in speech against Asian Americans, a rise in antisemitism, and increased attacks on the trans and queer community. We want people to know that we are here for everyone; everyone is welcome and supported here.”

—Shelley Krause, Princeton

“I have been so concerned about seeing all the division and hate mongering. I feel like it is getting worse and worse — all these precious human lives are being devalued and it personally affects me as an LGBTQ person. I feel threatened; I feel like my rights are crumbling under me and I see that in our whole community of all colors and persuasions.”

David: “This is a perfect activity for the holiday season. The message of Christmas has always been peace on earth and good will toward men, and I think it is the theme of today’s event here.”

Liz: “I wanted to be together with like-minded people who are fighting against hate, and build strength in the community.”

—David and Liz Cohen, Princeton

—Michele Alperin, Princeton

—Dorothy Anna Moore, Princeton

October Death of Princeton Student Continues to Be Under Investigation

It has been two months since Princeton University student Misrach Ewunetie was found dead in an area behind the campus tennis courts, after being missing for nearly a week. But the cause and manner of her death has yet to be announced by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the University.

2024, was on full scholarship at the University. She had come to this country with her family from Ethiopia as a child, and was valedictorian of her high school class in Cleveland.

Ewunetie was last seen by a suitemate at the Scully Hall dormitory at 3 a.m. on Friday, October 14, brushing her teeth. She had been out late, volunteering at an event at Terrace, the eating club on Prospect Avenue to which she belonged. By Saturday, most of the students were leaving for fall break. Ewunetie’s family became alarmed when she missed a scheduled appointment for her American citizenship application that day. They reported her missing to the University on Sunday, October 16.

Asked for an update, the University’s Communications Office referred to a November 1 letter to the campus community saying the Prosecutor’s Office “will publicly release the cause and manner of Misrach’s death on final determination by the Medical Examiner’s Office, which may take several weeks. Law enforcement authorities continue to affirm there is no evidence or suspicion of foul play.”

Contacted Tuesday, the Prosecutor’s Office said no report on the cause of death has been issued.

Ewunetie, a 20-year-old member of the Class of

There is no explanation yet as to why it was reported that Ewunetie’s phone was last active around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 16 — in Penn’s Neck in West Windsor, on the opposite side of U.S. 1. That, plus an incident on campus in which an unknown person had removed a student’s door from its hinges on October 15, though no work order had been filed, have caused concerns about safety and transparency among some members of the campus community.

The case has attracted widespread attention. On December 10, an article in the New York Times said, “The absence of much real information left a churn of speculation. That Ms. Ewu -

netie’s body was found in a relative remote spot raised more questions than it answered in the minds of some students and parents. As one professor explained, the young men and women in her classroom were outraged over what they perceived as a cynical lack of transparency.”

The University’s November 1 letter to students acknowledged that there were frustrations over the limited facts that were available. “During an investigation, communication is often limited by protocol, to protect evidence-gathering and to avoid misleading the public,” it reads. “We can assure you that if at any point campus safety were compromised, everyone would have been alerted immediately.”

Despite the assurance, the University planned to change the security protocols for residential colleges after the incident.

“The Council of College Heads is working to make sure that residential college dorms will remain secured, with access limited to students and a short list of authorized faculty and staff,” the letter reads. Additional plans to enhance lighting on campus and expand the use of security cameras were also referenced in the letter, “to further respond to concerns recently raised by students and staff.”

—Anne Levin

Stoutsburg Sourland Museum Gets Mellon Foundation Grant

The Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM) has been awarded a $600,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation. This two-year grant will support organizational capacitybuilding, interpretation of historic sites, and cultural education programming at the only museum in central New Jersey to tell the story of African Americans from the transatlantic slave trade to the present day.

SSAAM is located at the National Historic Registerlisted Mt. Zion AME Church in Skillman. The Mt. Zion congregation was originally organized in 1866 by African American descendants of free and enslaved people who lived in the Sourland region. In 1899, the church was moved to its present location at the base of Sourland Mountain, on land donated by members of the True family. This year, SSAAM — together with the Sourland Conservancy and the support of generous donors — was able to acquire the adjacent fiveacre True Farmstead. The historic farmstead was once home to an African American Civil War veteran as well as descendants of Friday Truehart, who was brought to New Jersey from South Carolina as an enslaved 13-year-old boy.

SSAAM looks forward to the expanded hiring, program development, and historic site interpretation that this grant will enable in 2023 and 2024. With funding from the Mellon

Foundation, SSAAM will continue to develop its heritage garden at the True Farmstead and transform the farmhouse into a vibrant exhibition and education space. The museum plans to expand with the addition of staff in education, marketing, and fund development. Grant funds will also be used to hire consultants on local African American history, heritage gardening, and Black culinary traditions, as well as to produce educational materials for general visitors and school outreach.

“SSAAM’s distinctive surroundings in the Sourland region, with its powerful and deeply rooted African American history and largerthan-life historical figures, allow the museum to offer a broader and truer vision of the past to inspire future generations,” said SSAAM Executive Director Donnetta Johnson. “SSAAM is grateful to the Mellon Foundation for this grant, which positions the museum to serve as a leading cultural organization in central New Jersey and beyond.”

Misrach Ewunetie

Ukraine

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Choir College and Westminster Conservatory of Music.

Mateiescu’s deployment to Ukraine began two weeks after the war broke out. What was supposed to be a threeweek rotation with one organization turned into a longer stay with Medical Disaster Relief, along with work for two other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

“What’s really interesting is that there is this huge network of really small organizations and individuals,” he said. “We all help each other out. All have their own specialty.”

Mateiescu is a first-generation American whose family left Romania during the era of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. “The Ukrainian struggle resonates with me and the stories I’ve heard all my life,” he said. “I think that’s part of what makes me do this.”

A professional multimedia artist as well as a rescue worker, Mateiescu’s early

experiences with volunteer work were with Jersey Cares, where he worked with local nonprofits. He stayed for eight years, as a leadership coordinator and graphic designer. Eventually, it was time for a change.

“I’m pretty athletic and I like to get my hands dirty,” he said. “A veteran friend of mine put me in touch with Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization. When I joined, there were 3,000 members. Now there are 150,000 or more, helping with hurricanes, natural disasters, and then COVID. I got involved with them doing a mix of things — first ground work, which is my favorite, but also as a documentarian. And that opened some more doors for me.”

Mateiescu became task force leader, logistics lead, and documentarian for collaborations between international NGOs, the United Nations, and local regional hospitals during a deployment on a COVID-19 critical care mission in Uganda. He served a similar

role in Mozambique, assisting with helicopter evacuations for critically ill patients in remote villages in response to Hurricane Ida.

In Ukraine, Mateiescu is based in Kviv but travels all over the country. He has coordinated evacuations of passengers out of hot zones, in addition to transporting medical supplies and humanitarian aid to frontline hospitals and refugee centers, while documenting movements for several organizations.

“At this point, I’ve seen it all — some pretty rough stuff,” he said. “It’s grim. But it’s amazing how resilient the Ukrainian people are. The Russians have been hitting the power grid and infrastructure a lot. The Russians have a kind of rhythm of dropping missiles every Monday or so. Ukrainian air defense is good, so they had a pretty good attack last Monday, shooting down 37 out of 40 missiles. But they still knock out the power.”

The power outages are worst in front-line towns and

cities. “A lot don’t have power for days. It’s a pretty challenging environment,” Mateiescu said. “And in the villages, the people tend to be older. We’ve done evacuations when we know there is an offensive happening. Some people want to stay because this is their life. They grow their own food, they own their land, they get water from their well. And they don’t want to leave.”

Currently visiting his family in Princeton, Mateiescu will travel to New York, Chicago, and Pittsburgh to meet with current donors and reach out to potential new supporters of Medical Disaster Response. Then it’s back to the front line.

“I’ve been in these sorts of environments before, though not as crazy as this one,” he said. “I’m kind of used to the element of danger. What keeps me going is I know we’re doing good work, and there aren’t that many people as willing to go as far as we are to get goods to people. We’re going where most people don’t want to go.”

—Anne Levin

Jan: 9, 23 Feb: 6, 20 Mar: 6, 20 Apr: 3, 17 May: 1, 15, Jun: 3, 12, 26

Jul: 10, 24 Aug: 7, 21, Sep: 9, 18 Oct: 2, 16, 30 Nov: 13, 27 Dec: 11, 30

Jan: 2, 16, 30 Feb: 13, 27 Mar: 13, 27 Apr: 10, 24 May: 8, 22 Jun: 5, 19

Jul: 3, 17, 31 Aug: 14, 28 Sep: 11, 25 Oct: 9, 23 Nov: 6, 20 Dec: 4, 18

Jan: 10, 24 Feb: 7, 21 Mar: 7, 21 Apr: 4, 18 May: 2, 16, 30 Jun: 13, 27

Jul: 11, 25 Aug: 8, 22 Sep: 5, 19 Oct: 3, 17, 31 Nov: 14, 28 Dec: 12, 26

Jan: 3, 17, 31 Feb: 14, 28 Mar: 14, 28 Apr: 11, 25 May: 9, 23 Jun: 6, 20

Jul: 8, 18 Aug: 1, 15, 29 Sep: 12, 26 Oct: 10, 24 Nov: 7, 21 Dec: 5, 19

Jan: 4, 18 Feb: 1, 15, Mar: 1, 15, 29 Apr: 12, 26 May: 10, 24 Jun: 7, 21,

Jul: 5, 19 Aug: 2, 16, 30 Sep: 13, 27 Oct: 11, 25 Nov: 8, 22 Dec: 6, 20

Jan: 11, 25 Feb: 8, 22 Mar: 8, 22 Apr: 5, 19 May: 3, 17, 31 Jun: 14, 28

Jul: 12, 26 Aug: 9, 23 Sep: 6, 20 Oct: 4, 18 Nov: 1, 15, 29 Dec: 13, 27

Jan: 5, 19 Feb: 2, 16 Mar: 2, 16, 30 Apr: 13, 27 May: 11, 25 Jun: 8, 22

Jul: 6, 20 Aug: 3, 17, 31 Sep: 14, 28 Oct: 12, 26 Nov: 9, 25 Dec: 7, 21

Jan: 12, 26 Feb: 9, 23 Mar: 9, 23 Apr: 6, 20 May: 4, 18 Jun: 1, 15, 29

Jul: 13, 27 Aug: 10, 24 Sep: 7, 21 Oct: 5, 19 Nov: 2, 16, 30 Dec: 14, 28

Jan: 13, 27

Feb: 10, 24

Mar: 10, 24

Apr: 7, 21 May: 5, 19 Jun: 2, 16, 30

Jul: 14, 28 Aug: 11, 25 Sep: 8, 22 Oct: 6, 20 Nov: 3, 17 Dec: 1,15, 29

Mercer County Participates in

ON THE FRONT LINES: Matthew Mateiescu, a native of West Windsor and Princeton, has spent the last 10 months delivering humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

Fusion Ignition: Energy for the Future, But There’s Lots of Work to Be Done

to about a thousandth of its size, and when it gets really small — it gets hot as well — it starts to do fusion and blows itself apart. And the idea with inertial fusion is you’d have multiple explosions, maybe six per second, that would produce energy.”

probably be provided by fusion and energy storage.

“The need for new firm energy sources is a problem that we really don’t have a solution for, so fusion will play that role,” he said.

—Donald Gilpin

That fusion experiment was able, for the first time in history, to produce more energy from fusion than the laser energy required to activate the reaction.

Theoretically fusion, the nuclear reaction that produces energy from the sun and the stars, could provide Earth with an unlimited source of clean energy without greenhouse gases. New York Sen. Charles Schumer’s statement that this breakthrough “puts us on the precipice of a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels but instead powered by new clean fusion energy” is accurate, but that future when fusion energy will be efficient enough for commercial use is probably decades away.

“Fusion is the way the stars make energy, and to be able to reproduce that in the lab is phenomenal,” said Steven Cowley, director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), which provided X-ray measurements in supporting the Livermore experiment.

“It’s a major step forward in science. It’s an amazing story. We’ve been involved throughout the process, for about a decade, in helping them understand what’s going on in the experiment by measuring the X-rays.”

In addition to making the X-ray measurements, the PPPL has been pursuing its own initiatives to reach the goal of efficient fusion energy. “Fusion is so important that having two lines of attack is a very good thing,” said Cowley, who is also a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University.

He continued, “There’s an awful lot of hard work to do. This result and the results we’ve had in Princeton point to the fact that fusion is possible. We can imagine a future in which the world has these fusion power stations. Now the question is how to bring down the cost so that it becomes economic.”

Describing fusion as “an incredible way to make energy,” Cowley noted that oil or other resources are not necessary to produce energy through fusion. “The resources are not the problem with fusion,” he said. “It’s knowledge — that’s the problem.” Some of Cowley’s colleagues at the PPPL, he said, have been working in the lab for 60 or 70 years, “thinking about science and how to make fusion work.”

Cowley explained that the PPPL specializes in magnetic fusion, different from the inertial fusion approach employed in the Livermore Lab experiment. Inertial fusion is “like a very tiny fusion bomb,” said Cowley. “It’s a little pellet about the size of a peppercorn that explodes with the force in this case of about three hand grenades. They shine lasers onto it and compress the pellet down

In magnetic fusion as practiced at PPPL, however, the fuel is held steady in a magnetic field and is heated up to temperatures of about 200 million degrees. “It starts to fuse, and it continuously fuses, and we add more fuel, and it continues to fuse,” said Cowley, referring to a historic, record-breaking experiment at PPPL in 1994.

Last month the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the PPPL funding of more than $12 million for its ongoing experimental research in fusion energy science.

One priority for PPPL now is the creation of startup companies, developing the commercial side of fusion.

Stellarators Inc., which has just opened offices on Nassau Street above Hamilton Jewelers, and Satellite Systems in Plainsboro are both working closely with PPPL.

“That seems to be our main thrust in the next few years,” said Cowley, “starting the process of working with industry, making fusion not just a physicist’s thing but something that actually starts to make commercial sense.”

Also in the wake of the Livermore Lab results, the PPPL will be expanding its X-ray measurements group. “There will be more experiments along this line and we will need to get more accurate measurements,” said Cowley. “This all happens in a billionth of a second, so you have to make that measurement in a billionth of a second. There’s some technology needed there.”

Cowley discussed the long view and the role of fusion technology in combating climate change. “The solution to our climate issues has to be a number of technologies,” he said. “Solar is going to play a role, wind will play a role, and I believe that fusion will play a role too.”

He continued, “But I don’t want to say fusion is the only technology, because it’s not ready now, and I want to encourage the deployment of more solar and wind to reduce our carbon output in this country on a rapid basis, and fusion is not ready for that. Climate change is tearing our planet apart now already, and it’s going to get worse.”

Cowley emphasized the importance of Princeton University’s net-zero masterplan led by the Andlinger Center, but he pointed out that fusion energy could be crucial to supplement other energy sources, to “fill the gaps” when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.

“You need something like fusion that you can turn on when you need it and off when you don’t need it,” he said. “There’s a modern term for that. It’s called firm energy, and it means you can rely on it when you need it.”

Cowley added that firm energy in the future will

Princeton-Hightstown Rd

FUSION FOR THE FUTURE: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) Director Steven Cowley oversees the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) test cell, the flagship fusion facility at PPPL, where scientists are working towards a goal of clean, efficient fusion energy helping to combat climate change. (Photo by Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications)

609.737.3683 Phone 609.737.3687 fax alisandracarnevale@gmail.com www.abcarnevalelaw.com

609.737.3687 fax alisandracarnevale@gmail.com www.abcarnevalelaw.com

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will be offered at Redding Circle and at the Pannell Learning Center on Clay Street in partnership with the Princeton Housing Authority (PHA) and the YMCA; at the Princeton Community Family Learning Center at All Saints’ Church; and at the Community Park School. District preschool programs are currently in operation at Johnson Park and Riverside Schools, at the Burke Foundation Early Childhood Center at the Princeton YWCA, and at the Marcy T. Crimmins Learning Center in Princeton Community Village.

“Our preschool expansion will enable our school district to provide our early learners with what they need to develop to their full academic and social potential,” Kelley said.

Building on the success of its collaboration with PHA and the YMCA at the Crimmins Center, where the program is in its second year, PPS will be working to renovate two community rooms at Redding Circle and the Pannell Learning Center, as well as provisioning those spaces with furniture and materials and hiring high quality teachers and instructional assistants.

“Both places need significant renovations in order to be licensed by the state to provide preschool there,” said Ulrich. “We’ve worked with PCH and its chairperson Felicia Spitz, and she pulled together grants and funds. I don’t know how she did it, but it was enough money to renovate both spaces, including a whole side yard next to Pannell to be a playground space for the kids. It’s going to be

Ulrich noted the value of placing classrooms directly within affordable housing locations in order to bring high quality, free school to the families that need it most.

“We at the Princeton Housing Authority are excited about our partnership with the Princeton Public Schools,” said Spitz. “We are looking forward to seeing more children in the Princeton community have access to high-quality preschool programs and thrilled that we will be able to host two of those classrooms. If we all work together and lend our respective resources, we can make Princeton an even better place for children to grow and thrive.”

The new preschool class at Community Park (CP) will be a dual-language immersion class for 4-year-olds. CP is currently a dual language immersion school,

where children are taught in both Spanish and English all day.

The fourth new preschool, run in partnership with the Princeton Community Family Learning Center on the All Saints’ church campus in the Littlebrook neighborhood, will be a mixed-age classroom of 3- and 4-year-olds and will join the Cub School, which currently serves more than 30 students, according to Cub School Director Lori Musa.

“We are excited about hosting a district classroom that will bring new young families to our preschool,” said Musa. “We will continue to serve our current families in the same capacity as the last 12 years, while embracing the district program in dedicated space.”

Ulrich noted that the district is pleased to have a preschool in the Littlebrook neighborhood for the first time and also excited that the All Saints’ Church has endorsed the partnership and is funding necessary renovations to bring the classroom up to standard.

“I want to emphasize how integral and appreciated our partners are,” said Ulrich. “This has been a townwide

effort. It could not have been done without the PHA, the YWCA, the YMCA, and local providers. It’s the community coming together to serve the children of Princeton, and that’s very exciting.”

In the past there has been a strong demand for free preschool education and there have been waiting lists for all preschool classes. “But by being able to have 150 seats now, I won’t be turning away kids at the rate I used to,” said Ulrich. Depending on demand there may be a lottery in the coming year, but any family that qualifies for the federal free and reduced price lunch program will get priority placement in preschool.

Information sessions on free public preschool for the 2023-24 school year will be held in January and February for interested families. In the meantime further information will be posted on the district website at princetonk12.org.

“We can feel the energy here about being able to expand on our successes and take the preschools further,” said Ulrich. “This is community at its finest.”

—Donald Gilpin

Issued in Fatal Crash on Mercer Road

After an investigation, police have issued a Careless Driving summons with a future Municipal Court date to the 73-year-old driver of a vehicle involved in an October 28, 10:38 a.m. Mercer Road crash in which Salvatore Esposito-Dimarcant, age 70 of Ewing, was fatally struck.

The investigation, which was completed by the Princeton Police Department’s Traffic Safety Bureau and Mercer County Prosecutors Office Serious Crash Response Team, revealed that Esposito-Dimarcant was in the southbound lane of Mercer Road clearing leaves from the roadway using a wheeled walk-behind leaf blower. The driver, a Lawrenceville resident, was traveling south on Mercer Road when the vehicle struck Esposito-Dimarcant. Additionally, the investigation revealed that the vehicle was not traveling in excess of the posted 45 mile per hour speed limit.

CLOSING ACHIEVEMENT GAPS: Students in Christina Maloney’s preschool class at Johnson Park School are learning fast in preparation for kindergarten. Princeton Public Schools has announced that it will be opening four new preschools in September 2023. (Photo courtesy of Princeton Public Schools)

Also part of the ordinance is the requirement that landscaping companies register with the municipality and provide worker’s compensation and proof of insurance for their employees.

Councilmember Eve Niedergang, who along with Sustainable Princeton, Quiet Princeton, the Princeton Environmental Council, and the Princeton Board of Health has been leading the effort to create and implement a viable sustainable landscape ordinance, has received mostly positive feedback so far. “For the most part, people have really appreciated the quiet.

I think it’s made a difference in people’s lives,” she said.

She noted that her concerns and the concerns of other ecology-minded residents go beyond just the noise. “Data on greenhouse gas emissions and pollution are quite astonishing,” she said. California is set to ban the sale and manufacture of gas-powered lawn equipment, and there’s a similar ban currently under consideration in the New Jersey legislature.”

“The leaf blower ban is the tip of the iceberg,” continued Niedergang. “We see this as being part of an overall sustainable landscape initiative. The leaf blower restrictions are really just one step in trying to get people to care for their property in a more sustainable way. We’re trying to change hearts and minds and educate people to a different standard.”

Niedergang described the toxic effects of fertilizers and pesticides and the downside of removing leaves from the lawn. “The idea is for people to see their yard as its own little ecosystem and to do what they can to maintain a habitat for pollinators and other insects and animals, and not do things like coming out in the spring and using a gas leaf blower to remove all the leaves. You’re also destroying animal habitats. People don’t realize that.”

The Princeton Environmental Council, in concert with Sustainable Princeton, is planning to conduct sustainable habitat tours next spring, Niedergang said, with several sustainable yards on display and their owners available to talk.

She noted that her neighbors across the street have

turned their entire front yard into a wildflower sustainable yard.

“It can be an expensive and time-consuming transition, but there are smaller steps people can take,” she added, and she noted that for landscapers, “for people who are able to acquire the knowledge and get into it I think there’s a real demand for sustainable landscaping.” Further information is available at sustainableprinceton.org.

Niedergang said that she would eventually like to see the use of gas-powered leaf blowers eliminated completely, but that is not a goal for 2023. In the coming year she anticipates working with landscapers, especially those who are frustrated with the ordinance and concerned about losing business, to adapt gradually.

“The sheer toxicity of this equipment is kind of unique,” she said. “It’s uniquely polluting and it’s really terrible for the people who are using the equipment. For all those reasons I would like to continue to push on this, but you don’t want to hit people with too much at once.”

She concluded, “For financial reasons, for ecological reasons, and for safety reasons, we have to start moving in those directions.”

The community compliance officer added, “More than I thought, people are happy not to hear the leaf blowers. The challenge is how do we do the job without them.”

—Donald Gilpin

Tell them you saw their ad in

A GATHERING OF GRANTEES: Leaders from local nonprofits were among those who recently received funding from the Princeton Area Community Foundation’s Fund for Women and Girls.

To Area Nonprofits

The Fund for Women and Girls (FWG) at the Princeton Area Community Foundation has awarded $215,000 in grants, including support for Freedom House, RISE, the Puerto Rican Community Center, CASA for Children of Mercer and Burlington counties, and the Children’s Home Society of New Jersey — local nonprofits that are working to help new mothers, mothers in recovery, single parents, families with young children. and children who have been removed from their homes.

More than 20 years ago, the FWG was created as a fund of the Community Foundation to focus its funding on organizations that work to improve the lives of vulnerable women and children in the region. With the philosophy of collective philanthropy, members donate to the FWG, and then meet annually to recommend grants to support nonprofits aligned with the Fund’s goals.

“These nonprofits are

doing incredibly important work in our communities, and this funding will make a meaningful difference in the lives of women and children,” said Carolyn Sanderson, chair of the FWG. “Thanks to the generosity of our members, we have awarded more than $1 million in grants to more than two dozen nonprofits over the last six years. We can do so much more together than any of us can do individually.”

Grants Committee Chair Terry Kent thanked the members of the FWG Grants Committee for their volunteer work and congratulated all the nonprofit grantee partners. “These are exemplary organizations making significant contributions to our community,” she said.

The FWG also awarded a $25,000 grant to the Community Foundation for its work. Additionally, three nonprofits received grant payments for multiyear awards that were announced last year: HomeWorks Trenton, Arm in Arm, and KinderSmile.

To learn more about the FWG or to become a member, visit pacf.org/fwg.

Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, parent company of Saint Peter’s University Hospital, has selected 13 organizations as recipients of one-time grants totaling almost $500,000 in support of efforts that address social determinants of health.

The 13 organizations chosen to receive the grants include Hope Through Education (Diocese of Metuchen) for student scholarships to Catholic schools; Elijah’s Promise in New Brunswick to alleviate hunger; Catholic Charities (Diocese of Metuchen) for food pantry ministries; Huaxia Chinese School for Chinese Smile, which provides mental health support for youth and young adults; the African American Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey to support Project SHEEN addressing social determinants of health; SKN Foundation to expand health care, support and advocacy for South Asians in need; and four others.

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Inviting Community to Share Enthusiasm For Proposed Improvements to the Dinky

To the Editor:

Over the past few years, NJ Transit has been working on a plan for improving the rail line between Princeton Station and Princeton Junction (the “Dinky”). The preferred design concept (“Alternative 1”) is a truly fantastic project! It proposes much more frequent light rail service with added bus service, as well as a bike and walk path alongside the light rail.

The bike and walk path will allow for safe crossing of Route 1 as well as weekend strolls along a lush, green linear park right in the heart of Central New Jersey. I would love to ride my bike to the West Windsor Farmers Market on Saturday mornings!

The project has light rail and buses so that service can be expanded as the area grows in population and productivity. The extra capacity will be very useful if West Windsor and Plainsboro decide to extend the project eastward, connecting whole communities to economic opportunities. For example, many of the postdocs at the University live at Quail Ridge, Hunter’s Glen, or Fox Run Drive.

More frequent trips will mean reduced waiting times for everyone. Public transit will become a convenient alternative to driving, resulting in fewer trips taken by personal vehicles within the Princeton-West Windsor area, as well as the region broadly. This will reduce congestion on roads and competition for parking, decrease carbon emissions (not everyone can afford an electric car), and reduce the number of microplastics from tire wear entering our waterways and polluting our air.

Great news! When is this fabulous project coming?

That depends, in part, on us.

In any given year, there might be 50 projects proposed, and funding for only a fraction of them. A clear show of community enthusiasm will help convince decision makers to fund this project.

Pressure from multiple levels is needed. Sign and share the petition to NJ Transit at bit.ly/DinkyPetition . Consider also sharing your excitement with the town councils of West Windsor and Princeton; the Mercer Board of County Commissioners; County Executive Hughes; State Sen. Zwicker; New Jersey Assembly members Benson (a huge public transit proponent), Freiman, and Jaffer; and even Gov. Murphy. Let them see our enthusiasm so they know to go to bat for us!

JESSICA L. WILSON

Princeton University Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering *23, Undergraduate Class of ’15 Lawrence Drive

Landscaper Death Exposes Hazards of Town’s Yard Waste Collection Policies

To the Editor:

As suspected, the death of a landscaper after being struck by a car on Mercer Street occurred while the landscaper was in the roadway, blowing leaves into a pile for collection. There simply is no way for a landscaper to blow leaves into the street for collection without then having to step out onto the pavement to retrieve stray leaves and neaten up the pile. Hazard is inherent in loose leaf collection. The October 28 tragedy was waiting to happen.

It follows then that anyone who cares about public safety must also be questioning town yard waste collection policies that force workers, bikers, and joggers out into traffic. The hazard is multiplied on busier, higher speed roads.

At the same time, people such as myself who live on a busy street in town are poorly served by the current leaf collection policy. It’s particularly dangerous for us to pile leaves on the pavement. Our choices then are to either stuff them into awkward, small, single-use yard waste bags, or pile them on the extension — that narrow band of grass between curb and sidewalk. Leaf piles can kill grass, leaving ugly bare spots on roadsides.

The awkwardness for homeowners is compounded by what town crews must do to pick up loose leaves along busy streets. I’ve seen caravans of three or four lumbering public works vehicles and five to six staff, blocking busy roads while workers rake leaf piles off the extension and onto the pavement so the giant claw can scoop them up and drop

them into a dump truck. Many of these leaf piles are like fluffy pillows that could easily be stuffed into a compost cart rather than muscled about by giant vehicles. While some may feel reassured by this public display of service, I see rather a display of inefficiency and needless expense.

There is a solution that would not only increase safety but also benefit the town’s budget, aesthetics, and environment. Shift to containerized collection of leaves on busy streets, augmenting leaf bags with large, convenient compost carts. Princeton’s existing collection of yard waste bags can be adapted to the purpose by retrofitting an existing truck with an inexpensive tipper hook to empty the carts. As I have frequently pointed out to Princeton’s leadership, this approach has been successful elsewhere in the country, including municipalities that have as many trees as we do.

Of course, as someone who values leaves for nutrients and habitat, I have no need of the town’s yard waste collection, preferring to mow leaves back into the lawn, or toss them into leaf corrals where they quickly settle back into the soil. The paradox of our species is that people are tremendously adaptable, yet highly resistant to change, even when the status quo makes little sense.

The town hired a consultant last year to review Princeton’s yard waste policies. I hope he is considering using busy streets as the place to demonstrate how better containerization can improve service while reducing the risk of more fatal collisions.

STEVE HILTNER North Harrison Street

Princeton Environmental Commission Shares Recent Accomplishments of Statutory Body

To the Editor:

The Princeton Environmental Commission (PEC) would like to highlight some of our accomplishments from this year and recent years past:

PEC supported data collection for the environmental resource inventory by establishing the Open Space Community Science Day event, which was held seasonally at Rogers Refuge and in partnership with the Refuge and the Princeton Public Library. The event was made possible by a generous donation from a previous commissioner in the name of his grandson, Cole Morano. Also related to open space, PEC supported the preservation of 153 acres —one of only two old growth forests remaining in Princeton.

In the last three years, PEC reviewed and provided recommendations for 32 development plans — including recommendations for the new Master Plan. PEC also provided 19 resolutions, letters, and memos related to state, county, and local issues.

Despite the pandemic and its lingering effects, PEC secured adoptions of the Backyard Chicken Ordinance, the Green Building and Environmental Sustainability Element, and several Sustainable Landscaping ordinance amendments.

In relation to state regulations, PEC supported the presentations on the new plastic bag restrictions delivered to Princeton’s businesses through the Princeton Merchants Association (PMA). Presentations provided local business owners and merchants with the understanding of the new state law.

PEC served on two state groups, the New Jersey Forest Task Force and the Advocates for Transforming Landscaping in New Jersey. These opportunities provided forums for Princeton voices to be heard more broadly and invited inspiring discussions as well as offering methods to attain and sustain healthy environments.

PEC supported three community initiatives including serving as an assembly for public concerns, which related to development at Hilltop Park. Together with the community, PEC was successful in reexamining the installation of synthetic turf fields. In addition, PEC has held discussions about the Redding Circle Detention Basin Retrofit project, which will take a more detailed form in partnership with Princeton Housing Authority in the new year.

In the Barbara Boggs Sigmund Park at the dogwood tree and plaque, the commission held a dedication in memory of Deb Mercantini, longtime PEC secretary. Commissioners still remain struck by the unexpected loss of Deb and ending a year without her physical presence.

PEC is a statutory body that makes recommendations and provides advice concerning open space preservation, water resources and stormwater management, air pollution control, sustainable building design and practices, alternative transportation, waste management, noise control, soil and landscape protection, environmental appearance, aquatic resources, and protection of flora and fauna.

Additionally, PEC is steadfast in including the red thread of environmental justice be sewn through all actions and decisions considered by the commission.

TAMMY L. SANDS

Extending Thanks to All Involved With “A Christmas

To the Editor:

Carol” at McCarter

Three generations of our family having recently been enthralled by A Christmas Carol at McCarter, I read Donald Sanborn’s truly insightful review [Theater Review, December 14, p.17] in expectation of finding the words “wonderful,” “heartwarming,” and “magnificent.” Having somehow missed them, I write to add them here.

Thank you to the marvelous adapter and director Lauren Keating, to the uniformly superb cast, and to the virtuoso set designer — and everyone else involved! I only wish this could be shared with many, many more.

Happy Holidays to all!

BRIAN ZACK Hageman Lane

Thanking Businesses, Community Members Who Supported Princeton Perks Fundraising Program

To the Editor:

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the local businesses that participated in the Princeton Perks fundraising program over the past two years — and to the many people in our community and beyond who purchased a Princeton Perks discount card. Thanks to your generosity, the Princeton Public Schools parent-teacher organizations raised more than $13,000 in 2022 and $17,000 in 2021. These funds allowed our organizations to continue to provide important enrichment programs, including aftercare clubs, as well as activities and materials for low income students. They were a light in the darkest moments of the pandemic when many of our schools’ traditional in-person fundraising events were impossible to hold. And we are full of gratitude.

Our schools are now returning to many of our prepandemic fundraising efforts, and so the Princeton Perks program will end on December 31, 2022. We hope it has been of value to you as it has been to our schools. You gave gifts to our children that will last a lifetime!

A huge thanks to 4Elements Wellness Center, The Bagel Nook, Bella Boutique, The Blue Bears, Chopt Creative Salad Co., Color Me Mine, Cranbury Station Gallery, Creative Cakes by Sweta, Custom Ink, Cyndi Shattuck Archiving and Photography, Delizioso Bakery + Kitchen, Ellinikon Agora & Coffee Delicatessen, Eno Terra & Enoteca, Fred Astaire Dance Studio, Ficus, H1912, Hinkson’s Office Store, Homestead, J. McLaughlin, Jammin’ Crepes, JaZams, Kilwins, Kopp’s Cycles, Kumon of Princeton, La Jolie Salon, La Rosa Chicken, Le Kiosk, LiLLiPiES, Local Greek, Mandalay Trading Company, Mediterra, Milk & Cookies, The Mint, Mistral, Molisana Deli, Morgenthal Frederics, Morven, Nic+Zoe, Nomad Pizza Co., Olsson’s Fine Foods, Orvana, Pizza Den, PJ’s Pancake House, Planted Plate, Playa Bowl, Princeton Canoe and Kayak Rental, Princeton Record Exchange, Princeton Running Company, Princeton Soup & Sandwich, Princeton University Art Museum Store, Princeton Sunoco, Rita’s Italian Ice, Rouge, Sante Integrative Pharmacy, Schouse Szechuan Cuisine, scienceSeeds, Small Bites by Local Greek, Statements, Teresa Caffe, Teriyaki Boy, Terra Momo Bread Company, Taim Mediterranean Kitchen, Tico’s Eatery & Juice Bar, Tidy Nerd, Tipple & Rose Tea Parlor, Toobydoo, Tortuga’s Mexican Village, Tranquility Den Massage, UPS West Windsor, Vaseful Flowers & Gifts, and YingHua International School.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

PRINCETON

PERKS

TEAM PTOs of Princeton Public and Charter Schools

Letters to the Editor Policy

Town Topics welcomes letters to the Editor, preferably on subjects related to Princeton. Letters must have a valid street address (only the street name will be printed with the writer’s name). Priority will be given to letters that are received for publication no later than Monday noon for publication in that week’s Wednesday edition.

Letters must be no longer than 500 words and have no more than four signatures.

All letters are subject to editing and to available space.

At least a month’s time must pass before another letter from the same writer can be considered for publication.

Letters are welcome with views about actions, policies, ordinances, events, performances, buildings, etc. However, we will not publish letters that include content that is, or may be perceived as, negative towards local figures, politicians, or political candidates as individuals.

When necessary, letters with negative content may be shared with the person/group in question in order to allow them the courtesy of a response, with the understanding that the communications end there.

Letters to the Editor may be submitted, preferably by email, to editor@towntopics.com, or by post to Town Topics, PO Box 125, Kingston, N.J. 08528. Letters submitted via mail must have a valid signature.

Chair, Princeton Environmental Commission and PEC Commissioners

Christmas Dreams with David Lynch

I love Christmas tree bulbs.

—David Lynch You can’t fool me, there ain’t no sanity clause.

—Chico Marx

Say you’re watching the classic routine from A Night at the Opera (1935), wherein Groucho Marx and his brother Chico are going over a contract and literally ripping out every clause until they get to a single shred of paper containing the provision requiring that the signatories be in their right minds, at which Chico delivers a punch line for the ages.

The first time I laughed along with my parents at that scene I was still a secret believer in the fantasy of St. Nick driving his reindeer team across the mysterious Christmas Eve sky with a gift for every child in the universe. While it was easy enough to laugh at a childish dream and move on, I’ve never really given up on the Christmas mystery, with its tree of many colors, its Dickensian coziness, and its music, and I’m pleased that David Lynch loves Christmas tree bulbs. It makes some kind of twisted sense that the Eagle Scout of the Darkly Strange and Weirdly Wonderful has a weakness for holiday customs and American icons. He didn’t invent “damn fine coffee and cherry pie,” but fans of Twin Peaks have reason to think so since he invented Dale Cooper (Kyle McLachlan), the only FBI agent on the planet who employs Tibetan rituals in his work. Lynch is the Kilroy of American culture, he’s everywhere, giving daily YouTube weather reports in L.A., designing videos for Moby, and lending himself to a travesty of Santa in Family Guy (“How David Lynch Stole Christmas”), coming down the chimney to present a little boy with a human thumb in a box (à la the ear in Blue Velvet ) while reminding him to leave a plate of black coffee under the tree next Christmas Eve.

Two Big Losses

“There’s something about stopping something before it’s finished that leaves you wanting it, and Twin Peaks wasn’t finished. In music you hear a theme and then it goes away, then the song goes along for a while, then you sort of hear the theme again, then it goes away again. It feels so good and then it goes and you can’t get it out of your mind.”

So begins the final chapter of Lynch’s hybrid biography/memoir Room to Dream (Random House 2018, with Kristine McKenna). Although Lynch is talking about the making of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), it’s hard to read the paragraph without feeling the presence of Angelo Badalamenti (1937-2022), the composer who created Lynch’s musical universe, and Julee Cruise (1956-2022), the singer who gave it a voice. Lynch announced Cruise’s June 9 death in the manner of his weather reports, facing the camera medium closeup, masked by huge sunglasses, every word somberly matter of fact, as if he were reporting “heavy fog over L.A.” On the weather report for this past December 12, the day after Badalamenti died, Lynch doesn’t mention the composer by name or even that he had died. Like some masked Big Brother of Fate, in the voice he used when playing Dale Cooper’s superior, Gordon Cole of the FBI., Lynch makes the declaration, sternly, decisively, emphatically: “Today no music.”

You can hear Badalamenti’s music any time on YouTube: first and foremost, his theme for the show’s opening credits, two deeply spaced, ambient electric guitar bass notes evoking Twin Peak’s world of love, grief, and death, followed by “Laura’s Theme,” a deeper, darker. more despairing chord progression with an undertone portending murder and madness. You can also see Cruise singing variations on both themes in her eerie, yearning, otherworldly voice.

The Twin Peaks Family

Among the photographs illustrating Room to Dream are numerous twopage spreads like the image of casual, affectionate solidarity showing McLachlan as a smiling pajama-clad Dale Cooper in

bed cozily encircled by a brooding Deputy Andy (Harry Goaz), the Log Lady (Catherine Coulson), the Man from Another Place who says everything backwards (Michael Anderson), a stuffed owl “who knows not what it seems” peering over the shoulder of Catherine Martell/Mr. Tojamura (Piper Laurie), who is lounging on the bed like Cooper’s devoted big sister, one hand on his shoulder.

Of the numerous actors who spoke with Lynch’s co-author Kristine McKenna, each with piquant memories of his approach to them individually (“It’s kind of magical what he gets from actors”), the person offering the most perceptive impression of the show was Wendy Robie, who steals every scene she’s in as Nadine, the one-eyed inventor of absolutely-silentrunning drapes. “Before Twin Peaks,” she said, “you didn’t see work that was multilayered on television. It would be a comedy or drama or a thriller, but it would never be all those things at once.” While the humor could be seen right away, “David would also show you the pain and fear and sexuality without losing what was funny.”

For Michael Ontkean, who plays sheriff Harry Truman, “David is some kind of ancient alchemist, and out of thin air he creates a palpable, enduring atmosphere .... it’s always soulful, and it’s always some form of homemade circus transformed into an offbeat pagan ritual.”

Lynch and Moby

I associated Moby’s 2009 album Wait for Me with that “soulful” dynamic even before I found out that Lynch had crafted a graphic video for the grinding instrumental, “Shot in the Back of the Head,” which was released as a single. Like Badalamenti, Moby could set a starry sky

to music, as he does in “A Seated Evening” from the same album, using, in his words, “a bunch of equipment set up in a small bedroom.” He credits a speech by Lynch for his focus “on making something that I loved, without really being concerned about how it might be received by the marketplace. As a result, it’s a quieter and more melodic and more mournful and more personal record than some of the records I’ve made in the past.”

The Christmas Mystery

There’s a Badalamentian grandeur about Moby’s “A Seated Evening” that reminds me of the Christmas mystery I still feel and found in my teens in the poetry of John Keats, lines like “Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance” from the sonnet “When I have fears that I may cease to be,” and “little town, thy streets forever more will silent be” from “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” Years later I recognized that phrase as an echo of childhood Christmases singing “And in thy dark streets shineth an everlasting light,” from “Little Town of Bethlehem.”

“The Whole Show”

In Room to Dream, Lynch ends the first chapter about Twin Peaks by observing that although “most people’s lives are filled with mystery, ... things move superfast nowadays and there’s not much time to sit and daydream and notice the mystery. There are fewer and fewer places in the world now where you can see the stars in the night sky, and you’ve got to go a long way out of L.A., to the dry lake beds, to see them now. One time we were out there shooting, ... and at two in the morning we turned off the lights and lay down on the desert floor and just looked up. Trillions of stars. Trillions. It’s so powerful. And because we’re not seeing those stars we’re forgetting how grand the whole show is.”

—Stuart Mitchner

Happy holidays to our readers and to my favorite sources, The Princeton Record Exchange, Labyrinth Books, and the Princeton Public Library, where you can find David Lynch’s Room to Dream and the original Twin Peaks on DVD as well as Twin Peaks: The Return

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New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Brings

Handel’s “Messiah” to Richardson Auditorium

Some orchestral ensembles keep things light musically during the holiday season — performing pops concerts full of spirited carols and celebratory music. New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has traditionally maintained a more classical approach to this time of year with an annual performance of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah . Led by Music Director Xian Zhang, New Jersey Symphony brought Messiah to Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University last Friday night for full-house performance with orchestra, chorus, and four vocal soloists.

Handel’s 18th-century Messiah was by definition an oratorio, with close to 50 choruses, recitatives, and solos or duets tracing the life of Christ in three major sections. When performed in full, the concert can be more than three hours long, and conductors have long taken liberties with dropping numbers from the production. What to cut is often decided by the popularity of certain selections, and this was certainly the case with NJSO’s performance. Much of Part I, depicting the birth of Christ, was intact, but of the more than 30 musical selections comprising Parts II and III, NJSO performed only 16 choruses, recitatives, and arias. Truncating the oratorio to this extent can lose much of the work’s drama and theatricality, but NJSO’s presentation clearly retained the most familiar and popular solos, allowing the vocal soloists the chance to shine.

Friday night’s concert featured a very scaled-down instrumental ensemble, with a small group of strings, pairs of oboes and trumpets, a single bassoon and keyboard continuo accompaniment. Keyboard player Robert Wolinsky was kept particularly busy switching between harpsichord and portativ e organ, and several principal string players provided expert solo accompaniment in imaginative scoring to certain solo sections.

Zhang and the orchestra began the “Overture” to Messiah in a regal tempo, with relaxed double-dotted rhythms and a lean string sound. With Messiah being such a long work, something often needs to set the performance on fire, whether it be solo singing, fast tempi or musical effects. From the outset, it was clear that what was going to set this performance apart would be variety in dynamics. Zhang consistently built dynamics well within the music and enticed a great deal of dynamic variety from the players. In the first solo aria of the evening, this approach was conveyed especially well by tenor Miles Mykkanen, a Finnish-American singer who lived up to his reputation of having an infinite range of dynamics within his singing. Mykkanen

communicated animatedly with the audience in his arias and recitatives, maneuvering through the vocal runs with accuracy.

Handel’s opera and oratorio solo arias were composed in an era when concerts sometimes resembled vocal fireworks competitions and singers were expected to spin off complicated coloratura singing at breakneck speeds. This compositional style was evident in the Part I soprano aria “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion,” which soprano Ellie Dehn sang with a clean sparkling sound, finding direction in the fast runs as she raced up and down to high B-flats. Dehn also showed a particularly light and accurate high range in singing the “angel recitatives” conveying the angelic appearance to the shepherds, announcing “good tidings of great joy.”

Bass-baritone Nicholas Newton showed why he is garnering a great deal of attention as an up-and-coming singer, setting the stage well in solos depicting shaking the sea and the dry land, and darkness covering the earth. Newton interacted with the audience most effectively in the crowd-pleasing Part III aria “The trumpet shall sound,” expertly accompanied by trumpeter Garth Greenup. Mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani rounded out the vocal quartet, effectively finessing arias that were in some cases composed for counter-tenor or castrato voice. Lahyani took a particularly pastoral approach to the verses from Isaiah in the aria “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,” gracefully accompanied by solo violinist Eric Wyrick, cellist Jonathan Spitz, bassist Ha Young Jung, bassoonist Robert Wagner, and organist Wolinsky.

With the cuts in this production, what was retained in Part II was mostly choral, and the Montclair State University Singers, prepared by Heather J. Buchanan, consistently showed solid preparation in lightness and accuracy. Choral runs were clean and performed with a very forward vocal sound, and the same dynamic contrasts which marked the solos and instrumental numbers were evident in the work’s choruses. The University Singers sang with particular precision in the trickier sections of “His yoke is easy” and “All we like sheep have gone astray.”

Messiahcontains a diversity of musical styles, from recalling the Renaissance motet to the vocal pyrotechnics of 18th-century opera. In Friday night’s concert, Zhang and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra found a wide range of approaches to the work, and despite the number of cut sections, the quality of performance and musical creativity presented Handel’s timeless classic oratorio cohesively.

—Nancy Plum

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will present its next Princeton performance on Friday, January 6 at 8 p.m. Conducted by Xian Zhang, this concert will feature pianist Daniil Trifonov and works of Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss. Ticket information about this concert can be found at njsymphony.org.

Performing Arts

“Salute to Vienna” Concert on Dec. 31

State Theatre New Jersey presents “Salute to Vienna – New Year’s Eve Concert” on Saturday, December 31 at 5 p.m. This annual State Theatre tradition features singers, dancers, and a full symphony orchestra. Tickets range from $39-$125.

“Salute to Vienna” recreates the famed Neujahrskonzert, hosted each year in Vienna’s legendary Musikverein. The short, effervescent pieces performed in the concert by a full orchestra are brought to life with ballroom dancing and ballet and include the music of Johann Strauss and his contemporaries with

selections from operettas, overtures, and the “Blue Danube Waltz.”

Featured artists include the Strauss Symphony of America; conductor Alastair Willis (London); soprano Micaëla Oeste (Berlin); tenor Martin Piskorski (Vienna); dancers from Europaballett St. Pölten (Austria); and champion ballroom dancers.

The State Theatre New Jersey is at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick. Visit STNJ.org for tickets and additional information.

Capital Philharmonic Presents Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald

The annual New Year’s Eve concert with Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey

(CPNJ), at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, is a Trenton tradition. This year’s event, on December 31 at 8 p.m., is a tribute to jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald.

The evening begins with a special pre-concert recital by Brett Miller on the massive theater organ, beginning at 7:10 p.m., and will conclude with a champagne toast following the concert for all patrons. Featured selections include works by Gershwin, Ellington, and Irving Berlin. Music Director Daniel Spalding conducts.

Local jazz soprano Paula Johns joins CPNJ’s principal trumpet player Bob Gravener for special duets and arrangements of favorite hits

from the ’40s and’50s. Johns is a cabaret singer and jazz vocalist from Philadelphia whose repertoire includes works from the Great American Songbooks of Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Burt Bacharach, and others.

Patriots Theater is on Lafayette Street in Trenton. Call (800) 514-3849 or visit capitalphilharmonic.org for tickets.

Livestream Tickets Available For Symphonic Band Concert

Tickets to the live concert by Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) Mercer County Symphonic Band on Wednesday, December 21 at 7:30 p.m. are sold out, but the free event can be accessed by livestream. The band will perform a Winter Holiday Concert at Kelsey Theatre on the college’s West Windsor campus.

To watch, visit the link vimeo.com/event/2691216.

The symphonic band was formed in 1979 by the music department at the college as a performance opportunity for students. For the past 23 years, the band has been directed by Lou Woodruff.

In addition to presenting its annual winter concert at Kelsey Theatre, the band also performs a free annual spring concert and performs at college functions and community events.

“To expand instrumentation, musicians from the community were invited to join along with the students,” said Woodruff. “The band continued to be part of Mercer County Community College and the ensemble soon became recognized as the c ounty’s community band, then in

MERCER MUSEUM & FONTHILL CASTLE

croft, the Princeton fifth-grader was appearing in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with the New York City Ballet. This month, Caia is back on stage in “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” alternating as a mouse and, shown here backstage, a “polichinelle.” Caia is especially pleased when the Sugar Plum Fairy is played by fellow Princeton native Unity Phelan, who goes out of her way to high-five the dancers after performances and tell them they have done a good job.

2000 it was designated the Mercer County Symphonic Band.”

The band continues to rehearse on campus. “Since it was formed, more than 300 area musicians have played in the band, spanning eight decades in age, ranging from 14 to 88,” Woodruff said.

“Auditions have never been required to be a member, and anyone can still just walk in, sit down, play, and stay for as long as they wish.”

The pandemic disrupted community bands across the country. “The band was unable to play for nearly two years,” Woodruff said, adding that it is back with a core of 40 musicians. “The band is dedicated to improving the performance skills and artistic sensitivities of its members and the appreciation and understanding of its audiences,” Woodruff said. “The people are the focus. The band is the vehicle.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR: Ballroom and ballet dancers are part of the celebration at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick on New Year’s Eve. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg)

Princeton Symphony Orchestra Starts New Year on High Note

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) begins 2023 with South African soprano Pretty Yende. Yende, whose introduction to opera at 16 was through a TV commercial, will perform arias from Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia ( The Barber of Seville ) and Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata as well as Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915

Under the direction of Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the PSO will play overtures from operas by Rossini and Verdi, plus Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Performances are on Saturday, January 14 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, January 15 at 4 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium.

Other guest artists appearing with the PSO in 2023 include pianist Inon Barnatan (February 4-5), guest conductor Sameer Patel and violinist William Harvey ( Seven Decisions of Gandhi — world premiere — March 11-12), and violist Roberto Díaz (May 13-14).

The PSO’s 2023 Princeton Festival (June 9-25) will include an opera, orchestral concerts, chamber music, Broadway tunes, a Baroque performance, and much more.

“Opera provides us with an incredible range of storytelling featuring powerful music and beautiful arias, many of which stand on their own as perfect

musical vignettes,” said Milanov. “In Pretty Yende, we have a fantastic soprano who sings from the soul, bringing heartfelt interpretation to every note.”

The January program also serves as a preview of the 2023 Princeton Festival in June as The Barber of Seville is the centerpiece of this year’s event at Morven Museum & Garden.

Yende debuted at the Latvian National Theater in Riga as Micaëla in Carmen, after which she performed in major international theaters including the Royal Opera House, Opéra National de Paris, Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, La Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Wiener Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Recent successes include her Metropolitan debut as Countess Adèle in Le comte Ory, Maria in La fille du régiment, and roles such as Rosina, Adina, Lucia, Juliette, Elvira, and Pamina. She made her debut at the Opéra National de Paris as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia , followed by a new production of La traviata staged by Simon Stone, and a return as Lucia di Lammermoor. Additionally, last season she made her debut with four heroines in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. Highlights on the concert stage include her Carnegie Hall recital, and concerts in Switzerland,

Spain, Austria, South Africa, Germany, Italy, France, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, U.K., and U.S.

Prior to the Pretty Yende concert weekend, Austin Stewart explores James Agee and Samuel Barber’s approaches to coloring in their own childhood memories with Knoxville: Summer of 1915. The PSO Soundtracks presentation, titled “Knoxville and the Lost Generation ,” takes place on Thursday, January 12 at 7 p.m. at the Princeton Public Library’s Community Room. It is free and open to the public.

Tickets for all Princeton Symphony Orchestra orchestral concerts range from $30-112; youth 5-17 half-price. For concert tickets and information about the Princeton Festival, visit princetonsymphony.org or call (609) 497-0020.

Managing Director Search Begins

As Interim Director Takes Over McCarter Board Chair W. Rochelle Calhoun has announced that the McCarter Board’s Executive Committee has voted to hire arts leader Susie Medak to fill the role of interim managing director effective immediately. Arts Consulting Group (ACG) conducted the search to place Medak in this leadership role for McCarter.

Former Managing Director Michael Rosenberg left McCarter this year to become president and chief executive officer of City Center in New York.

“The board is thrilled to be welcoming Susie Medak as our interim managing director,” said Calhoun. “She’s a nationally-celebrated leader in arts management, who successfully led Berkeley Rep for over 30 years. McCarter has engaged Susie in the past for board learning sessions, and we are so excited to continue the conversations.”

“Susie is a dream choice for this role,” said McCarter’s Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen. “Susie is a legend in our field with an unparalleled career in arts leadership. I’m so honored that she’s joining us at McCarter, and excited to partner with her. I’m especially delighted that she continues to bring such enthusiasm and joy to her work, and inspired by the way she continues to mentor and inspire new generations of theater leaders. McCarter and our field will benefit from her wisdom and good spirits.”

Medak served as Berkeley Rep’s managing director from 1990-2022, leading the administration and operations of the theater. She served as president of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and treasurer of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), organizations that represent the interests of nonprofit theatres across the nation. She chaired panels for the Massachusetts Arts Council and has also served on program panels for Arts Midwest, the Joyce Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Closer to home, Medak served on the board of the Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA). She is the founding chair of the Berkeley Arts in Education Steering Committee for Berkeley Unified School District and the Berkeley Cultural Trust. She served on the faculty of Yale School of Drama and is a member of the International Women’s Forum and the Mont Blanc Ladies’ Literary Guild and Trekking Society. She was awarded the 2012 Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal by the Berkeley Community Fund and the 2017 Visionary Leadership Award by TCG.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to have the opportunity to help this venerable theater during an important transition,” Medak said.

Calhoun also announced that the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller (IM) has been engaged to identify a permanent managing director to lead the organization in partnership with Artistic Director Rasmussen.

Founded in 1982, IM has four decades of experience

recruiting senior leaders for arts and culture organizations, higher education institutions, health care and academic medical centers, and the full range of nonprofits.

“Isaacson, Miller is a trusted leader in the field of executive search and one that really understands the uniqueness and potential of McCarter and the communities that it serves,” said Calhoun. “IM has had a strong relationship with McCarter in the past, having most recently led the search that resulted in the recent appointment of Paula Abreu as director of special programming.”

Princeton University Concerts Explores Music, Mental Health

Princeton University Concerts (PUC) hosts its firstever afternoon dedicated to recognizing the intersection of music and mental health on Sunday, January 22. Two free events at Richardson Auditorium will be presented in partnership with the Bostonbased Me2/Orchestra, the world’s first orchestra created by and for people living with mental illness and those who support them.

At 1 p.m., the documentary Orchestrating Change will be screened. The film chronicles the creation and operation of the Me2/Orchestra, a groundbreaking model for erasing mental health stigma, where acceptance and understanding are the priority. The screening is free, and RSVP is recommended.

At 3 p.m., amateur musicians of all ages and levels are invited to join the Me2/Orchestra’s founder and conductor Ronald Braunstein on the stage of Richardson Auditorium for the annual Chamber Jam. This stigma-free community play-along of Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony will conclude with an open discussion with the members of the Me2/Orchestra. The event is free, but advanced registration is required at puc. princeton.edu or (609) 2582800.

“This fall, we launched our Healing with Music series,

shedding light on the role music plays in medical recovery and times of personal upheaval,” said PUC Outreach Manager Dasha Koltunyuk. “We wanted to make our annual community Chamber Jam an extension of this impactful series. It blossomed into an entire afternoon focused on music’s essential and transformative role within the context of mental health. We hope that everyone — whatever their background may be — will feel welcome, enjoy learning about and from the inspiring Me2/Orchestra, and take a moment to connect with themselves and with one another through music as they read through Beethoven’s beloved and cathartic Fifth Symphony.”

Princeton University Concerts’ Annual Chamber Jam is an opportunity for amateur musicians of all ages and levels to play through music alongside professional artists. Past participants include members of the Berlin Philharmonic with conductor Gustavo Dudamel, Chicago Symphony Winds, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Escher String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Takács String Quartet, and the Tenebrae Choir. This event will be the 10th Chamber Jam in PUC’s history.

Braunstein was on a trajectory to being one of the world’s leading conductors. When he made his diagnosis of bipolar disorder public, he was shunned by the classical music community. Terminated from his last position with a community orchestra and nearly destitute, Braunstein decided to start an orchestra for people like himself: the Me2/Orchestra. Roughly half of the ensemble’s musicians live with diagnoses of bipolar disorder, anxiety, obsessivecompulsive disorder, schizophrenia, associative disorder, borderline personality, depression, and addiction. The rest have no diagnoses. And, that’s the point. Me2/Orchestra is a transformative model for erasing mental health stigma where acceptance and understanding are the priority.

A SWINGING CHRISTMAS: The Summer Swing Orchestra performs a free concert on Wednesday, December 21 from 7:30-9 p.m. at Flemington United Methodist Church, 116 Main Street, Flemington. The 17-piece ensemble will play arrangements of well-known holiday favorites. Visit summerswingorchestra.com for details.

LET IT SNOW: With its onstage snowstorm, the Snow Scene is a highlight of the Philadelphia Ballet’s production of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” on stage at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia through December 28. Visit philadelphiaballet.org for tickets. (Photo by Alexander Iziliaev)

SINGING IN THE NEW YEAR: South African opera star Pretty Yende sings famous arias with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra at Richardson Auditorium on January 14 and 15. (Photo by Elena Cherkashyna)

NEW AT MCCARTER: Veteran arts leader Susie Medak is interim managing director at McCarter Theatre.

Concierge Medicine

By Sarah Emily Gilbert (Originally published in Princeton Magazine)

For the past several years, Dr. Lynne B. Kossow, Dr. Barbara A. Brown, and Dr. Francis E Rehor have offered their patients far more than the traditional primary care practice. Most doctors see 25-30 patients per day for an average of 15 minutes, Drs. Kossow, Brown, and Rehor see 6-8 patients per day. In addition to providing treatment for acute illnesses, the doctors act as their clients’ healthcare coaches through Lifestyle Medicine, a scientific approach to patient wellness by effecting changes in areas such as diet, physical activity, and stress management. With the current shortage of primary care physicians and the abundance of high-volume practices, this type of individualized attention is rare. However, by switching to a concierge format, doctors like the ones at Princeton Lifestyle Medicine are able to practice medicine that consists of this broad-spectrum care.

Concierge medicine, also known as retainer-based medicine, is an umbrella term for private medical care wherein patients pay an out-ofpocket fee in exchange for enhanced care. Born in the 1990s, concierge medicine was once thought of as a service for the wealthy that charged patients a lofty fee for luxury medicine. In recent years, it has evolved to accommodate patients across all income brackets, leading to expanding interest among patients and their primary care doctors.

According to a survey released by the American Academy of Private Physicians at the AAPP 2015 Fall Summit, more than 45 percent of 862 independent physicians would consider a concierge or similar membership model in the next three years. This may be due in part to our aging population needing increased and varied medical services, leading to an imbalanced patient/doctor ratio. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act has increased the number of insured patients, putting a further strain on primary care doctors. As a result, physicians are often unable to dedicate enough time to each patient. In the hopes of increasing both job and patient satisfaction in a financially sustainable way, primary care physicians are looking toward concierge medicine. “Where conventional medicine is failing is in the prevention and reversal of chronic diseases that are becoming an epidemic in the United States today,” explain the doctors. “The current insurance model is built upon a problem-based economic reimbursement that encourages doctors to address medical problems very quickly. This leads to most doctors rushing to see 25-30 patients per day in order to make ends meet…This is not how we have ever practiced. We always want to have the time to address the root cause of diseases that are preventable today.”

Lifestyle Medicine is a 21st century approach to healthcare that consolidates the very best characteristics of traditional medicine with the profound impact of lifestyle behaviors on health. Lifestyle Medicine is an evidence-based practice that has been shown to prevent, reverse, or slow down heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes, dementia, and some cancers.

Concierge medical practices come in various forms, including those that reject insurance plans all together, but this is not the case for Princeton Lifestyle Medicine. All the doctors there accept insurance for all covered medical services. In addition, their patients pay an annual fee of $1,800 for the Lifestyle Medicine Concierge program, which gives them access to an elevated level of care. The founders of Princeton Lifestyle Medicine trained at the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine at Harvard Medical School. They are at the vanguard of their field, having lectured about their practice development model at The Institute of Lifestyle Medicine Conference in 2015. They are also members of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the American College of Physicians. They are among the first physicians to become board certified in Lifestyle Medicine, as well as maintaining their board certifications in internal medicine. This practice is unique in that it offers patients comprehensive conventional medical care combined with lifestyle counseling. Patients interested in a natural approach to disease prevention are provided in-depth, individualized coaching based on their needs. The doctors can assist with everything from quitting smoking to creating a manageable diet and exercise

The concierge model offers Princeton Lifestyle Medicine patients additional benefits including access to the doctors’ emails, cell phone numbers, a private phone line, extended patient office visits, and same or next day appointments. Their patients see their physician not only as accomplished medical doctors, but health advocates, mentors, and even friends.

“Our practice structure allows us to spend more time educating our patients about what may be going on with them medically,” the doctors explain. “We are better able to work with them as partners in their care and advocate for them with their specialists or if they are in the hospital. We provide tremendous support and guidance to them and their caretakers or family. We greatly value this enhanced communication with our patients. Princeton Lifestyle Medicine physicians include the two original founders, Dr. Lynne Kossow and Dr. Barbara Brown, as well as Dr. Francis Rehor who joined the practice in 2015.”

Princeton Lifestyle medicine is also delighted to announce that Dr. Emily Kossow Sandberg joined the practice in April of 2022 as well.

Concierge practices like Princeton Lifestyle Medicine focus the healthcare system on its most vital component: the patient-doctor relationship. The model emphasizes quality care instead of quick care, benefitting both parties. Princeton Lifestyle Medicine has the only physicians in the Princeton area who are board certified in both Internal Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. As leaders in both concierge and Lifestyle medicine, it comes as no surprise that Princeton Lifestyle medicine is at the forefront of this effort, bringing Princeton into the future of healthcare.

There’s a new trend in healthcare, and it’s gaining momentum in our area.

Dr. Francis Rehor, Dr. Barbara A. Brown (left) and Dr. Lynne B. Kossow, and Dr. Emily Kossow Sandberg of Princeton Lifestyle Medicine.

Princeton Lifestyle Medicine is delighted to announce that Dr. Emily Kossow Sandberg, MD, joined our practice on April 1, 2022.

Arts Council of Princeton

Presents ART OF Series

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) presents ART OF, a series of events curated to introduce attendees to the endless creativity and innovation in the Princeton community.

The ART OF series launched in fall 2022 and has since welcomed guests to enjoy educational experiences in topics including wine, horticulture, astrology, and floral arranging. Some ART OF events are free, and every dollar

raised from ticketed events benefits the Arts Council’s longstanding community outreach programs, public art initiatives, and yearlong community events and projects.

Upcoming is the ART OF Salsa and Bachata on Saturday, January 21 from 7-11 p.m. Attendees are invited to dress in their best red threads and immerse themselves in an evening of Latin dance with instructor Mike Andino of HotSalsaHot Dance Studio. Music is to be provided by DJ Poli, one of

Philly’s top Latin DJs. No partner or experience is necessary. Tickets are $125 and include instruction, dance party, beer, wine, and Latininspired cuisine.

Other events include: ART OF Chocolate Making — Sunday, January 22, 3-4:30 p.m.: Chocolate connoisseur Alex Pimentel will guide this artisanal chocolate making workshop. Using organic cacao from Peru, adults and children 10+ will design and create custom gourmet chocolate bars to take home.

Tickets are $55.

ART OF The Potter’s Wheel — Friday, February 10, 5-7 p.m.: Give pottery a whirl! Award-winning ceramicist and ACP Executive Director Adam Welch will introduce participants to the basics of throwing on the potter’s wheel. Watch a quick, detailed demo on the wheel — then it’s your turn. You throw, choose your glaze, and ACP takes care of the rest. Your finished piece will be ready for pick up in a few weeks. Tickets include this small-group tutorial and a glass of wine. No experience is required, just come eager to play with clay and have some fun. Tickets are $75.

ART OF Play — Saturday, March 4, 10-11 a.m.: Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination; dexterity; and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Preschool teacher Bentley Drezner will host a fun and collaborative workshop for preschoolers and their caregivers to explore free and easy ways to promote creative play. Bagels, juice, and coffee to follow. Tickets are free.

ART OF Iftar — Sunday, March 12, 4-6 p.m.: Hosted at the Muslim Center of Greater Princeton, this ART OF experience celebrates the customs of Iftar, the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. Guests will enjoy tasty bites from Khan Baba Restaurant and insightful conversation during this interfaith gathering. Tickets are $35.

ART OF Distilling — Thursday, March 9, 5:30-

7 p.m.: Take a shot and experience the ART OF Distilling. Nestled in the rolling Sourland Mountains of the Hopewell Valley, familyowned Sourland Mountain Spirits lovingly distills, ages, fills, and labels award-winning spirits highlighted by their double gold medal flagship gin. Led by co-founder Erica Disch, this intimate tasting experience consists of the exploration of three different Sourland Mountain Spirits. Disch will immerse you in the aromas and flavors of a true craft experience. Tickets are $45.

ART OF The Painted Word: Merging Poetry and Painting — Sunday, April 16, 3-5 p.m.: Celebrate National Poetry Month with artist Ruthann Traylor, director of Homefront’s ArtSpace, for this workshop to learn how to merge the literary and visual arts. Bring your favorite poem, a few lines of verse, or better yet, something you may have written yourself — whatever inspires you to create your own visual art piece. Materials for this all-ages workshop are provided, but you are welcome and encouraged to bring any special items you can use to make the piece your own — old photos, a bit of ribbon, a love letter — and learn how to incorporate them into a collage, mixed media painting, or as your subject for a drawing or painting. Tickets are free.

ART OF Pairing Beer and Cheese — Thursday, June 1, 5:30-7 p.m.: Charles Nouwen, beer sommelier and master brewer from Belgium, will take you on a journey to enjoy the best of fine beers and boutique cheeses paired

together. Through stories, anecdotes, and fun facts, you will learn why these two historical farm products are made for each other. Four carefully selected pairings along with artisanal breads and fruits will have your taste buds singing. Tickets are $60.

To reserve tickets and learn more, visit artscouncilofprinceton.org. For information about event sponsorship, contact Emma Stephens at estephens@ artscouncilofprinceton.org.

Town Topics

artéé fabrics & home

“ART OF” SERIES CONTINUES: Salsa and bachata dance are among the cultural interests celebrated in the Arts Council of Princeton’s ART OF series. Led by local leaders in interests including art, food, culture, and more, ART OF events are social opportunities that encourage participants to get creative.

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Two Exhibits Closing Soon At

Grounds For Sculpture

Two exhibitions currently on view at Grounds For Sculpture, presenting new works by 17 contemporary artists working in ceramics, are in their final weeks and will close on January 8.

“As a platform for contemporary art and artists, Grounds For Sculpture amplifies the diverse voices and visions of those working in the field today. Our focused look at the underrepresented medium of ceramics shines a light on artists of color firing a new future in clay,” said Gary Schneider, executive director of Grounds For Sculpture, when introducing the exhibitions in the spring.

The solo exhibition “Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter” debuted all new works by the artist, social activist, spoken word poet, and educator. Reimagining traditional European and Asian porcelain forms and techniques with a 21st-century street sensibility, these multi-cultural mashups were created on site by Lugo during his residency at Grounds For Sculpture last winter. The installation includes Put Yourself in the Picture, a 20-foot-high vessel with an interactive viewing platform, representing the first time the artist has worked at this monumental scale.

In his current practice, Lugo uses a variety of clay bodies, including porcelain, and illuminates its historically aristocratic surface with imagery that creates conversation around key

themes in his work: equity, access, and social and racial justice. His surface treatment is a mixture of traditional design, graffiti, and portraiture focusing on representation of iconic people of color from contemporary culture as well as history, from Sojourner Truth to The Notorious BIG and Lugo’s family members including himself and extending to recent events including Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation. The exhibition gallery includes a drop-in maker space that gives visitors the opportunity to experience the materiality of clay as well as a mentorship area with works by artists who influenced Lugo’s work in ceramics.

“For my exhibition at GFS, I reflected on what it means to be the ‘village potter’ — both in terms of celebrating the people who have paved the way forward for me and striving to build that sense of community support for others,” said Lugo. “Art builds empathy as well as an understanding of other people that will lead us to see ourselves in one another and grow a family rather than a society.”

“Fragile: Earth” is a group exhibition of works by artists of color who meditate on social, environmental, and individual perceptions of fragility through the medium of clay. The exhibition is presented in partnership with The Color Network, which seeks to advance people of color in the ceramic arts through

community-building, events, exhibitions, mentorship, and other resources. The 16 artists whose works are on view were selected through The Color Network, by curatorial invitation, and through an open call.

United by their ceramics practice and inclusive of a myriad of social, cultural, economic, geographical, and ethnic backgrounds, the featured artists are Natalia Arbelaez, Ashwini Bhat, Ebitenyefa Baralaye, Syd Carpenter, Adam Chau, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Magdolene Dykstra, April Felipe, Raheleh Filsoofi, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Anabel Juárez, Anina Major, Jane Margarette, Mariana Ramos Ortiz, Virgil Ortiz, and Sarah Petty.

Both “Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter” and “Fragile: Earth” are on view to the public with general admission. Advance timed ticket reservations are highly recommended to ensure entry. Reservations can be made online at groundsforsculpture.org.

Also on view at Grounds

For Sculpture, “Night Forms: Infinite Wave,” an immersive multi-sensory experience described by Klip Collective’s creative director/ founder Ricardo Rivera as “a psychedelic playground of art, music, and light,” is open through April 2.

Grounds For Sculpture is located at 80 Sculptors Way in Hamilton. For more information, visit groundsforsculpture.org.

ANEW Artist Alliance Exhibit At Lambertville Public Library

An exhibit and sale of artwork created by the artists of the ANEW Artist Alliance is at the Lambertville Free Public Library, 6 Lilly Street, Lambertville, through January 27.

ANEW is a group of 18 selftaught visual artists who participated together for many years in the art program at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. Over the past three decades, these artists have shown their work in many diverse venues, and their creations are included in the collections of art lovers near and far. The individual story of each artist, as well as examples of their artwork, can be found at anewartists.com.

Gallery hours are Monday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday, 12 to 9 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 12 to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The library staff can be reached at (609) 397-0276 or staff@lambertvillelibrary.org.

“Walk This Way” Exhibit At Michener Art Museum

Focused on the women who designed, manufactured, sold, and collected footwear, “Walk This Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes,” on view through January 15 at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa., explores how shoes have transcended their utilitarian purpose to become representations of culture — coveted as objects of desire, designed with artistic consideration, and expressing complicated meanings of femininity, power, and aspiration.

The exhibition presents more than 100 pairs of shoes from the extensive private collection assembled over three decades by iconic designer Stuart Weitzman, and businesswoman and philanthropist Jane Gershon Weitzman. Highlights range from a pair of satin wedding shoes worn in 1838 to a pair of glam-rock platform sandals from 1970s London. In exploring the process of shoemaking, the role of women in one of the first mass production industries, and their participation in the forming of organized labor, the exhibition presents the story of the shoe as it has never been told before.

By 1850, shoemaking was America’s second-largest industry after agriculture, and in the early 1900s, one third of the workers in shoe

factories were women. The early 20th century witnessed a revolution in the way women dressed and acted in public along with increased social and political participation. By the second half of the 20th century, women were making significant contributions in the design of footwear, reflecting changing norms of aesthetics while transcending shoes’ utilitarian purpose.

This exhibition has been organized by the New York Historical Society.

The Michener Art Museum is located at 138 South Pine Street in Doylestown, Pa. For more information, visit michenerartmuseum.org.

Area Exhibits

Art@Bainbridge, 158 Nassau Street, has “Colony / Dor Geuz” through February 12. artmuseum.princeton.edu.

Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville, has “Metamorphosis” through March 31. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. lambertvillearts.com.

Art on Hulfish, 11 Hulfish Street, has “Samuel Fosso: Affirmative Acts” through January 29. artmuseum.princeton.edu.

Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, has “Annual Member Show” through December 22, “Board Show” through December 22, and “Works in Progress — Dave DiMarchi” through January 4. artscouncilofprinceton.org.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, Realtors, 253 Nassau Street, has “Intersection: Four Voices in Abstraction” through January 27.

D&R Greenway Land Trust Johnson Education Center, 1 Preservation Place, has “Land, Light, Spirit” through March 10 in the Marie L. Matthews Gallery. drgreenway.org.

Ellarslie, Trenton’s City Museum in Cadwalader Park, Parkside Avenue, has “Curated by Trenton” through January 22. ellarslie.org.

Friend Center for Engineering Education, Princeton University, has Ricardo Barros’ “An Entanglement of Time and Space,” through

December 31. ricardobarros.com/entanglement.

Gourgaud Gallery, 23AA North Main Street, Cranbury, has “Beauty of the Earth” through December 28. cranburyartscouncil.org.

Grounds For Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton, has “Nightforms: Infinite Wave” by Kip Collective through April 2, “Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter” through January 8, and “Fragile: Earth” through January 8, among other exhibits. Timed tickets required. groundsforsculpture.org.

Historical Society of Princeton, Updike Farmstead, 354 Quaker Road, has “Einstein Salon and Innovator’s Gallery,” “Princeton’s Portrait,” and other exhibits. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m., Thursday to 7 p.m. princetonhistory.org

Lambertville Free Public Library, 6 Lilly Street, Lambertville, has “ANEW Artists Alliance” through January 27. lambertvillelibrary.org.

Michener Art Museum, 138 South Pine Street, Doylestown, Pa., has “Walk This Way” through January 15, “(re)Frame: Community Perspectives on the Michener Art Collection” through March 5, and “Wal é Oy é jid é : Flight of the Dreamer” through April 23. michenerartmuseum.org

Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, has “Ma Bell: The Mother of Invention in New Jersey” through March and the online exhibits “Slavery at Morven,” “Portrait of Place: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints of New Jersey, 1761–1898,” and others. morven.org.

Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, has “Karen Wallo” through January 3. “Art Space” is at the 254 Nassau Street location through January 3. smallworldcoffee.com.

Songbird Capital, 14 Nassau Street, has “Shirankala” through January 31. On view Saturdays from 1 to 6 p.m. or Thursdays and Fridays from 5 to 6 p.m. by appointment (609) 331-2624.

West Windsor Arts Center, 952 Alexander Road, West Windsor, has “Off the Wall Holiday Market” and “Artists for Ukraine” through January 7. westwindsorarts.org.

CLOSING SOON: The exhibitions “Robert Lugo: The Village Potter,” left, and “Fragile: Earth” are on view at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton through January 8. Both feature works by contemporary artists working in ceramics.

“HIMAWARI”: This piece by Aniya Prescott is featured in an exhibit and sale of works created by members of the ANEW Artist Alliance, on view at the Lambertville Free Public Library through January 27.

“WALK THIS WAY”: An exhibition focused on women who designed, manufactured, sold, and collected footwear — and featuring more than 100 pairs of shoes — is on view through January 15 at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa.

Mark Your Calendar TOWN TOPICS

Wednesday, December 21

6 p.m.: Princeton Public Library Board of Trustees meet either in the Library’s Community Room or via Zoom. Princetonlibrary.org.

7 p.m.: Roxey Ballet and Lambertville Historical Society present “A Very Lambertville Holiday Celebration,” at Music Mountain Theater, 1483 Route 179, Lambertville. Roxeyballet. org.

7:30 p.m.: MCCC Symphonic Band performs at Kelsey Theatre, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road West Windsor. Classics by Vivaldi, Sousa, and Strauss, plus pops, seasonal favorites, and a traditional holiday sing-along. Sold out, but the free event can be accessed by livestream. Mccc. edu/events.

7:30-9 p.m.: Summer Swing Orchestra performs a Christmas Swing Band Concert, Flemington Methodist Church, 116 Main Street, Flemington. Summerswing. com.

8-10:30 p.m.: Princeton Country Dancers presents a contra dance at Suzanne Patterson Center, 1 Monument Drive. Michael Karcher with Raise the Roof. $15. Princetoncountrydancers. org.

Friday, December 23

7:30 p.m.: The Princeton Symphonic Brass holds its Classics and Carols Holiday Concert at Hillman Performance Center, Westminster Choir College, 101 Walnut Lane. $5-$22. Psbrass. com/tickets.

8 p.m.: The Queen’s Cartoonists in “Holiday Hurrah: Yule Love It” at State Theatre New Jersey, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. Jazz sextet performs against backdrop of screened cartoons. $24-$44. STNJ.org.

Saturday, December 24

4:30 p.m.: Caroling Around the Square, at Palmer Square Green. With the Christmas Eve Brass Band, and Santa Claus. Free.

Sunday, December 25

1 p.m.: The 60th annual reenactment of George Washington’s Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware River, at Washington Crossing Historic Park in Washington Crossing, Pa. Free. Washingtoncrossingpark.org.

2 p.m.: Carillon concert from Princeton University’s Graduate Tower; listen from outside the building. Arts. princeton.edu.

Tuesday, December 27

2 p.m.: The movie The Bad Guys is screened at Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street. Princetonlibrary.org.

Wednesday, December 28

8-10:30 p.m.: Princeton Country Dancers presents a contra dance at Suzanne Patterson Center, 1 Monument Drive. Ridge Kennedy and Princeton Pickup Band led by Michael Bell. $15; free for ages 35 and younger. Princetoncountrydancers.org.

Thursday, December 29

2 p.m.: Kids’ Mad Science Workshop in the Community Room of Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street. Scientists from Mad Science give a presentation that showcases the science of winter. Princetonlibrary. org.

Saturday, December 31 8 p.m.: The Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey presents “A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald” with Paula Johns at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, Lafayette Street, Trenton. Pre-concert organ recital is at 7:10 p.m. Johns and trumpeter Bob Gravener perform works from the 40s and 50s. Capitalphilharmonic.org.

Monday, January 2 Recycling

Wednesday, January 4 8-10:30 p.m.: Princeton Country Dancers presents a contra dance at Suzanne Patterson Center, 1 Monument Drive. Bob Isaacs with Squirrel’s Chair. $15. Princetoncountrydancers.org.

Thursday, January 5 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Membership luncheon for Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber, at Princeton Marriott at Forrestal, 100 College Road East. Tim Palilonis, managing director at BlackRock, is speaker. Princetonmercer.org.

Friday, January 6 8-10 a.m.: Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber holds the Mercer Employer Legislative Committee Monthly Breakfast at The Lobby Club, 17 East Front Street, Trenton. Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald is the speaker. Princetonmercer. org.

Saturday, January 7 12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Jeff Penque performs. Indoor seating in the wine barn; outdoor with firepits. Wine by the glass, cocoa for kids, and more. Terhuneorchards.com.

Sunday, January 8 9:45 a.m.: Princeton Battlefield Society presents “Experience the Battle of Princeton” at Princeton Battlefield, 500 Mercer Street. Narrated reenactment followed by a wreath-laying ceremony; tours of Thomas Clarke House; and more. Pbs1777.org.

12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Carmen Marranco performs. Indoor seating in the wine barn; outdoor with firepits. Wine by the glass, cocoa for kids, and more. Terhuneorchards.com.

Tuesday, January 10 7:30-9 p.m.: The Princeton Recorder Society meets on Zoom. For more information, contact jtanne1200@ gmail.com

Wednesday, January 11

8-10:30 p.m.: Princeton Country Dancers presents a contra dance at Suzanne Patterson Center, 1

Monument Drive. Sue Gola with Blue Jersey. $15. Princetoncountrydancers.org.

Friday, January 13 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: The Hunterdon County Rug Artisans Guild holds its monthly meeting at the Administration building of Hunterdon County complex, Route 12 outside of Flemington. Guests welcome. Hcrag. com.

Saturday, January 14 12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Sarah Teti performs. Indoor seating in the wine barn; outdoor with firepits. Wine by the glass, cocoa for kids, and more. Terhuneorchards.com.

Sunday, January 14 12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Larry Tritel performs. Indoor seating in the wine barn; outdoor with firepits. Wine by the glass, cocoa for kids, and more. Terhuneorchards.com.

Monday, January 16 Recycling

1-3 p.m.: The Women’s College Club of Princeton meets at Morven Education Center, 55 Stockton Street, to hear the Rev. David Mulford’s talk, “Presidents Who…”. Free and open to the public. WCCPNJ.org.

Tuesday, January 17 10 a.m.: Read and Explore program at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Kids read the story The Gingerbread Man and decorate a big cookie to take home. $12. Register at terhuneorchards.com.

Wednesday, January 18

8-10:30 p.m.: Princeton Country Dancers presents a contra dance at Suzanne Patterson Center, 1 Monument Drive. Donna Hunt with Clark Mills. Free. Princetoncountrydancers.org.

Saturday, January 21

10 a.m.: Read and Explore program at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Kids read the story The Gingerbread Man and decorate a big cookie to take home. $12. Register at terhuneorchards.com.

12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Brian Bortnick performs. Indoor seating in the wine barn; outdoor with firepits. Wine by the glass, cocoa for kids, and more. Terhuneorchards.com.

Sunday, January 22

12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Jerry Steele performs. Indoor seating in the wine barn; outdoor with firepits. Wine by the glass, cocoa for kids, and more. Terhuneorchards.com.

3 p.m.: Open Sing with the Princeton Society of Musical Amateurs, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, 50 Cherry Hill Road. Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers

Vocal scores provided $10 (free for students and nonsinging guests). Musicalamateurs.org.

Tuesday, January 24 7 p.m.: “Wednesday” night out: Sophie Labelle’s Trans Agenda Speaking Tour at Hopewell Theater, 5 South Greenwood Avenue. She will answer questions from the audience and sign copies of Assigned Male at the end. Redlibrary.org.

Wednesday, January 25 8-10:30 p.m.: Princeton Country Dancers presents a contra dance at Suzanne Patterson Center, 1 Monument Drive. Open Mic led by Bob Isaacs. $15 (free for 35 and younger). Princetoncountrydancers.org.

Friday, January 27 8-11 a.m.: Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber’s 2023 Real Estate Forecast, at Princeton Marriott Hotel at Forrestal, 100 College Road East. Speakers are Lawrence Yun, Karly Iacono, Judson Henderson, and George Gnad. Princetonmercer.org.

Saturday, January 28 10-11 a.m.: Lunar New Year Storytime with local author Yobe Qiu at Hopewell Train Station, 2 Railroad Place, Hopewell. Redlibrary.org.

DECEMBERFEBRUARY

12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Chris P performs. Indoor seating in the wine barn; outdoor with firepits. Wine by the glass, cocoa for kids, and more. Terhuneorchards.com.

Sunday, January 29

12-5 p.m.: Winery Weekend Music series at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Spiced Punch performs. Indoor seating in the wine barn; outdoor with firepits. Wine by the glass, cocoa for kids, and more. Terhuneorchards.com.

1 p.m.: Wassailing the Apple Trees at Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Singing, dancing playing primitive instruments, toasts of hot cider, and more, with Handsome Molly Dancers and Kingessing Morris Dancers. Free. Terhuneorchards.com.

Tuesday, January 21

10 a.m.: Read and Explore: Animal Tracks. At Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold

Soil Road. Kids read books about animals in winter, make bird feeders, and visit farm animals if weather permits. $12. Register at terhuneorchards.com.

Monday, January 30 Recycling

Saturday, February 4 10 a.m.: Read and Explore: Animal Tracks. At Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road. Kids read books about animals in winter, make bird feeders, and visit farm animals if weather permits. $12. Register at terhuneorchards.com.

Sunday, February 12 4 p.m.: The Princeton Society of Musical Amateurs meets at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, Route 206 at Cherry Hill Road, for a choral reading of Beethoven’s Mass in C. Vocal scores provided $10 (free for students and non-singing guests). Musicalamateurs.org.

Monday, February 13 Recycling

41 Leigh Avenue, Princeton www.tortugasmv.com

Christmas Worship Services

Princeton

924-5143

Christmas Eve Service at 8pm - Join us in the magnificent University Chapel for a very special Christmas Eve Worship Service with Rev. Alison L. Boden, Ph.D., Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University. The music prelude begins at 7:30pm with the Chapel community choir, chamber orchestra, and University Organist Eric Plutz.

Christmas Day Service at 11am - Join us at in the magnificent Princeton University Chapel for a Christmas Day Worship Service with Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames, Associate Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel. Music by Eric Plutz, University Organist.

After Late Rally Against Delaware Falls Short, Tiger Men’s Hoops Doing Some Soul Searching

Coming off a tough 70-64 defeat to Iona earlier in the week, the Princeton University men’s basketball team was looking to get back on the winning track as it hosted Delaware on Saturday.

Instead, Princeton dug an early hole, trailing the Blue Hens 37-25 at halftime. Things got worse for the Tigers as they found themselves behind 58-43 with 9:46 left in regulation.

“I thought they dictated every single part of the game, we were on our heels throughout the entire game,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson.

Mounting a furious rally, the Tigers had Delaware on its heels, going on a 25-11 run to narrow the gap to 69-68 with 53 seconds remaining in the game as the Jadwin Gym crowd was roaring.

“It just meant more, we get down, that is our panic time,” said Tiger junior guard and co-captain Matt Allocco, reflecting on the Princeton comeback.

Allocco hit a fall away threepointer from the corner that got the Tigers to within one.

“I was open, we hit a couple of shots in a row,” said Allocco who previously hit a three with 3:03 remaining to narrow the gap to 67-65. “We were starting to make a run, it is just how the game goes sometimes.”

Things didn’t go well for the Tigers in the waning seconds as Delaware held off their charge to pull away to a 7669 victory before 1,599 at Jadwin.

The late rally provided little solace to a subdued Allocco.

“We need to get to the point where we play like that for 40

minutes,” said Allocco, who ended up with 11 points, six rebounds, and two assists in the contest as Princeton dropped to 8-4. “It is tough to swallow, but we didn’t deserve to win that game.”

It was a tough loss for Henderson to swallow as well. “It is a real eye-opener for us, we got a break here, we are in exams,” said Henderson, who got 16 points from Ryan Langborg in the defeat with Xaivian Lee tallying 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench and Caden Pierce and Keeshawn Kellman scoring 10 apiece. “I don’t think we are sick enough of losing. We have got to get more sick about it.”

In order to get well, it will take a collective effort from the Tigers.

“We have to do it together,” said Henderson. “We are very capable of getting to a point where we can come back in games but it is really hard to come back and win.”

Committing 16 turnovers against the Blue Hens make it very hard for Princeton to win.

“I figured we would be tougher, I think this is a tough team but we are not tough with the ball,” said Henderson. “We had 16 turnovers against a team that really doesn’t pressure you. It is really a tough one for us. We have to learn something from this too, like we did on Tuesday.”

With Princeton hosting Division III Kean University on

December 23 and then starting its Ivy League campaign by hosting Harvard on December 31, the Tigers will be doing some soul searching in the wake of the loss to Delaware.

“We are not coming ready to play now, our heads may have gotten a little too big there in that eight-game winning streak,” said Henderson. “We got a little bit of humble pie here and we have to be ‘OK, how are we going to respond?’ We are going to find out what is going on now. The light shines on you a little bit more, it exposes you. There is a lot of blame going around right now. We have got to get it corrected here in an exam period and then have a Division III game and a break and a short amount of practice before Harvard.”

Henderson is cautiously optimistic that Princeton can right the ship. “Let’s hope we are not sitting here in two weeks doing the same thing,” said Henderson. “We have some stuff that can really be corrected — turnovers is the eye-opener. That is the one.”

Tiger tri-captain Allocco, who took the defeat to the Blue Hens personally, is determined to get things corrected.

“We just weren’t ready to go. I am supposed to be a leader and get us ready to go,” said Allocco. “I didn’t hold up my end of the deal, I have got to be better.”

—Bill Alden

BLACK AND BLUE: Princeton University men’s basketball player Matt Allocco, center, gets sandwiched by a pair of defenders in recent action. Last Saturday against Delaware, junior star Allocco scored 11 points, including a pair of three-pointers down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough as a late Princeton rally fell short in a 76-69 loss to the Blue Hens. The Tigers, now 8-4, host Division III Kean University on December 23. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Women’s Volleyball Kelly Earns All-America Honors

Princeton University women’s volleyball standout Lindsey Kelly has been named as an Honorable Mention All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

Senior star Kelly, the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year, an AVCA Northeast All-Region honoree and a first team All-Ivy League honoree, ranked No. 2 nationally and led the Ivy League in assists per set with 12.10 In total, Kelly recorded 40 or more assists in 17 matches this season, including a career-high 61 against Rider on September 14.

Kelly, a native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., also led Princeton and ranked fourth in the Ivy League in service aces, tallying 33 on the season. Additionally, Kelly ranked second on the team along with ninth in the conference in digs per set, and recorded 11 double-doubles in the 2022 season.

With Kelly playing a leading role, the Tigers had a 21-4 overall record and a 13-1 record in Ivy League play, tying for the league’s regular season crown.

Tiger Men’s Water Polo

Has 4 Named All-American

For the first time in program history, the Princeton University men’s water polo team has had four players named Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Americans.

Sophomore Roko Pozaric was named to the second team, the first Tiger to earn second team honors since Peter Sabbatini in 2004. Senior Keller Maloney, senior Antonio Knez, and sophomore Vladan Mitrovic were chosen as Honorable Mention selections.

The Tigers have had at least one All-American every year since 2008. This is the 10th time Princeton has had more than one AllAmerican and just the second time it has had more than two (2014).

Pozaric, a Zagreb, Croatia, native who was named the Northeast Water Polo Conference Player of the Year, led the Tigers with 62 goals, 51 steals, and 93 sprint wins this season, adding 39 assists and 34 drawn ejections. He scored in every game he played except for three, contributing 19 multi-goal performances. His signature contest was a four-goal, two-assist, fivesteal outing in a win at No. 8 UC Santa Barbara.

Maloney, a native of Los Angeles, Calif., paced Princeton with 108 points and 51 assists while securing 57 goals. He also nabbed 49 drawn ejections and 34

steals for the Tigers. He had 18 multi-goal games and 15 multi-assist outings. He had four straight hat tricks out in California vs. LMU, No. 17 Santa Clara, Fresno Pacific, No. 16 California Baptist, and vs. No. 3 Stanford.

He also registered consecutive hat tricks in the NCAA Tournament against No. 16 Fordham and No. 1 USC.

Star goalie Knez, who hails from Dubrovnik, Croatia, was 13-4 with 178 saves and a .538 save percentage, putting up 13 assists and 12 steals. His best moments of the season include 18 stops against No. 12 UC Irvine and 19 saves at No. 20 St. Francis Brooklyn.

Mitrovic, a Novi Sad, Serbia, native, was one of five Tigers with 30+ goals, contributing 32 along with 11 assists, 17 steals, and nine blocks. He had nine multigoal games including a hat trick against No. 16 Fordham and two tallies against No. 1 USC in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers went 27-6 this fall, setting a single-season program record for most wins. They advanced in the NCAA tournament for the second straight year, another first for the program.

Princeton Athletes Bograd, Starks Named Finalists for Citizenship Cup

Princeton University men’s soccer player Ben Bograd and Tiger softball standout Serena Starks have been named as two of the 26 finalists for the 2023 Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup.

Each year, Athletes for a Better World presents the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup — named in honor of legendary UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden — to athletes from the professional, collegiate, and high school ranks who have made the greatest difference in the lives of others. The recipients — one male and one female — will be announced in early January and honored on April 27 at a ceremony held at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

A politics major pursuing certificates in history and the practice of diplomacy and American Studies, senior Bograd serves as president of Princeton’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (VSAAC) and is on the Executive Committee with Princeton’s Student-Athlete Wellness Leaders (SAWLs). With SAWLs, he has helped recruit and train over 50 student-athletes to provide resources and referrals to teammates around issues of health and well-being.

In addition, he worked over the past two years with Princeton’s Vote100 campaign for civic engagement, leading the charge towards 100 percent voter registration and participation across campus and specifically among varsity programs at Princeton with initiatives driven through VSAAC. Bograd is also a founder of J’Asians, an affinity group through the Center for Jewish Life for biracial

Jewish students who identify as Asian.

During the pandemic, while Princeton was functioning via remote learning and Ivy League athletics were on pause, Bograd took the opportunity to become a leader for Poll Hero, helping to generate more than 37,000 volunteers to staff voting locations around the country. During each of his undergraduate summers, Bograd has put his skills to work for a variety of political campaigns and public interest offices, including the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, a Manhattan communications consultancy, the Maine Democratic Party, the Office of Representative Tom Malinowski, and the Wilderness Society.

On the field, defender Bograd was part of two Ivy League championship teams during his Princeton career, playing in 58 career matches and logging over 2,200 minutes on the back line.

A student in Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs, senior Starks is pursuing a certificate in Asian American Studies. Serena’s passion for social justice and commitment to service has informed her academic pursuits, including a task force on misinformation and hate speech. A founding president of Asian Student-Athletes of Princeton (ASAP), Starks serves on the Executive Committee of Tigers Together, Princeton Athletics’ leadership group focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion where she worked alongside peers, coaches and administrators.

A student-athlete wellness leader (SAWL), Starks serves as a resource for teammates in the areas of mental health and well-being. In addition, she serves on the Student-Athlete Service Council, which helps leads service initiatives across all of Princeton’s varsity programs.

Extending her passion for service beyond Princeton, Starks is a co-president of the Princeton Disability Awareness Board, organizing a spring community carnival and other events to educate others about disabilities and access. Honoring her leadership in the community, Starks was selected for Service Focus, a yearlong opportunity to partner strategically with professors, nonprofits, and student groups to increase service engagement in and around the campus. She is a member of the New Jersey Best Buddies chapter that serves those with special needs in Princeton. She is a student mentor in the Academic Success Today program, coordinating mentormentee match ups between Princeton students and local community school aged children.

A first-team All-Ivy selection in 2022, outfielder Starks was part of Princeton’s Ivy League championship team last season, leading the team in hits (54) and batting average (.355).

KNIGHT MOVES: Princeton University women’s basketball player Julia Cunningham goes up for a layup in recent action. Last Thursday at Rutgers, senior star guard Cunningham scored 24 points to help Princeton overcome a 15-point deficit on the way to a 77-56 win over the Scarlet Knights. Cunningham was later named the Ivy League Player of the Week. The Tigers, now 7-3, are next in action when they host Rhode Island on December 28. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Kyleigh Tangen displayed her endurance this fall as she starred for the Princeton High girls’ cross country team.

Junior Tangen placed 11th at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 4 Central Jersey sectional and 16th at the Mercer County championship meet.

Last Wednesday, Tangen demonstrated her stamina in the water for the PHS girls’ swimming team, winning the 200-yard freestyle and placing second in the 500 free to help the Tigers top Robbinsville 119-47 as they improved to 3-0.

“I have been having a lot of fun doing the distance races, it brings a lot of new energy,” said Tangen. “I feel like I can meet a lot of new people because you are not racing the same people.”

PHS has been having fun in the early going as its swimmers have been experimenting with different events.

“It is nice in the beginning to mix and match races, I really enjoy that,” said Tangen.

Tangen enjoys mixing and matching her athletic pursuits. “It was fun during cross country, I have really good control over my breath,” said Tangen, who also competes for Princeton Piranhas Swim Team.“When I am running by people, they are panting really hard and I am jogging leisurely. I only do club swimming three days a week during cross country compared to six during the normal season. I want to concentrate more heavily on the sport in which season I am in.”

Competing with fellow juniors Jesse Wang, Courtney Weber, Lauren Girouard, and Nora Chen on the PHS team has been a lot of fun for Tangen.

“I have known and raced with the people three years, we are really good friends at this point,” said Tangen. “We don’t swim on the same club teams. It is really nice to be able to race as a team during the high school season rather than competing against each other.”

Racing against sophomore teammate Sabine Ristad in the 500 free helped Tangen come up with a nice swim.

“She is a distance swimmer and I said ‘it is going to be a race,’ but then it wasn’t,” said Tangen, whose clocked a time of 5:42.22 in taking second with Ristad winning in 5:37.03. “She told me she was going to swim easy but then after the first 50, I realized this is not easy.”

PHS head coach Carly Misiewicz likes the way Tangen has been swimming this winter.

“The 500 is something she has been saying lately, I like this, can I swim this a little bit more often for us,” said Misiewicz. “She is just such a positive person to have on the pool deck.”

Although some swimmers were missing for PHS last Wednesday due to upcoming club events and illness, the mood on the deck was still positive as others stepped up with some good performances. Individual winners for the Tigers in the meet included Beatrice Cai in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly, Jesse Wang in the 100 free, Annie Flanagan in the 100 backstroke, and Jessica Hull in the 100 breaststroke.

“We are very fortunate with our depth,” said Misiewicz. “Beatrice did the 100

fly for us today and the 200 IM. She will do anything for us. Annie is a really good one as a newcomer. She won the 100 backstroke so that was a good one.”

With the Tigers swimming against Hopewell Valley on December 22 at the Pennington School pool before heading into a holiday break, Misiewicz is looking for her swimmers to push through fatigue.

“Everyone knows that the end goal is counties and postseason,” said Misiewicz. “Regular season is all of this prep. Being able to race through being tired is what I stress to them — that is the most important thing. You have to be able to race when you are tired so when you are not tired, all of the effort that you are putting forth now will just come twice as easy.”

In Tangen’s view, PHS has the depth to do well when it gets into the stretch run of the season.

“We have a lot of promising new swimmers this year,” said Tangen. “They are really super talents and I am looking forward to racing with them at counties and states.”

—Bill Alden

With Brophy Emerging as a Distance Star, PHS Boys’ Swimming Looking Formidable

After making a solid debut for the Princeton High boys’ swimming team last winter, David Brophy is looking to take things to a higher level as a sophomore.

“I have been really working hard in the offseason, my freestyle has improved a lot,” said Brophy, who also competes for the PTAC (Princeton Tigers Aquatics Club) team. “I would say the biggest improvement for me is probably the 500 free and the 200 free.”

Last Wednesday against Robbinsville, Brophy showed that progress, placing first in the 500-yard free in a time of 5:11.21.

“I was trying to keep it steady, it was a good swim,” said Brophy. “I got a nice time off of it — I was really proud of myself.”

With PHS posting a 10559 win over the Ravens to improve to 3-0, Brophy is proud of the squad’s efforts overall.

“The whole team has improved a lot because they have all been working hard in the offseason,” said Brophy. “That is great, we are going to keep it going.”

Helping the Tigers win the Mercer County championship meet, the Public B Central Jersey sectional title and advancing to the Public B state fi nal on the way to a 14-1 record last season as a freshman, gave Brophy a

“It was defi nitely a confidence builder but it was also we need to do that again this year,” said Brophy.

Brophy draws confi dence from competing with a sophomore class that includes such standouts as David Xu, Jaiden Xu, Daniel Guo, Tyler Cenci, Matias Da Costa, and Jaiden Jung.

“We all push each other to do better,” said Brophy. “We are all friends outside of school, we all hang out. We have got a really nice bond and it is really great.”

In addition, Brophy is pushed to greater heights by his older brother Marty, a senior standout for PHS cross country and wrestling.

“They are different worlds but you see what he does in

the larger level,” said Brophy, who also plays baseball. “He is a senior so it is something that I have to live up to. Even if they are different sports, we still compare them in a way. I want to do similar things in my sports.”

PHS head coach Carly Misiewicz likes what Brophy has been doing this winter.

“David’s 500 was a nice, very easy controlled 500,” said Misiewicz. “That is what he and I were talking about.”

In the win over Robbinsville, Misiewicz got a lot of good swims as PHS victors included David Xu in the 100 and 200 free, Daniel Guo in the 200 individual medley, Daniel Baytin in the 50 free, and Elijah Meier in the 100 breaststroke.

“We are still able to have fun with things and just mix things up a little bit now, getting everyone in different events,” said Misiewicz.

“Maybe they only have one event and a relay or two. I think to start the season off with our fi rst three meets, it is good to be able to have that flexibility. We can experiment with some things and learn a little bit more about our freshmen and newcomers and even our vets.”

With the Tigers having a meet against Hopewell Valley at the Pennington School on December 22 before going on holiday break, Misiewicz knows that things will get tougher in January.

“Coming right back from the break we have got in order Notre Dame, WW/PSouth, and WW/P-North,” said Misiewicz. “We are kind of gearing up for that with a focus on hard training through the break. We will then start to focus on technique and little details.”

Brophy, for his part, is geared up for the challenges ahead.

“We are trying to have a great season, build off of what we did last year, and maybe go a little further,” said Brophy. “I am looking forward to it. At our first practice, we were talking about how there was going to be a target on our backs. We are hoping to be really good.”

With Stamina Enhanced by Running Cross Country, Tangen Helps PHS Girls’ Swimming Produce 3-0 Start

Princeton High girls’ swimmer Kyleigh Tangen shows her freestyle form in a race last season. Junior Tangen starred as PHS defeated Robbinsville 119-47 last Wednesday, winning the 200-yard freestyle and taking second in the 500 free. PHS, which

win,

meet against Hopewell Valley on December 22 at the Pennington School pool.

(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Boasting Its Largest Turnout of Players in Years, PHS Girls’ Hockey Building for Future Success

Christian Herzog ran into an equipment issue with his Princeton High girls’ hockey team due to the turnout for preseason practice.

“It is the most girls I have had in a few years — I used up all of our jerseys and I had to get a few extra ones,” said PHS head coach Herzog, who is carrying 26 players on his roster. “I have some significant numbers this year, something was in the water.”

Since many of the players are newcomers to the sport,

Herzog is looking to build a solid foundation for success down the road.

“We are skating our way to the future; the reason I am keeping so many players is that I am laying the groundwork for the future,” said Herzog, whose team lost 10-2 to Randolph High last Friday to move to 0-3. “I have a ton of freshmen and sophomores. There are already girls who are asking about ‘what can I do over the summer?’ There are some people who are invested.”

two experienced sophomores, Cassie Speir and Maya Hagt, who are very invested in the program.

“Cassie is a workhorse, she is extremely hard working; I have her on defense,” said Herzog of assistant captain Speir, who has scored all four of PHS’s goals this season. “Cassie has speed, she has a shot, and she has grit. She is not easy to push over. Maya has got some skill. It is good to have them both on the ice at the same time. Maya is the head captain, she

is in a big leadership role. She follows through — she was essential in getting all of these girls to play.”

Senior Annie Terry is providing leadership and production on the blue line as the team’s other assistant captain.

“Annie is working hard, I have a lot of respect for her,” said Herzog, who has two other seniors, Hannah Christopher and Kayla Christopher, seeing a lot of time at forward. “She is really trying to fill a void and there is a big void with Cece [Gibb] gone, that is a lot of goals right there.”

Junior newcomer Logan Hollingsworth is filling a void at goalie.

“She has zero experience, she works hard in practice,” said Herzog of Hollingsworth, who had 13 saves in the loss to Randolph. “She has got a ways to go, but she is willing to work hard. She has got the right attitude. She is competitive, but she doesn’t put that extra pressure on herself.”

Three other new faces — senior Ash O’Dell, freshman Sophia Lee, and freshman Maggie Tang — have been putting in some good work for the Tigers.

“Ash is a field hockey player — she should have come out as a freshman because she has a mind for the game without

having any experience,” said Herzog. “Sophia is a figure skater, she has these super long strides. Maggie has really good skating skills. She has got some size. She is on defense, she is going to be a player.”

With PHS facing Chatham on December 21 at the Mennen Arena in Morristown, Herzog is looking for his players to keep developing their game.

“I tell the girls, ‘we are trying to build your strength and skills for next season; I will get you into games if I can so you can get acclimated to some game time,’” said Herzog. “We are playing to develop, we are playing everybody. It is about having a good time and developing passion for the sport.”

—Bill Alden

STICKING WITH IT: Princeton High girls’ hockey player Annie Terry, left, goes after the puck in a game last season. Senior defenseman and assistant captain Terry is looking to have a big final campaign for the Tigers. PHS, which fell 10-2 to Randolph last Friday to move to 0-3, faces Chatham on December 21 at the Mennen Arena in Morristown. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Lifted by Clutch Performance from Senior Star

PDS Boys’ Hoops Edges

It took Jaden Dublin a while to get acclimated when he joined the Princeton Day School boys’ basketball team last winter as a junior.

“I transferred in, so I didn’t play many games,” said Dublin. “I had to wait 30 days.”

Coming into this winter, Dublin had a much greater comfort level.

“Starting off this season, being able to play, it just shows,” said Dublin. “This offseason, I put in a lot of work. I was in the gym every day with my team — we did hours in and hours out.”

Dublin’s work showed last Saturday as PDS held off a furious rally by visiting Nottingham to pull out a 64-62 win over the Northstars.

“We just wanted to come out and be resilient and be strong,” said Dublin, who had tallied a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. “We know this is going to be a tougher team that we are playing, so we just have to be strong. Last year, our record wasn’t too good. This year we have a different mindset.”

PDS got off to a strong start, jumping out to an 1812 lead in the first quarter and taking a 36-27 advantage into halftime.

“It definitely builds confidence in our team,” said Dublin, who had scored 19 points in a 60-48 win over WW/P-North last Thursday in the season opener. “We just want to be able to survive the first couple of punches that the team throws. Doing that keeps us strong and levelheaded.”

With Nottingham having taken a 62-61 lead in the last minute of the contest, Dublin raced in for a layup to put the Panthers ahead 63-62, and later added a free throw to provide the final margin of victory.

“It is just knowing that my teammates are going to back me up whatever I do,”

Dublin,

Nottingham, Moves to 2-0

said Dublin, reflecting on his late heroics. “It allows me to play confident and trust my abilities, and also trust my team.”

Settling in with the PDS program, Dublin is taking a key role with the squad.

“I feel like I am the heartbeat of the team as a leader,” said Dublin. “Even if we are not playing our best, I feel like it is my responsibility to weather that and keep us levelheaded.”

Developing a deep bond with fellow senior guard Jaden Hall has helped Dublin’s emergence as a leader.

“Jaden Hall is my boy; we work out all of the time, we are always texting,” said Dublin of Hall. “It is like he is my brother, on and off the court. The connection really shows for everybody else. It just reflects how many hours we put in.”

PDS head coach Eugene Burroughs likes the game Dublin has been showing in the early going.

“Jaden has been great and I think he still has even more room to grow,” said Burroughs. “The more he plays, the more confident he will be and the better plays he will make. He is just unleashing the potential of where can be at the end of the season. He is a strong kid, a tough kid. His plays at the rim are great and he is finding his teammates. You can see his speed with the basketball.”

Burroughs was proud of the mental toughness his squad displayed in holding off the Northstars.

“It was a great early test for us, we are trying to build that scrappy mentality,” said Burroughs. “It was a physical game, it was an aggressive game. For this team to be able to compete at that level just shows the switch mentally that we have been trying to instill in them as basketball players.”

In starting 2-0, PDS has

made strides at the offensive end of the court.

“One of our themes this year is moving the basketball,” said Burroughs. “I think we have some skilled players. We move the ball and share it. We have some kids who can shoot the basketball. We have been scoring the ball which last year we struggled to do.”

In the win over Nottingham, the Panthers showed balance as Hall scored 15 points with sophomore Adam Stewart adding 11 and freshman Jordan Owens contributing 12.

“Jaden Hall played right through a hand injury, it is another step for him,” said Burroughs. “He just has so much more in him; he has been great. Adam did some great things for us with some nice drives and big plays. He is still growing. He is a young player and he hasn’t scratched the surface of where he is going to be by the end of the season. Jordan is a great complement to this older group, they make his job a little easier. He can shoot the basketball and he is confident.”

Burroughs sees the performance against Nottingham as a confidence builder for the his squad.

“I am happy for that group; it was a big win for us to see the progression of our program and for this team to believe and fight and scratch,” said Burroughs.

“I am excited for them and they should be excited. Every game for us is a championship game. That is our mentality.”

With PDS competing in the South Hunterdon tournament from December 2728, Burroughs is looking to see his team’s mentality when it runs into some adversity.

“I want to keep them levelheaded to understand each game is different and each game you have to grow on; that was game

one, this is game two,” said Burroughs. “There are going be some bumps in the road — so what do you do then? For them to win down the stretch, those are signs of potentially a good team that can find ways to win. When they go up one and you come back and make a play, get a lay-up, and get a

stop. We are OK, the next level for us is to be good. All of those things help move you one step closer to us to being good. I don’t think we are there yet.”

Dublin believes that the Panthers will keep taking steps forward.

“Just going on, we have

to keep being humble,” said Dublin. “We have to keep being resilient — stay strong and the wins are going to come. Winning a game like this, especially at our place, keeps us rolling into the next couple of games and having some momentum.”

—Bill Alden

HAIR-RAISING EXPERIENCE: Princeton Day School boys’ basketball player Jaden Dublin, right, dribbles past a defender last Saturday against Nottingham. Senior guard Dublin scored a teamhigh 16 points in the contest to help PDS edge the Northstars 64-62 and improve to 2-0. In upcoming action, PDS will be competing in the South Hunterdon tournament from December 27-28.

(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Sparked by Jackson’s Emergence as Top Playmaker, PDS Boys’ Hockey Making Progress at 2-2-1

Liam Jackson was ready to step up for the Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team this winter in his second season with the program.

“Coach [Scott Bertoli] has put a lot more responsibility on me to do more of the scoring as opposed to last year,” said junior forward Jackson. “I am just trying to play with more confidence. It is hard playing with the crowd there in high school with bigger kids. I definitely made some improvements in confidence, and I am looking to continue that this year.”

Last Thursday against Gloucester Catholic, Jackson scored a goal and an assist in the second period as PDS jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

“It was a good play by Riley Schmidt on the faceoff, getting it forward and to the front of the net,” said Jackson, reflecting on the goal. “Han [Shin] made a great play jumping up into the play on the assist. He broke up the play and I just knocked it up to him. He had a great finish.”

The Panthers extended the lead to 4-0 early in the third period on a second goal by Shin but it was Gloucester who finished strong, scoring five straight goals to forge ahead 5-4.

“We wanted to come out with a lot of energy and I think we did, going up 4-0 there and then we let our foot off the gas pedal,” said Jackson. “We let up. We played a good game until

the third period … when it started to all go down.”

PDS, though, was able to salvage a tie as Jackson tallied a goal with 1:10 left in regulation to end the scoring in the wild contest.

“It was a good shot by Connor Stratton from the point,” said Jackson, recalling the tally. “He got that in front and then the puck just found my stick and I put it in.”

While pulling out the tie in the wake of a 6-1 loss to Christian Brothers two days earlier was some consolation, Jackson acknowledged that PDS should not have squandered the lead.

“It was lucky to get the tie — we definitely didn’t play our best game,” said Jackson of the Panthers, who moved to 2-2-1 with a 3-0 win over St. Joseph (Montvale) last Monday. “Just to come out with a point is huge for the rest of the year. Going on a two-game losing streak is not what we wanted. I think there are some positive takeaways that we have. As a team, we have to be better here.”

With Jackson leading the Panthers with seven points on two goals and five assists, he is off to a positive start.

“I am playing with great linemates in Riley Schmidt and Brady Logue,” said Jackson. “They are great players — they really help. They give me a lot of good passes. We work really well together.”

PDS head coach Scott Bertoli likes the work he is getting from Jackson.

“Liam has made big time progress,” said Bertoli. “He is a tremendous player and we put him out there in a lot of key situations.”

The Panthers, though, didn’t excel in key situations down the stretch against Gloucester Catholic.

“We just don’t manage the game; it is hockey, these kids have played hockey a long time,” said Bertoli. “Too many of them, all they see is the net at the other end and they want to score irregardless of the situation. We are giving up 3-on-1s because we don’t manage situations. At some point there needs to be situational awareness — where you are on the ice, what the situation is on the clock, what the score is, and who is on the ice for them. We are just trading chances. When you are trading chances with teams that want to play that way, you are playing with fire in some respects. It worked until it didn’t.”

While PDS showed some grit in pulling out the tie, that isn’t what Bertoli will remember about the game.

“It softens the blow a little bit,” said Bertoli, who also got a goal from Oliver Hall in the loss. “But blowing a four-goal lead in the third period, it will take me a little bit to overcome that.”

Going forward, Bertoli is looking for his veteran players to get better at closing the deal.

“The points are great, I expect them from those type of guys because they are talented kids,” said Bertoli, whose team hosts St. Augustine on December 22 before taking a holiday break. “But they are also out there when Glouces-

ter tied the game up. If we are going to give guys certain responsibilities, they need to do a better job of managing them and proving to us that they are the ones that belong out there the next time.”

Jackson is confident that

Topics

the Panthers will do a good job as the winter unfolds.

“I think we have definitely had steps forward from last year,” said Jackson. “We just have to keep that going and keep improving.”

—Bill Alden

Mon – 11:30-9 · Tues-Fri – 11:30-10:30 Sat – 4-10:30 · Sun – 4-9

NJ

Since [1950] Conte’s has become a Princeton destination; a great old-school bar that also happens to serve some of New Jersey’s best pizza, thin-crusted and bubbly. The restaurant hasn’t changed much since then; even the tables are the same. It’s a simple, no-frills space, but if you visit during peak times, be prepared to wait well over an hour for a table. 339 Witherspoon St, Princeton, NJ 08540 (609) 921-8041 • www.contespizzaandbar.com

ACTION JACKSON: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey player Liam Jackson, center, battles for the puck in recent action. Last Thursday, junior forward Jackson tallied two goals and an assist as PDS skated to a 5-5 tie with Gloucester Catholic. PDS, who topped St. Joseph (Montvale) 3-0 last Monday to improve to 2-2-1, was scheduled to host St. Augustine on December 22 before going on holiday break. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Princeton tradition!

Knox Showing Maturity in Sophomore Season

As PDS Girls’ Hockey Gets Off to 3-0-1 Start

As the Princeton Day School girls’ hockey team hosted Randolph High last Monday, Eibhleann Knox didn’t waste any time setting the tone for the home squad.

Getting the puck off the opening face-off, sophomore forward Knox raced down the ice to goal and fired the puck into the back of the net to give PDS a 1-0 lead 14 seconds into the contest.

“I wasn’t really expecting to skate through them,” said Knox. “I got the puck, it was a pass from Nora [Appleby]. I just skated through and shot and it went in.”

With PDS coming off a 0-0 tie against Oak Knoll on December 15, that tally opened the floodgates as the Panthers built a 6-0 lead after one period and went on to a 9-1 triumph in improving to 3-0-1.

“We wanted to get a few goals at the start and start rotating some new players in and not have to worry about them coming back,” said Knox.

The Panthers had a number of players score in the win as Lauren Chase tallied two goals and two assists with Brynn Dandy and Claire Meehan adding two goals apiece and Emily McCann and Madison Trend each chipping in a goal.

“We were trying to incorporate everyone and pass the puck before we shoot,” said Knox.

In reflecting on the team’s undefeated start, Knox believes that PDS is in a good groove.

“I think it is good because last year we started off a little slower, we had some losses in the beginning,” said Knox. “We are going pretty strong right now.”

With one season under her belt, Knox has become a stronger voice on the ice.

“I am just a little more confident in myself and more willing to talk and stuff,” said Knox. “Last year I was more quiet.”

Knox is also more willing to take the puck to goal this winter.

“I have worked on having more confidence with the puck,” said Knox, who plays club hockey for the New Jersey Colonials. “Last year I was more timid, wanting to pass the puck off. I am becoming more confident to skate it this year.”

PDS head coach Julie DeSimone liked the way her team came out of the gate against Randolph.

“It is always nice to get one early because you never know, we don’t take any games for granted,” said DeSimone. “We always want to come out working hard from the start; it is always nice to set the tone early.”

PDS is getting good work from Knox. “We have seen Eibhleann really maturing in her play this year,” said DeSimone of Knox who scored both goals for the Panthers in a 2-1 win over Pingry on December 13.

“She is just really integrating well into the team and just hit the ground running this year.”

The team’s scoring balance against Randolph was a sign of growth for PDS.

“We have a really supportive team,” said DeSimone. “We like to make sure that all of our players get as many chances as we are able to get them. We like to see the scoresheet diversified for sure.”

In assessing the Panthers’ 3-0-1 start, DeSimone is happy with the intensity she is seeing from her players.

“I like the effort, I think we have been playing hard every game,” said DeSimone. “We have had some close games. Being able to play hard right up until the end in the third period has really got us through those games. I like to see the girls communicating with each other on the ice, so we are doing some better playmaking. We have a lot of work to do as far as getting scoring chances. It is early, so I think we are happy with where we are at right now.”

A pair of newcomers, freshman forward Dandy and junior transfer goalie Brigid Milligan have been playing very well for PDS.

“Brynn is really on fire so we like to see that,” said DeSimone. “We knew she would be a great asset to the team, but it has been nice to see her doing really well and playing hard. We had the 0-0 game against Oak Knoll and Brigid kept us in the Pingry game as well. She has been a plus.”

The team’s core of veterans — which includes Logan Harrison, Grace Ulrich, and Lily Ryan in addition to Chase, Meehan, McCann,

DeSimone. “We have some practices over break and some practices before our first game against Summit in the new year. Remembering those two games that we had last week, it is being able to stick with that level of competition the whole time.”

Knox, for her part,

believes that PDS will be primed to compete against any foe.

“We are going to try to get ready,” said Knox. “We have a lot of better opponents, like Mo Beard, so we need to win those games.”

— Bill Alden

SPEED SKATER: Princeton Day School girls’ hockey player Eibhleann Knox brings the puck up the ice last Monday against Randolph High. Sophomore star forward Knox scored a goal to help PDS prevail 9-1. The Panthers, now 3-0-1, are next in action when they host Summit on January 5. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Hun

Girls’ Basketball : Competing at the Make-a-Wish Tournament at the Germantown Academy (Pa.) last weekend, Hun went 1-1, falling to host Germantown on Friday and then defeating Friere Charter School (Pa.) a day later. The Raiders, now 4-7, return to action when they play at Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) on January 7.

Boys’ Hockey : Ryan Levesque starred in a losing cause as Hun fell 6-4 to Holy Ghost Prep (Pa.) last Friday. Levesque tallied two goals and two assists for the Raiders, now 5-6. After the holiday break, Hun will be hosting the Pingry School on January 4.

PDS

Girls’ Basketball : Earning its first win of the season, PDS defeated Nottingham High 33-25 last Saturday. The Panthers outscored the Northstars 11-5 in the fourth quarter as they moved to 1-1. In upcoming action, PDS will be competing in the South Hunterdon Tournament from December 27-28.

Lawrenceville Pennington

Boys’ Hockey : Coming through in a nail-biter, Lawrenceville edged Belmont Hill (Mass.) 3-2 in overtime last Sunday in the final of its 74th Annual Lawrenceville Hockey Tournament. It marked the first time the Big Red have won the prestigious event. Lawrenceville, now 7-3, is next in action when it competes in the HRM Tournament at the Princeton Day School from January 6-7.

Girls’ Hockey : Wrapping up play in the Taft School

Boys’ Basketball : Sparked by Corey Miller, Pennington defeated host Solebury School (Pa.) 5846 in a consolation game at the Solebury Tournament last Saturday. Miller tallied 18 points as the Red Hawks improved to 5-6. In upcoming action, Pennington will compete in the Trenton High Showcase on December 27 and 29.

Girls’ Basketball: Morgan Matthews led the way as Pennington defeated Notre Dame 53-36 last Saturday. Matthews scored 18 points

for the Red Hawks, now 6-1. Pennington will be taking part in the Molinelli Holiday Tournament at Hopewell Valley from December 2829.

PHS

Boys’ Basketball: Jihad Wilder scored eight points in a losing cause as PHS fell 47-28 at Notre Dame last Friday in its season opener. The Tigers host Hightstown on December 22 and then compete in the Montgomery High Tournament on December 27 and 29.

Girls’ Basketball : Riley Devlin and Anna Winters each scored eight points but it wasn’t nearly enough as PHS lost 57-28 to Notre Dame last Saturday. The Tigers, who moved to 1-1 with the defeat, play at Hightstown on December 22 and then take part in the South Hunterdon Tournament from December 27-28

Boys’ Hockey : Sparked by Liam Campbell, PHS defeated Hopewell Valley 4-2 last Monday. Campbell tallied one goal and one assist as the Tigers improved to 2-1. PHS faces the WWP Ice Hockey Coop on December 23 at Mercer County Park.

Wrestling : Cole Rose and Marty Brophy starred as PHS competed in the Wendy Pandy-Leh Invitational last Saturday at Delaware Valley High to start its season. Rose took second at 120

pounds while Brophy placed second at 138. In upcoming action, the Tigers will be competing against Hamilton West and WW/P-South on December 21.

Local Sports

Rec Department Holding Sign Up for Dillon Hoops

The Princeton Recreation Department is now taking registrations for the 2023 Dillon Youth Basketball League.

The Dillon Youth Basketball League is a storied program for the Princeton community that is entering its 51st season. The league consists of both games and clinics. It is open to boys and girls in grades 4-10 who are Princeton residents and non-residents who attend school in Princeton.

The Dillon season will take place from JanuaryMarch 2023 and games will be held Saturday mornings at the Hun School. The program is 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 “2022/2023 Winter Sports Programs.” Registration is open until January 2 or until divisions are at capacity. More information can be found online at princeton recreation.com.

Town Topics IS Princeton’s weekly community newspaper since 1946!

Your source for WEEKLY important local news, art happenings, local sports and real estate. A trusted source to learn about local business, services and offers.

(609) 924-2200 wmgsales@witherspoonmediagroup.com

Self-employed and small, closely held businesses looking for a simple plan

seeking an easy to administer plan that permits salary deferrals

Is It Better to Save in a Qualified Retirement Account?

Is It Better to Save in a Qualified Retirement Account?

The conventional wisdom is yes, but the common rationale is often based on unrealistic assumptions. For instance, the ending after-tax value in a 401(k) or IRA is usually compared to the after-tax value of a non-qualified account invested in bonds or cash. However, retirement accounts are often invested in stocks and long-term stock appreciation is subject to lower tax rates than bonds or cash (capital gains versus ordinary income tax rates). Even so, when comparing a qualified retirement account (e.g., a 401(k) or IRA) to a non-qualified account invested in stocks, in most cases, the after-tax value of a 401(k) or IRA will be higher.

The conventional wisdom is yes, but the common rationale is often based on unrealistic assumptions. For instance, the ending after-tax value in a 401(k) or IRA is usually compared to the after-tax value of a non-qualified account invested in bonds or cash. However, retirement accounts are often invested in stocks and long-term stock appreciation is subject to lower tax rates than bonds or cash (capital gains versus ordinary income tax rates). Even so, when comparing a qualified retirement account (e.g., a 401(k) or IRA) to a non-qualified account invested in stocks, in most cases, the after-tax value of a 401(k) or IRA will be higher.

Reference Guide for 401(k) Plans 401(k) plans can be established to allow for pre-tax contributions, after-tax Roth contributions, safe harbor matching contributions, and additional discretionary profit sharing contributions. A financial advisor and Third Party Administrator (TPA) can work with the employer to develop a plan that best fits the employer’s

Reference Guide for 401(k) Plans

GRAND FEELING: Hun School boys’ basketball player Dan Vessey, left, celebrates with Hun head coach Jon Stone last Thursday after he hit the 1,000-point mark in his Raider career. Postgraduate guard and Army commit Vessey tallied 25 points in Hun’s 60-53 win over Life Center Academy as he passed the milestone. The Raiders, now 6-3, play at Friends School (Pa.) on January 5. (Photo provided courtesy of the Hun School)

Obituaries

son and daughter-in-law Kevin B. and Morgan Tylus; three daughters and three sons-in-law Megan and Ian McNally, Lindsey Tylus and Jon Lively, Kelsey G. and Michael Testa; two sisters and a brother-in-law Karen E. Graff, Jennifer and Tim Metzger; and 12 grandchildren Addison, Tyler, Finn, Caroline, Carter, Emerson, Charlotte, Kevin, Laine, Broderick, Ella, and Kate.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at St. Paul’s Church 216 Nassau Street, Princeton. Burial will follow in the Princeton Cemetery.

Leon Mendel (“Lee”) Rosenson

Conservation Voters, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, and the Atlantic Audubon Society (of which he was a Founding Director).

Memorial Contributions may be to: Cycle for Survival or The Hun School of Princeton in Memory of Kevin Tylus.

(and from the pews with his family) and served on the Finance Committee. He was also on the board of directors of the Princeton Federal Credit Union.

Charles joined the faculty of Columbia Business School in 1997 and was named the Robert W. Lear Professor of Finance and Economics in 2008. His empirical research has helped answer some of the biggest questions in finance, including how stock markets incorporate information and why investors trade. He is best known for his research on short sales, algorithmic and high-frequency trading, market liquidity, and most recently, individual investor trading. His articles have enhanced the understanding of market microstructure, asset pricing, and behavioral finance. He received dozens of awards, fellowships, and research grants recognizing his work.

and Xinran Zhang, develops a novel method for identifying trades by nonprofessionals from transaction data, enabling further study of how individual traders behave and affect markets. He continued to be an avid researcher, working with coauthors on his five active papers into the fall of 2022.

Florida, or sailing on the Straits of Mackinac, and considered the highlight of most any day to be talking and laughing around the dinner table. He loved attending any live performance: orchestral music, theatre, jazz, opera, and ballet, but most especially his children’s many performances.

Lee was a loving family man who reveled in large Thanksgiving gatherings and an annual family beach week. He was an avid birder and hiker who once trekked to Basecamp of Mount Everest in Nepal. He was a true activist who participated in protest marches for peace and civil rights. He testified at countless public hearings, where his reasoned and respectful advocacy helped win important battles for the New Jersey Pinelands and other environmental and social causes.

Lee was born in Oakland, California on May 20, 1932 to Miriam and Alexander Rosenson. The family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1944 so Lee’s father could pursue his career at the State Department.

After two years at George Washington University Lee transferred to Duke University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. He served three years as an officer in the U.S. Navy after which he returned to school at Harvard where he received a Master’s in Business Administration. He took a position with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in San Francisco. At age 34 Lee decided to study biology, a long-held dream. He entered the University of California at Berkeley for a second undergraduate degree for which he was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his Ph.D. in biology at Duke University, and then had a NATO Post-doctoral Fellowship in biology at Sussex University, England. Beginning in 1972 Lee was an Assistant Professor of biology at Stockton University in New Jersey. He left teaching in 1976 in order to become a member of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School’s Senior Administrative Group. After more than a decade there, he became Vice-President for Administration at the Liposome Company in Plainsboro, New Jersey, from which he retired in 1994.

Lee expressed his dedication to human rights and the environment by his active membership in the ACLU and on the Boards of local and statewide environmental organizations, including the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, the Nature Conservancy of New Jersey, the New Jersey Audubon Society, the New Jersey League of

Lee also served his community as a member of the Princeton Board of Health and the Princeton Hospital Biomedical Ethics Committee.

Lee is survived by his wife of 49 years, Suzanne Levin; his children from a previous marriage, Sarah Rosenson (Carleton Montgomery), Claire Rosenson (Tim Johnston); his stepsons Michael Levin (Marjorie Backup), Peter Levin (Barbara Parks); his sonin-law Edward Overton; nine grandchildren, Elise Levin (Michael Salerno), Jacob Montgomery (Iracema Drew), Esther Montgomery (Nick Citrone), Leslie Rose Levin, Sean Levin, Hannah Johnston, Naomi Johnston, Marina Overton, Eve Overton, great-granddaughter Addie Salerno; nieces Alison Dow and Katherine Dennin. Lee was pre-deceased by his sister Vivian Brownstein and daughter Abigail Rosenson Overton.

A memorial gathering to celebrate Lee’s life will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Civil Liberties Union (aclu.org) or the Pinelands Preservation Alliance (pinelandsalliance.org).

He was born on July 6, 1966 at St. Alban’s Naval Hospital in Queens and spent his earliest years on the McChord, McClellan, and McCoy Air Force bases. He went to primary and secondary school in Longwood, Florida, and showed an early interest and facility with numbers. He was a product of, and a strong supporter of, public education. Charles had a lifelong love of music. He sang with the Orlando Boy Choir, and at his church, where he also played the trombone. He loved to perform and played Oliver in Oliver in grade school, and Pippin in Pippin in college.

Charles’s research on short sellers and high-frequency traders changed the way the profession thinks about these traders. His papers show that short sellers play an important informational role in markets, especially during economic and financial crises such as those in 1929 and 2008, despite facing considerable regulatory obstacles and borrowing costs. His studies of high-frequency algorithmic trading show that these traders do not necessarily reduce market liquidity, as was commonly assumed, and can actually improve trading opportunities for others.

His recent article, “Tracking Retail Investor Activity” (2021) in the Journal of Finance with Ekkehart Boehmer, Xiaoyan Zhang,

Charles was an exceptional teacher and had a remarkable ability to clearly explain complex financial concepts. His Debt Market class was a popular elective, and he was recognized with multiple teaching prizes. Charles continuously held significant leadership positions at Columbia Business School for more than a decade, including most recently as Senior Vice Dean. He was proud of his wider public contributions; he served as a member of the economic advisory committee of FINRA and as head of the economic advisory board at Nasdaq, and was a visiting economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the New York Stock Exchange. He advised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Department of Justice on matters related to financial markets.

As much as Charles loved and valued his work, he considered the tight-knit family he and Daphne created his greatest accomplishment and source of joy. Vacations and weekends were called “Camp Charles,” aptly named after the hikes and other adventures on which he would lead Daphne and their three children: Caroline, Andrew, and Elizabeth. He relished time with extended family on his parents’ screened porch in

His profound love of life, and even stronger love of the people around him, were infectious. His smile lit up every room he entered, and his laugh spread warmth and joy. His radiant vivacity was anchored by substance and calm. He was adored by family, friends, colleagues, and students, and was charming, genuine, funny, loving, and deeply moral. He always saw the best in people, even while holding them to high standards.

He is survived by his wife Daphne; children Elizabeth, Andrew, and Caroline (and her partner Fergus); his mother Alice; his brothers Chris (Elaine), David (Edurne); parents-in-law David and Anabel; brotherin-law Anthony (Laura); a niece and three nephews; and was predeceased by his father Lawrence.

Charles and his family are grateful for the incredible care he received at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and from the Greenwood Hospice team, and for all the love and support from friends and family near and far over the past four years.

We are grateful that his smile and memory continue to fill us with peace and love. A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. on January 2 at Trinity Church Princeton.

Kevin Tylus

Kevin Tylus, 67, of Skillman died Friday, December 16, 2022 at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center of Plainsboro. Born in Princeton, he was a lifelong resident. Kevin was the CEO of WSFS Bank. He was a member of the Springdale Country Club, Nassau Club, Union League of Philadelphia, Penn Medicine of Princeton Foundation, Board of Trustees of the Hun School and a Board Member of the Gettysburg College.

Son of the late Frank A. and Catherine (Diaforli) Tylus, brother-in-law of the late Jay Graff, he is survived by his wife of 43 years Virginia (Broderick) Tylus; a

Charles earned his S.B. in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he embraced all aspects of college life. He played virtually every intramural sport and filled in on the varsity sailing team. He sang and played bass trombone in multiple performing ensembles, including the MIT/Wellesley Symphony where he met Daphne, his fiercely beloved wife of 33 years. A semester at the London School of Economics led to a lifelong love of travel, Premier League soccer, and yes, economics.

After college, Charles worked as an analyst for Merrill Lynch in Investment Banking, where he quickly added value building and explaining derivative valuation models. He then earned his Ph.D. in Finance at the University of Michigan School of Business Administration. He was an assistant professor of economics at Princeton University from 1994 to 1997. In Princeton, he and Daphne quickly set down roots and started their family. He was an adored friend and favorite dinner partner among their village of incredible friends. At Trinity Church, he sang in the choir

Charles Mark Jones passed away on December 15, 2022, surrounded by his family after living for four years with a malignant brain tumor.

Leon Mendel (“Lee”) Rosenson, 90, of Princeton, N.J., passed away in his home on December 13, 2022.

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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.

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Text (only): (609) 356-9201

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Offering professional cleaning services in the Princeton community for more than 28 years! Weekly, biweekly, monthly, move-in/move-out services for houses, apartments, offices & condos. As well as, GREEN cleaning options! Outstanding references, reliable, licensed & trustworthy. If you are looking for a phenomenal, thorough & consistent cleaning, don’t hesitate to call (609) 751-2188.

04-06-23

HANDYMAN–CARPENTER:

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I BUY ALL KINDS of Old or Pretty Things: China, glass, silver, pottery, costume jewelry, evening bags, fancy linens, paintings, small furniture, etc. Local woman buyer. (609) 921-7469.

10-12-23

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

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

(609) 924-2200 ext. 10;

classifieds@towntopics.com

ESTATE LIQUIDATION SERVICE:

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

06-28-23

WE BUY CARS

Belle Mead Garage (908) 359-8131 Ask for Chris

EXPERIENCED ELDER CARE

for your loved one. Compassionate caregiver with 16 years experience will assist with personal care, medication, meals, drive to medical appointments, shopping. Many local references. Call or text (609) 9779407.

AFTER 40 YEARS IN BUSINESS, Franco’s Custom Tailoring and Dry Cleaning (1241 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville) is selling! Excellent location, excellent business model. If interested in making an offer, please call (609) 883-9721 or (609) 9374178.

12-21

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Honest. Reliable. Looking for house cleaning. Best prices. Week days only. English speaking. Call for estimate. (609) 858-8259. 12-21

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HOME HEALTH AIDE/COMPANION AVAILABLE: NJ certified and experienced. Live-in or live-out. Driver’s license. References available. Please call Cindy, (609) 227-9873. 12-28

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All phases of home improvement. Serving the Princeton area for over 30 yrs. No job too small. Call Julius: (609) 466-0732

ROSA’S CLEANING SERVICE LLC

Offering professional cleaning services in the Princeton community for more than 28 years! Weekly, biweekly, monthly, move-in/move-out services for houses, apartments, offices & condos. As well as, GREEN cleaning options! Outstanding references, reliable, licensed & trustworthy. If you are looking for a phenomenal, thorough & consistent cleaning, don’t hesitate to call (609) 751-2188.

04-06-23

HANDYMAN–CARPENTER:

Painting, hang cabinets & paintings, kitchen & bath rehab. Tile work, masonry. Porch & deck, replace rot, from floors to doors to ceilings. Shelving & hook-ups. ELEGANT REMODELING. You name it, indoor, outdoor tasks. Repair holes left by plumbers & electricians for sheetrock repair. RE agents welcome. Sale of home ‘checklist’ specialist. Mercer, Hunterdon, Bucks counties. 1/2 day to 1 month assignments. CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED, Covid 19 compliant. Active business since 1998. Videos of past jobs available. Call Roeland, (609) 933-9240.

tf

I BUY ALL KINDS of Old or Pretty Things: China, glass, silver, pottery, costume jewelry, evening bags, fancy linens, paintings, small furniture, etc. Local woman buyer. (609) 9217469.

10-12-23

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

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06-28-23

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NOT IN PRINCETON ANYMORE?

Stay connected by receiving a mailed subscription!

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

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Property Maintenance and Specialty Jobs Commercial/Residential

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Witherspoon Media Group is looking for a part-time advertising Account Manager, based out of our Kingston, NJ office, to generate sales for Town Topics Newspaper and Princeton Magazine

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THE MAID PROFESSIONALS:

Leslie & Nora, cleaning experts. Residential & commercial. Free estimates. References upon request. (609) 2182279, (609) 323-7404. 03-29-23

HOME REPAIR SPECIALIST:

Interior/exterior repairs, carpentry, trim, rotted wood, power washing, painting, deck work, sheet rock/ spackle, gutter & roofing repairs. Punch list is my specialty. 40 years experience. Licensed & insured. Call Creative Woodcraft (609) 586-2130 tf

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