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August 7, 2024

Noting That a Residential Fire Safety Program Should Be Implemented in Town

To the Editor:

I was both surprised and disappointed to learn that Princeton has no residential fire safety support services available to the community.

In a town that spends hundreds of thousands on consultants and unnecessary street renovations, to not have any community-wide fire safety services in place is embarrassing and unacceptable.

At the very least I’m certain the community would benefit from a periodic smoke/carbon monoxide detector inspection and replacement program. I was informed that such a program did exist at one time but was simply abandoned when the person doing the inspections retired. more

Obituaries 8/7/2024

Robert K. Cromwell

Robert K. “Bob” Cromwell passed away on July 31, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of 72.

Born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, Bob served 22 honorable years with the FBI. Prior to his FBI career, he was a Cryptology Technician in the U.S. Navy, a New Jersey Police Officer, and a Special Agent with the U.S. Naval Investigative Services. His book Fugitive Man tells his story.

Bob was a champion for justice, and proudly served on the board of the Florida Innocence Project, helping innocent prisoners in Florida obtain their freedom and rebuild their lives.

He met his beloved wife of 50 years, Rosa Lee (Evans), when he was stationed in Washington State. They married in 1974, and raised three sons who made them proud beyond measure. He taught them so much: everything about the Beatles; the value of a great sense of humor; and the importance of family.

Bob was predeceased by his parents, Ken and Erna Bovie Cromwell, his brother David, and his daughter-in-law, Emerald Cromwell. He is survived by his beloved wife, Rosa, and his three sons, Michael, Daniel (Kim), and Johnny (Elana), all of St. Petersburg. He is also survived by one sister, Kim Cromwell (Kath), and sister-in-law, Carol Cromwell.

He delighted in his grandchildren: Spiro, Sofia, Joe, Izzy, and Leah Cromwell.

How we will all miss our Bob.

Burial will be at Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Florida. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made to the Florida Innocence Project or to the Suncoast Hospice Foundation.

August 1, 2024

Evan Gershkovich Released from Russian Prison

As part of a multi-prisoner swap deal, Princeton High School graduate and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been released from prison in Moscow, along with former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who has also been freed. According to ABC News, the swap has allowed both detained citizens to return home.

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested by Russian authorities while on assignment in March 2023, and charged with espionage. A month ago, he was found guilty and sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony. Both he and Whelan, who was arrested in 2018 and also accused of espionage, denied the charges. Whelan has served five years in prison.

Gershkovich graduated from Princeton High School in 2010 and was captain of its soccer team. He graduated from Bowdoin College, where he also played soccer, in 2014.

Princeton Public Schools Acting Superintendent Kathie Foster said in a statement, “We are relieved and delighted by the news that Evan Gershkovich has been released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States and other countries. Our thoughts are with his family as they will soon be reunited with him after 15 months of wrongful detention. I know I speak for all Evan’s former teachers, his classmates, and the entire Princeton Public Schools community when I share our joy of his return home to the United States and his family.”

July 31, 2024

Show Time

Teens show their goats last Saturday at the 105th Annual Mercer County 4-H Fair at Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell Township. Attendees share what they liked best about the fair in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Sarah Teo)

Annual Joint Effort Safe Streets Program Kicks Off This Friday

by Wendy Greenberg

It’s a celebration of, and a reflection on, where the Witherspoon-Jackson community has been, and where it is going. And it’s an annual coming together of the community. The Witherspoon-Jackson Joint Effort Princeton Safe Streets Summer Program kicks off this Friday, August 2, acknowledging the legacy of Princeton resident Paul Robeson, and heralding many more local heroes.

Each day in the program, which runs from Friday, August 2 through Sunday, August 11, is named for someone important to the Witherspoon-Jackson community, and also important to Princeton. “Each one is a ‘hero and sheroe’ to the community,” said John Bailey, Joint Effort Community Sports Program and Joint Effort Princeton Witherspoon-Jackson Community Safe Streets Summer Program founder and director.

“The kickoff brings elected officials and concerned citizens together to recognize and acknowledge the contributions of African Americans to the Princeton Community,” said Bailey, who grew up in Princeton and is now a consultant and community organizer in Denver, Colo., but gives back to Princeton in many ways.

The festive and informational event has been going on for almost 40 years. In addition to this year’s focus on Princeton activist Paul Robeson, the future of Princeton, and community bonding through panels, sports, and honorees are all on the schedule. more

Funding From NJEDA Allows Share My Meals to Expand Its Reach

By Anne Levin

Share My Meals, the Princeton-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing food insecurity and the environmental impact of food waste, has been awarded a $125,000 sponsorship from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) to establish a statewide Meal Recovery Coalition (MRC).

The funding will allow the organization, which recovers surplus nutritious, prepared meals from cafeterias and food services and delivers them to those in need, to expand its reach statewide. According to sharemymeals.org, 1.2 million people in New Jersey are food insecure. And in the food service sector alone, an estimated five million prepared meals are being wasted each year in the Garden State.

The sponsorship from the NJEDA “will make a substantial difference in fighting food insecurity and food waste in the local community,” said Share My Meals CEO Helene Lanctuit, in a press release. “The support exemplifies Gov. Murphy’s commitment to creating a stronger, fairer, New Jersey, where every individual has access to nutritious food and no meal goes to waste. We look forward to announcing the members of the MRC in the fall.” more

IAS Announces Launch of New Center for Collaborative Research

By Anne Levin

A new initiative designed to foster collaborative, interdisciplinary projects that are beyond the reach of single scholars has been announced by the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). The Jonathan M. Nelson Center for Collaborative Research will launch its first call for proposals this fall.

The goal is to support “team-based, theme-based, inter-institutional, and interdisciplinary projects led by Institute scholars in collaboration with researchers across and beyond academia,” reads a release from the IAS. “The Nelson Center will provide seed funding to develop early-stage research ideas, large-scale funding for multi-year research agendas, and the space, infrastructure, and expertise for collaborative projects with partners across the globe.”

Like so many sweeping concepts credited to the IAS — Albert Einstein’s idea of quantum entanglement among them — the plan for the center began germinating over the Institute’s daily ritual of faculty afternoon tea, said IAS Director and Leon Levy Professor David Nirenberg. more

Hammerstein House Summer Tours Put Musical Theater History on Stage

HAMMERSTEIN HOME: Tours continue through August at Highland Farm in Doylestown, Pa., the former residence of renowned lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II where many of his popular musicals were written. (Photo courtesy of Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center)

By Wendy Greenberg

A year ago, on August 1, 2023, the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center (OHMTEC) announced a gift that would allow the nonprofit to secure Highland Farm, the Bucks County, Pa., residence of renowned lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II.

The long-awaited purchase of Highland Farm, Hammerstein’s home for 20 years, where beloved musicals like Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music were written, was completed in December 2023, and now the nonprofit organization has invited the public to visit the rooms where those and other musicals were written. more

Local Events Commemorate Anniversary of Hiroshima, Nagasaki Atomic Bombings

By Wendy Greenberg

Two local events, one in person and the other online, will commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945. Both are estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of people both from exposure to the blasts and from long-term effects of radiation.

One event is the 45th annual commemoration by the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) on Monday, August 5 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Hinds Plaza. The other, sponsored by Princeton Public Library (PPL) and the Historical Society of Princeton (HSP), is an online informational event on the legacy of Manhattan Project director J. Robert Oppenheimer, to be presented on August 7 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. more

Two Brothers Write, Perform, and Produce Their Own Songs

BAND OF BROTHERS: Roger Palmer, left, and his younger sibling James Palmer have been attracting attention in the local music world with their band, XROADRUNNER. Their roots in Princeton and Montgomery go back three generations.

By Anne Levin

Roger and James Palmer have been making music together since their early childhood. Recently, the Princeton natives — Roger, a recent graduate of Rutgers University who teaches at Princeton Child Development Institute; and James, a student at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Massachusetts — have taken their talents to the next level with the release on Spotify of two of their songs.

Their band, XROADRUNNER, has developed a following in New Brunswick. The siblings can boast multiple musical talents. Both play guitar and drums. James is a classically trained cellist. more

Reading J.D. Vance On the Rebound

By Stuart Mitchner

I started reading J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (Harper 2016) on the rebound from a problem with PayPal, the co-creation of Vance’s venture-capitalist savior Peter Thiel. The 2018 paperback comes with 10 pages of blurbs, including one from Thiel noting that Vance “writes powerfully about the real people who are kept out of sight by academic abstractions.” Quoted on the same page, Bill Gates says the book’s “real magic” is “in the story itself and Vance’s bravery in telling it.”

Friends who read Elegy when Vance was running for the Senate trashed it, calling it “phony.” I read it straight through in one day, absorbed in the story and the characters until the “real people” Thiel refers to were displaced by language like the subtitle’s “Culture in Crisis.” Although I wasn’t looking for “gotcha” moments as I read, I noticed passages that people on the Far Right would hate, and Hillbilly Elegy may yet land on some banned lists in Texas and Florida, given the campaign to rescue red state libraries from “woke” or suspect material. I’m also pretty sure that Mamaw, Vance’s gun-toting grandmother, a Democrat who liked Bill Clinton and The Sopranos, would have told J.D. to stay the hell away from venture capitalists, the Republican Party, and Donald Trump. All of Vance’s retracted defamations of Trump (“Hitler,” “idiot,” “poison”) could have been shouted by Mamaw from beyond the grave, except she’d have loaded her spectral rifle with f-words. more

A Slave Ship Appears in Front of the Statue of Liberty in “Emergency”; Princeton Summer Theater Performs a Compelling, Versatile One-Man Show

“EMERGENCY”: Performances are underway for Princeton Summer Theater’s production of “Emergency.” Written by Daniel Beaty and directed by PST Artistic Director Layla J. Williams, the one-man show runs through August 3 at Princeton University’s Hamilton Murray Theater. Above: Destine Harrison-Williams portrays a variety of characters, including a reporter and a poet, who react to the sudden appearance of a slave ship in front of modern-day Liberty Island. (Photo by Layla J. Williams)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Emergency is a one-man show that imagines a slave ship appearing in front of the Statue of Liberty — in the present day.

Written by Daniel Beaty, the play uses this provocative concept to probe numerous issues, particularly ways in which our culture, especially the media, reacts to significant and devastating events. The monologue is an unsparingly candid, yet often wryly humorous, meditation — from multiple viewpoints — on America’s history of racial injustice, from slavery to police brutality.

Beaty is an award-winning actor, singer, motivational speaker, and playwright whose works include Through the Night; Mr. Joy; and The Tallest Tree in the Forest (a play that examines Paul Robeson). He is the founder of I DREAM, an initiative that uses storytelling to help individuals and communities heal trauma. The biography on Beaty’s website describes him as a “social entrepreneur who lives at the intersection of art, spirit, and social change.” more

“Our House” Showcases Music of a Prolific Era

FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Sons of David Crosby and Stephen Stills and others from the days of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young will perform at the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick on August 16.

State Theatre New Jersey presents “Our House: The Music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY)” on Friday, August 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $29-$59.

The concert features family members of the famed musicians, performing the CSNY repertoire. Featured are James Raymond (son of David Crosby), Chris Stills (son of Stephen Stills), Steve Postell (guitarist and musical director with David Crosby and The Immediate Family), Jeff Pevar (lead guitarist with David Crosby, Graham Nash, CSN, Phil Lesh), Steve DiStanislao (drums with David Crosby, David Gilmour), Michelle Wills (keyboardist with David Crosby), and Elijah Thomson (bass with Father John Misty). more

New Leaders Announced By Westrick Music Academy

François Suhr

Westrick Music Academy (WMA) has announced the appointment of Tyler Weakland and François Suhr as the new co-music directors of the Princeton Boychoir (PBC), effective immediately. This leadership model aims to enhance the educational experience and growth opportunities for all members of the Boychoir.

The transition follows the recent departure of Adam Good, who has served as the music director of PBC. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at WMA working with the talented singers in the Treble Choir and the Young Men’s Ensemble,” he said. “Their dedication and passion have been inspiring, and I will cherish the memories we made this year.”

Suhr and Weakland bring nearly 15 years of combined service to the organization. Suhr will conduct the newly structured Treble Choir, while Weakland will lead the Young Men’s Ensemble. more

McCarter Announces Cast For “Empire Records”

Lorna Courtney

McCarter Theatre Center has announced the cast for the world premiere of Empire Records: The Musical based on the 1990s cult-classic film. The show runs in McCarter’s Berlind Theatre from September 6-October 6.

This adaptation, featuring an original rock score by Princeton native Zoe Sarnak and a book by the film’s screenwriter Carol Heikkinen, is produced by special arrangement with Bill Weiner.

The musical reunites Sarnak with director Trip Cullman (Broadway: Choir Boy, Lobby Hero) and choreographer Ellenore Scott (Broadway: Funny Girl) after their work on Sarnak’s The Lonely Few at McCarter earlier this year. more

“Surroundings” Exhibit Coming to Artists’ Gallery

30 X 40

“ON A COUNTRY ROAD”: This painting by Bill Jersey is part of “Surroundings,” his joint exhibition with Claudia Fouse Fountaine, on view August 8 through September 1 at Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville. An opening reception is on August 10 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville will present “Surroundings,” featuring works by Bill Jersey and Claudia Fouse Fountaine, August 8 through September 1. An opening reception is on Saturday, August 10 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Their last exhibit together highlighted travels around the world and views of different countries; colorful as well as exotic. “Surroundings” brings the focus closer to home, to what we see around us every day. According to the artists, it turns out that can be as inspirational as anything else if we take the time to look carefully. more

New Hope Colony Foundation Presents “Timeless Art” Exhibit

“BANK BARN SHADOWS”: Paintings by Jacalyn Beam, whose work is shown here, are featured in “Timeless Art,” her joint exhibition with sculptor Ashby Saunders and painter Aurelia Nieves-Callwood, on view August 3 through September 8 at the New Hope Colony Foundation for the Arts in New Hope, Pa. An opening reception is on Saturday, August 3 from 4 to 7 p.m.

“Timeless Art,” an exhibition of painting and sculpture by three accomplished artists, will be on view August 3 through September 8, 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, at the New Hope Colony Foundation for the Arts in New Hope, Pa. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, August 3 from 4 to 7 p.m. The exhibition focuses on three artists, two of whom are over 80 years of age, who have continued to paint, sculpt, and create in their chosen medium.

Sculptor Ashby Saunders, from Upper Makefield, Pa., models clay and bronze into exuberant sculptures, often depicting movement. He has been fascinated by clay modeling since childhood. He began sculpting as an adult and studied for two years with sculptor George Anthonisen. Saunders continued to sculpt, while losing his peripheral vision, until he was 85. His work can be seen in public parks in Bucks County. more

Delaware River Art Exhibit at Johnson Education Center

“THE OLD RED BRIDGE – NEW HOPE”: This pastel by Marina Marino is featured in the group exhibition “Along the Delaware River and Crosswicks Creek,” on view through September 27 at the D&R Greenway Land Trust Johnson Education Center, 1 Preservation Place.

D&R Greenway Land Trust, in partnership with CJ Mugavero of The Artful Deposit Gallery in Bordentown, is hosting the “Along the Delaware River and Crosswicks Creek” exhibit through September 27 at the Johnson Education Center, 1 Preservation Place. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The displayed art will be sold to interested buyers, a portion of which will support D&R Greenway Land Trust to preserve land in the Delaware River region.

According to D&R Greenway, art has a long history of portraying life and the beauty along the Delaware River. From Lenape woodcarvings to the New Hope Art Colony, the Delaware River Valley has been home to creative work for thousands of years. Works like The Delaware River at Prallsville by Jeff Gola and The Run by Shawn Campbell show the level of inspiration the Delaware can instill. more

Fresh Living Professional Cleaners Offers Customers Easy Access to Quality Service

FAMILY FOCUS; “We enjoy helping people keep their house clean and in good order. It enables them to have more flexibility and spend quality time with their family. It is known that a clean house can reduce stress, and make your home more comfortable and provide a better setting for you.” Igor and Teresa Filipovic, owners of Fresh Living Professional Cleaners, enjoy spending time with their own family, including daughters Sabrina, Valentina, and Penelope, shown here in Medvednica Nature Park in Zagreb, Croatia, Igor’s homeland.

By Jean Stratton

You just don’t have time for dusting, mopping, vacuuming, sanitizing, etc., but finding the right person to clean your house can be an ongoing challenge. Some people do a good job, but they don’t always show up on time or even on the day they are expected.

Others are very reliable, but the quality of their work may be lacking. It is always something!

What to do? Check with friends, surf the net, even look through print newspaper ads, stick with what you have?

Fresh Living Professional Cleaners understands this dilemma. Owners Teresa and Igor Filipovic have been there!

PU Grad Chamberlain Takes Long Road to Olympic Debut, Set to Compete for U.S. Women’s Saber Team at Paris Games

OH MAIA: Maia Chamberlain shouts for joy after a win during her Princeton University fencing career. Chamberlain ’22 will be making her Olympic debut as she competes for the U.S. women’s saber team this week in the Paris Games. The women’s saber team event is scheduled for August 1 at the Grand Palais in Paris. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

Competing in her first national fencing competition as a 9-year-old, Maia Chamberlain was a bit spooked by the cacophony of hollering she encountered at the San Jose Convention Center.

“Fencing is like a whole other ballgame, you don’t realize how much people scream in fencing; it is a very loud sport,” said Chamberlain. “I walked in and the whole venue was just like people screaming their heads off for the touch. The first thought I had walking in there was, ‘I am in a murder house?’ It feels like people are killing each other, that is what it sounds like.”

Undeterred, Chamberlain killed it in the competition, taking third in the U-10 saber in a harbinger of things to come. Over the years, Chamberlain moved up the national ladder, excelling in national competitions and placing second in U20 women’s saber at the 2016 Junior World Cup.

FAB FOUR: Former Princeton University men’s heavyweight rowing star Nick Mead 17, far left, competes in the U.S. men’s four. Last Sunday, Mead helped the four place first in its opening heat at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The U.S. will go for a gold medal as it competes in the A final on August 1 at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium. (Photo by Row2k, provided courtesy of USRowing)

By Bill Alden

As the Paris 2024 Olympics got underway last weekend, Princeton University rowing alums put themselves in medal contention with a number of superb performances.

Last Sunday, Nick Mead ’17 helped the U.S four win its opening heat and advance to the A final on August 1 as it earned a shot at a medal. Rowing from the bow seat, Mead helped the boat post a winning time of 6:04.95 over the 2,000-meter course at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium. Anther Tiger alum, Timothy Masters ’15, rowed for the Australian four that took second in the same heat as it also put itself in position to compete for a spot on the podium. more

After Injury-Marred Debut Season for Amherst Women’s Lax, PHS Grad Becker Emerged as Key Playmaker for Mammoths

MAMMOTH PROGRESS: Kate Becker heads upfield in 2022 during her senior season for the Princeton High girls’ lacrosse team. Becker has continued her lacrosse career at the next level for the Amherst College women’s program and emerged as a key playmaker for the Mammoths this spring. Attacker Becker tallied 18 goals and a team-high 17 assists in her sophomore campaign to help Amherst go 8-8. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

After being slowed by injury in her debut campaign for the Amherst College women’s lacrosse team in 2023, Kate Becker got up to speed this spring.

Former Princeton High standout Becker tallied 18 goals and a team-high 17 assists in her sophomore season to help the Mammoths go 8-8. more

Starring on International Stage in U18 European Tourney, Hun Baseball’s Kraemer Helped Great Britain Place 4th

BRIT BALL: Will Kraemer celebrates after getting a hit for Great Britain in the U18 Baseball European Championship held earlier this month in Regensburg, Germany. Rising Hun School senior Kraemer batted .429 with nine hits in 21 at-bats, four doubles, seven runs, and four RBIs in the tourney to help Great Britain finish fourth in the competition. (Phot provided courtesy of Derrick Kraemer)

By Bill Alden

Will Kraemer culminated his junior season for the Hun School baseball team this May by helping the squad win the Mercer County Tournament title at the Trenton Thunder Stadium and Prep A state championship on its home diamond.

In July, Kraemer found himself competing for another title some 4,000 miles away from the Princeton area as he played for Great Britain in the U18 Baseball European Championship in Regensburg, Germany. more

Princeton Supply Displays its Championship Pedigree, Edging Lob City in Opener of Summer Hoops Title Series

SOARING TO VICTORY: Peter Sorber of Princeton Supply (blue shirt) soars to the hoop Monday night in the opener of the best-of-three championship series in the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League. Sorber contributed seven points, eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots to help top-seeded Princeton Supply edge third-seeded Lob City 41-39. Princeton Supply, now 11-0, will go for its second straight league title as it faces Lob City (7-4) in game two on July 31 with the third game, if necessary, slated for August 2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Cruising to an undefeated record as it goes for a title repeat, Princeton Supply found itself in a battle with Lob City last Monday in the opener of the best-of-three championship series in the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League.

With its offense sputtering, top-seeded Princeton Supply trailed third-seeded Lob City early in the second half at the Community Park courts. more

Town Faces Affordability Crisis That Cannot Be Solved Without Expanding Housing Supply

To the Editor:

We recently attended a Council meeting about housing development at the seminary. At that meeting, many members of the public voiced enthusiastic support for the project, but many neighbors cited concerns ranging from cutting down trees to changing the neighborhood character to the fact that only 20 percent of the units will be affordable housing.

While these are of course reasonable concerns, the fact is that the Council and Planning Board have been working on this for several years, and they have addressed many of these things already. For example, it would be wonderful to preserve every tree on site, but that’s not realistic, and our regulations require as many as possible to be replaced. Some might prefer if the project were 100 percent affordable housing, but that is not financially feasible, and anyway Princeton needs more housing of all types, not just deed-restricted affordable. Some residents worry about stormwater runoff, but in fact the law requires all stormwater to be retained on the property, meaning the development will likely improve the neighbors’ situation. more