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Volume LXXV, Number 13
www.towntopics.com
COVID Rates Rise; Local, State, Federal Officials Show Concern COVID-19 infection rates seem to be rising locally and nationally, and both New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and President Joe Biden have recently expressed high levels of concern and fear of the possibility of a new wave. Particularly in New Jersey, the curve does not seem to be flattening. The Princeton Health Department reported on Monday, March 29, 13 new cases of COVID-19 in the previous 7 days and 21 new cases in the past 14 days. “Princeton is continuing to see between one and two cases per day, which is certainly higher than where we were about six weeks ago,” said Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser. He continued, “As we have seen throughout the pandemic, Princeton has somewhat lagged behind national, state, and regional trends. Our office is closely monitoring upticks in cases and miniclusters of cases, but they are typically linked back to households.” Grosser added that public health experts attribute much of the recent spike to “large spring/warm weather gatherings,
Robeson Week of Remembrance . . . . . . . 5 Hilltop Park Turf Field Project Put Aside . . . . . . 8 New Tigers in Town Program . . . . . . . . . . . 10 "Strength and Sweetness": Andrew Marvell At 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Princeton Festival Presents Something Wonderful . . 15 PU Presents State-of-theArt Virtual Opera . . . . . 16 Ince Stepping Up for PHS Girls’ Volleyball . . . . 27 Displaying Depth and Skill, PDS Girls’ Hockey Went 5-0-1 . . . . . . . 28
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Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Community Leader Phyllis Marchand Dies at 81 On Tuesday morning, nearly 100 people stood on the corners of Witherspoon and Wiggins streets to pay tribute to Phyllis Marchand, who died of cancer on Thursday, March 25 at the age of 81. As Marchand’s funeral procession passed, the gathering of local officials, friends, and admirers — some holding “Thank You Phyllis” signs — broke into spontaneous applause. It was a brief but emotional farewell to the former Princeton Township mayor, Township Committee member, marathon runner, mother, and grandmother, who remained active in many community causes despite her 15-year battle with lymphoma. Marchand served in local government for 22 years; 14 of them as mayor. Marchand is survived by her husband of 57 years, Sy Marchand; her three children Michael, Deborah, and Sarah; and eight grandchildren. Phyllis Steinberg Marchand was a native of New York City and a graduate of Skidmore College. She worked in Manhattan’s publishing industry and moved with her husband to Princeton in 1966. At the time of her death, she was chair of the D&R Greenway Board of Trustees and was active in several other area organizations including the Princeton YWCA,
McCarter Theatre, HomeFront, Planned Parenthood, the Coalition for Peace Action, the D&R Canal Commission, Princeton-Pettoranello Sister City Foundation, the New Jersey League of Municipalities, the Mercer Council for Alcohol and Drug Addiction, Corner House, the Jewish Center of Princeton, Cancer Care, the Princeton Garden Theatre, and the Lymphoma Research Foundation. On a special website (posthope.org/ thoughts-of-phyllis/posts), several people
wrote messages of appreciation to Marchand before she died. Since March 25, numerous others have written to her family. “I am one of hundreds of people who admired Phyllis for her bravery, tenacity, good spirits, commitment to service and so much more,” wrote Eleanor Horne, trustee of the Princeton Area Community Foundation. “To say that she is an inspiration does not begin to capture her impact. I know no one else like her. I know that she is leaving a huge hole in the hearts of Continued on Page 8
Large Crowd Rallies in Solidarity With Asian American Community More than 500 people, overflowing Hinds Plaza outside the library and the Witherspoon and Hulfish streets area, gathered in Princeton on Saturday afternoon, March 27, to rally in solidarity with the Asian American community. “We are outraged by the racism and misogynistic dehumanization toward Asians,“ said Pastor Mia Chang of the NextGen Church in West Windsor in her opening prayer. “We can no longer be silenced.” David Chao, director of the Asian American Program at Princeton Theological Seminary, followed the opening
prayer by repeating the names and brief descriptions of the eight people killed by a gunman in Atlanta on March 16, then calling for a moment of silence. The diverse crowd of demonstrators of all ages and races, all wearing masks, most at least attempting to retain social distance, carried a variety of signs proclaiming “Stop Asian Hate,” “Stop AntiAsian Violence,” “Not Your Model Minority,” “We are Not a Virus,” “Hate is a Virus,” and more. Sponsored by the Princeton Chinese Continued on Page 12
PU Alum Harmeling Looking to Make PGA Tour . . . . . . . . . . 25 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . . 18,19 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 21 Classified Ads . . . . . . 32 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 31 Performing Arts . . . . . 17 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 32 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Topics of the Town . . . . 5
STOP ASIAN HATE: Hundreds of masked supporters attended the rally and vigil in solidarity and support with the Asian American community on Saturday afternoon at Hinds Plaza . Participants share what brought them to the rally in this week’s Town Talk on page 6 . (Photo by Weronika A. Plohn)
Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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