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Vol. LXII, No. 23
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Wednesday, June 4, 2008
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Vol. LXII, No. 23
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Wednesday, June 4, 2008
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ELEANOR “ELLIE” PINELLI
President
Princeton/Pettoranello Sister City Foundation
WILLIAM STEPHENSON
Governors Lane
MARTHA LEIGH WOLF
Executive Director
Morven Museum & Garden
(3 Letters)
TERI McINTIRE
Dempsey Avenue
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Princeton/Pettoranello Sister City Foundation, I would like to thank everyone who supported our plant sale on Saturday, May 10. Thanks to the board of trustees and gardeners for their generous time, and to area residents who came to Pettoranello Gardens to make their purchases, our sale was an enormous success. In addition, I wish to give special recognition and thanks to Alfred and Irene Perna, owners of Mazur Nursery in Lawrenceville, who worked in partnership with the Foundation to supply plants for our sale.
This event required months of careful planning and the dedication of these individuals made the plant sale an outstanding success. Money raised from this event will be used to continue the Pettoranello Gardens park beautification project.
ELEANOR “ELLIE” PINELLI
President
Princeton/Pettoranello Sister City Foundation
To the Editor:
Every time a wealthy developer shows up, wanting to chew up what little green space we have left, there are many advocates who emerge with plaintive arguments that these expensive condos are vital to keep our beloved senior citizens in the community. For some reason, it is also argued by these developers that a person be deemed a senior citizen at age 55. This could lead a reasonable person to guess that the whole “senior citizen” plea is nothing more than a ruse, for the benefit of those who aren’t paying attention.
It seems like a blinding glimpse of the obvious that senior citizens are being driven out of our community, not because of a lack of ample modest housing stock, but because municipal expenses are completely out of control.
This is an area where it would be greatly appreciated if those who call themselves senior citizen advocates could express themselves on our behalf.
WILLIAM STEPHENSON
Governors Lane
To the Editor:
Thanks to the support of the 1783 Committee, 1783 Honorary Chair Nina Mitchell Wells, Secretary of State, and Governor Jon S. Corzine, the opening event of Princeton 1783: The Nation’s Capital, held at Drumthwacket and Morven Museum & Garden on May 27, was met with great excitement.
For the next seven months, special programs celebrating the 225th anniversary of Princeton’s service as the nation’s capital in 1783 will showcase this important period in the early history of the country. The celebration began with the June 1 opening of a special exhibition at Morven Museum & Garden of more than 100 paintings, artifacts, and historic documents, and will end with the Patriot’s Week celebration in Trenton in December. In between, there will be reenactments, exhibitions, lectures, and performances at numerous sites to promote New Jersey’s great Revolutionary history.
We welcome everyone to join in the 225th anniversary celebration. A complete listing of events and schedules may be found atwww.revolutionaryprinceton.org, or by calling (609) 924-8144, ext. 106.
MARTHA LEIGH WOLF
Executive Director
Morven Museum & Garden
To the Editor:
This is in response to a concern expressed regarding the Boy Scouts being banner carriers for our elected officials during the Spirit of Princeton Memorial Day parade (Town Topics Mailbox, May 28).
Memorial Day is a time when our nation honors those servicemen and servicewomen who have sacrificed to protect our constitutional form of government. It is a day when we put aside political partisanship and pay our respects to those who fought to protect this great nation.
It is in that spirit that both our U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator attended the parade, acting as the constitutional representatives of the people they serve. We saw their participation as symbolizing our government’s homage to those who serve our nation.
Troop 43 was honored to be a part of this ceremony to pay respect to those in the armed services and to march with the people’s representatives in Congress.
Scouts have served as escorts for elected officials at many types of official governmental ceremonies from inaugurations of Presidents to Fourth of July parades. We will continue to do so as long as the event is connected to the official celebrations of our nation. Scouting promotes national and community service and we are pleased to honor those who serve our community and our nation, no matter their political association.
I hope this puts in context the spirit in which we participated in the parade.
MARSHALL FREEDMAN
Scoutmaster
Princeton Boy Scout Troop 43
To the Editor:
My career in Scouting spans six years, two years of which I served as Assistant Scout Master of Troop 271 in Brooklyn. I reached the rank of Life Scout and was honored last year by the Central New Jersey Boy Scout Council when I was awarded an honorary Eagle Scout certificate. I mention this only to establish my knowledge and admiration of Scouting and its role for good in our community.
Therefore I was appalled to read the partisan political orientation of Mr. Essig’s letter (Town Topics, May 28). For many years, Scouts across the country have been proud to march with our country’s election officials, in honor of our nation and its heroes. Congressman Rush Holt and Senator Lautenberg are leading members of Congress and are our respected representatives. I feel that Scouts, and the young men who had the honor of marching with Congressman Holt and Senator Lautenberg, would be equally proud if our presently elected officials happened to be Republicans.
Historically, Scouts have participated in governmental activities with no regard to partisan concerns. I certainly hope they will continue to do so, and that the young men who had the recent honor of marching with our congressman and senator will carry that special memory for a long time to come. For Mr. Essig to imply that Congressman Holt or Senator Lautenberg need to gain votes through marching with four Boy Scouts must be termed ludicrous.
HERB GREENBERG
Cherry Hill Road
To the Editor:
It was a glorious Memorial Day parade and I commend the organizers’ community and patriotic spirit and appreciate the hard work it takes to bring off these events. I am troubled, however, by the seeming double standard applied when it comes to defining “non-partisan” as it relates to the parade and as appears in your website’s description of the nature of the parade.
In a detailed description of the upcoming parade which appeared in Town Topics on May 21, the following statement appeared: “No political campaigning is allowed.” I presume this information was furnished to the press by the organizing committee. This stated position was taken at face value by our Republican organization and thus we did not seek to participate in the parade.
Officials from the Princetons marched in the parade, including one from the Borough Council currently running for office. I do not find this particularly objectionable as there was no overt electioneering. Imagine my surprise, however, to see two federal office holders, both Democrats and involved in contested partisan elections, also marching in the parade with their campaign banners. Frankly, I found this development disturbing and a violation of the ground rules for the parade as I understood them. Was I under a misapprehension, or do the “rules” apply only to Republicans?
DUDLEY SIPPRELLE
Chairman
Princeton Borough Republican Committee
To the Editor:
One of my favorite things about living in Princeton is that there is always another wonderful surprise waiting just around the corner.
This month, Hamilton Jewelers provided that surprise by choosing my 6-year-old daughter, Faith, as the winner of the Mother’s Day “best mom letter contest,” which meant that I received a fabulous Aaron Basha baby shoe charm from the new collection.
I would publicly like to thank Hamilton Jewelers for their generosity and to thank Terri Goldsmith and Alan Dowler for being so kind to my daughter when presenting us with this wonderful gift. I will cherish the charm as much as the memory.
TERI McINTIRE
Dempsey Avenue