Volume LXXII, Number 1
Two Recall Their Vietnam Experiences . . . . . . . . . 5 Hundreds Line Up to Prepay Taxes . . . . . . . . 7 School Superintendents Issue Call to Action . . . . 9 Chamber Music Society Returns to Princeton . . 15 Dancing to Buddy Rich’s Tune . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 PU Men’s Basketball Primed to Start Ivy League Campaign . . . 26 Kane Making the Most of Final Season with PDS Girls’ Hoops . . . . . . . 29
Aidan Trainor Helps PHS Boys’ Hockey Produce 6-1-2 Start . . . . . . . . . 27 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .18, 19 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 32 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Music/Theater . . . . . . 16 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 22 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 31 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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D&R Greenway Land Deal Preserves Historic Farmland In Sourlands Region
A 116-acre property in Hopewell Township dating back more than two centuries has been preserved, linking three counties and boosting the total acreage that D&R Greenway Land Trust has preserved since 1989 to 20,000 acres. The historic Schwinn farm on HopewellAmwell Road is near the historic Lindbergh estate and the 700-acre Sourlands Ecosystem Preserve. The expanse includes about 20 acres open to the public, and its trails will connect to a large network of neighboring protected lands. “It was like putting together the pieces of a puzzle,” said Jay Watson, D&R Greenway vice president. “This property offers us the potential to connect from Somerset and the corner of Hunterdon all the way through to the northeast corner of Mercer County. We’re doing a lot of work in the Sourlands. It’s a priority preservation area, so any time we get an opportunity to preserve land there, we go after it.” Between May and September 2017, D&R Greenway put together a deal to acquire the land. The Schwinn family, which owned the property, had wanted to preserve it, but needed to sell. The connection was made to D&R just in time. “With a September 1 deadline looming, and a development-oriented purchaser preparing to swoop in on the property, D&R Greenway rose to the challenge to get the deal done fast,” reads a press release on the transaction. “The compressed time frame demanded nimble footwork to get around obstacles to conventional preservation — most significantly the absence of public funds available on short notice.” “In a few very short months, we were able to identify a conservation buyer and arrange the necessary bridge financing, while accomplishing all the necessary due diligence to protect the property with a conservation easement,” said Linda Mead, D&R Greenway president and CEO. The Schwinns had made the farm a home to sheep that grazed the hillsides. The setting was the inspiration for Ruth Schwinn’s two children’s books, Henry the Lamb and Henry the Dale. “When you think about the people who came before us, their blood, sweat, and tears shed to preserve themselves, their families and their strongly held beliefs, you cannot Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Paul Muldoon Awarded Queen’s Gold Medal
Paul Muldoon, Princeton University creative writing professor in the Lewis Center for the Arts and director of the Princeton Atelier, will be awarded Her Majesty’s Gold Medal for Poetry for 2017 by Queen Elizabeth II in an upcoming ceremony. A native of Ireland, Muldoon is only the second Irish poet to be honored with the award in its 83-year history, after Michael Longley in 2001. Muldoon has lived mainly in the United States for the past 30 years, teaching at Princeton since 1987 and serving as The New Yorker poetry editor since 2007. He has published 13 books of poetry and won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. The Poetry Medal Committee recommended Muldoon for the award on the basis of the body of his work. “Paul Muldoon is widely acclaimed as the most original and influential poet of the past 50 years and is rightly celebrated alongside Seamus Heaney,” said Britain’s Poet Laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy, according to the Irish Times. “His poetry displays a restful playful brilliance, forever searching for new ways to channel his ideas and new language to dress them in. He is ambitious, erudite, witty, and musical. He can experiment with form and stand tradition on its head, craft a tender elegy or inti-
mate love poem with equal skill. His work is of major significance internationally — poetry of clarity, invention, purpose, and importance which has raised the bar of what’s possible in poetry to new heights.” Muldoon described the award as a recognition of his poetry and also of the favorable political climate between England and Ireland. “I take this award to be an acknowledgment of the impact of a few of my poems,
of course,” he wrote in a email. “I’ve been writing for 50 years now. Much of the time I think my poems are rubbish. That’s one of the curses of being a writer. From time to time I wonder if they might be okay. This is one of those times.” Emphasizing the significance of the political context, he continued, “This award is also an acknowledgment of the complexity of Anglo-Irish affairs and an indicator of what are, just now, excellent Continued on Page 8
Griggs Farm Fire Kills One Woman, Displaces 35 Residents of Complex A two-alarm fire that started Wednesday night, December 27, on the top floor of a three-story apartment building at the Griggs Farm complex on Billie Ellis Lane, took the life of a 73-year-old woman and displaced 35 residents. Larisa Bartone, who lived at 21 Billie Ellis Lane, died in the fire. An investigation into the cause of the blaze was ongoing at press time last Friday. The Princeton Police Department, Princeton Fire Department, Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, and multiple fire departments from the area responded
to the scene. It was brought under control in about 45 minutes, said Robert Gregory, director of Princeton’s Office of Emergency Management. The building has 24 apartments and is one of several that are part of the Griggs Farm development, which provides affordable housing and is managed by Princeton Community Housing. The complex is near the border of Princeton and Montgomery Township. The American Red Cross and Princeton’s Human Services department were Continued on Page 8
POETRY AND POLITICS: Paul Muldoon, Princeton University professor of creative writing in the Lewis Center for the Arts and director of the Princeton Atelier, has been approved by Queen Elizabeth II for theChez award ofGourmet Her Majesty’s Gold Medal Alice Cafe & Bakery for Poetry for 2017. Muldoon said his award was an acknowledgment of both “the impact of Square a few West, of myPrinceton poems” and of 5 Palmer the current positive relations between Ireland and England. (Photo by Princeton University, Office of Communications, Denise Applewhite 2017) 609-921-6760 (p) 609-921-8877 (f) www.chezalicecafe.com
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