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Vol. LXIV, No. 5
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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
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Vol. LXIV, No. 5
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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
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DANIEL A. HARRIS
Dodds Lane
THOMAS P. McCOOL
President and CEO
Eden Autism Services
BERNARD P. MILLER
Mayor, Princeton Township
MILDRED TROTMAN
Mayor, Princeton Borough
SUSAN CONLON
Princeton Environmental Film Festival Coordinator and Librarian
Princeton Public Library
To the Editor:
Princeton Township Committee has just taken another great step forward in its visionary plan to create the Princeton Ridge Preserve, setting environmentally sensitive lands aside for passive-use open space, to be left as undisturbed forest.
At its last meeting on January 15, Township Committee voted unanimously to put the 14-acre Ricciardi tract on its Open Spaces Inventory List. This move makes the Township eligible to receive “green acres funding” from the state and Mercer County to purchase the tract. The Ricciardi tract (once slated for 98 housing units) is a particularly valuable acquisition on the Princeton Ridge, as it lies on steep slopes — the stormwater runoff from which has caused havoc downstream. The purchase will also help keep Princeton’s water clean and its economically valuable trees intact as containers for carbon dioxide.
Township Committee’s vote signals its participation in a wonderful collaboration with non-profit environmental groups. Many organizations deserve tremendous thanks from the community for hard and persistent labor — the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Friends of Princeton Open Space, and Stonybrook-Millstone Watershed Association, not to mention individuals who have helped achieve the force of coalition to purchase these valuable lands.
This purchase is a momentous move to create the Princeton Ridge Preserve. The Ricciardi tract lies adjacent to the 21-acre Lowe tract, a substantial portion of which may soon come into the Princeton Ridge Preserve. Many people hope that significant acreage from All Saints’ Church will also be added to the Preserve. Important additional acreage on the Ridge — still undeveloped habitat and wetlands, and adjoining Herrontown Woods — must also be sought: in all, 80 acres preserved solely for passive recreation and education. This marvelous achievement will put Princeton Township in the vanguard of municipalities opposing wasteful suburban sprawl.
Thanks to everyone.
DANIEL A. HARRIS
Dodds Lane
To the Editor:
On January 16 Eden Autism Services celebrated its 22nd Annual Eden Dreams gala, Dreams of Arcadia, at the Hyatt Regency Princeton, and I would like to thank our very generous community for its continued support in helping us to improve the lives of individuals with autism and their families.
I want to thank our 20 individual and corporate sponsors as well as our dedicated Eden Dreams Steering Committee, led by co-chairs Janet Quartarone and Peter Franco. We must also recognize the outstanding Hyatt Regency staff for their excellent service; the staff of Event FX, who provided the beautiful décor; Howard Design Group and Ancraft Press for donating the design and all printed materials; and everyone else who helped bring our event to life. Also, thanks to the many individuals and businesses that generously donated silent auction prizes.
Finally, please know how much we appreciate the individual donations of so many of our friends and neighbors who attended and supported Dreams of Arcadia. As Eden celebrates its 35th Anniversary, the generosity of our community makes it possible for Eden to realize its dream — of individuals with autism learning, growing, working and leading productive lives in their communities.
THOMAS P. McCOOL
President and CEO
Eden Autism Services
To the Editor:
On behalf of the residents of the Princeton community, the Mayor and Council of Princeton Borough and the Mayor and Township Committee of Princeton Township express their gratitude to the many organizations, their staffs, and especially the volunteers who planned and implemented the successful H1N1 immunization program in our community.
They were Bernadette Alexander, Dorothy Bedford, Carol Blount, Veronica Chmiel, Community Park School, Jane Davis, Dann Dingle, Louise Gross, JoAnn Hill, Kathy Hill, HiTOPS, Carol Holzer, Hopewell Township Health Department, Robin Izzo, Jaime Johnson, John Witherspoon Middle School, Edita Kirvelevicius, Kathy Korwin, Dr. Margaret Lancefield, Lawrence Township Health Department, Lynda Lee, Sue Levin, Eileen Loesch, Joan Marks, Mercer County Division of Health, Mercer County Medical Reserve Corps, Middlebrook Regional Health Department, Ursula Miguel, Joan Mitchell, Montgomery Township Health Department, Suman Nahar, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Carol Nicholas, Ocean County Health Department, Sandeep Reddy Pagali, Passport Health, Princeton High School, Princeton Regional Health Department, Princeton University, Maureen Ricks, Mary Beth Smith, Dr. Maria Sophocles, Dr. Kathy Southall, Caroline Taylor, Nousheen Thakur, Cynthia Treves, Cyd Trumbo, Marcie Tyson, University Medical Center at Princeton, West Windsor Township Health Department, and Schools Superintendent Judy Wilson.
While most of our residents saw only the results of their work at the clinics, we realize that there were many long hours of planning and preparation before the clinics could be conducted. Our thanks to all for their hard work on behalf of the health and well-being of the residents of Princeton.
BERNARD P. MILLER
Mayor, Princeton Township
MILDRED TROTMAN
Mayor, Princeton Borough
To the Editor:
I’d like to express appreciation to the public for attending the recent Princeton Environmental Film Festival, sponsored by the Princeton Public Library. The festival, in its 4th year, is intended to combine education and entertainment as a way to build community awareness about our environment using film (primarily) as a medium to stimulate interest, insight, and discussion. This year the Princeton Environmental Film Festival brought in over 4,000 in attendance to the Princeton Public Library for 16 days/evenings from January 2 to 17. We featured more than 50 outstanding films with many filmmakers in-person for post-screening Q&A. In addition to the film screenings we offered panel discussions, presentations, talks, and performances, exploring a wide range of perspectives on our natural and built environment looking at innovative ways to improve our actions and our planet.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the 2010 Princeton Environmental Film Festival, including my colleagues on staff at the Princeton Public Library; the dedicated community members who contribute to the planning of the event all year, and those who helped out during the festival; the local press for publicizing the event; our local and visiting guests who spoke at the festival; local businesses who supported the Festival with in-kind donations and who, along with many community organizations, helped us get the word out about coming to Princeton for the festival; and our funders, who generously give the Princeton Public Library the opportunity to organize and host the Festival at no admission charge. Their funding also underwrites the festival screening costs and the purchase of the films for the library’s lending collection, many with public performance rights, so that these films can be borrowed for home viewing and for school and community organizations, to provide additional public screenings throughout the year.
The films purchased for and screened at the 2010 Princeton Environmental Film Festival are now, or will soon be, added to the library’s lending collection. For more details on PEFF programming, support, resources, past festival schedules, or borrowing the festival films from the collection or submitting films for consideration for the festival next year, please contact me at sconlon@princetonlibrary.org or visit the festival site at www.princetonlibrary.org/peff.
SUSAN CONLON
Princeton Environmental Film Festival Coordinator and Librarian
Princeton Public Library