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Vol. LXIII, No. 9
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009
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Vol. LXIII, No. 9
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009
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 (Photo by E.J. Greenblat)
THE LITTLE HOUSE AT THE LIBRARY: Lydia Duff visiting one of her favorite places in the Princeton Public Library. The dollhouse has been a special feature of library life for many years. After residing in the children’s room of the former library building, it was totally refurbished by Lillian McDonnell and is now located in the third floor children’s area of the new building.
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With a “phenomenal increase in use,” Princeton Public Library (PPL) Director Leslie Burger’s suggestion that “We probably play an even more important role in the community when the economy is tough” is well-taken. With its “tons of business-related resources,” author appearances, speaker series, book clubs, film screenings, and Sunday afternoon family programs, the library is playing many roles to many people of all ages in these financially troubled times.
A medley of issues including sidewalk curbing assessments, municipal vehicles, and moving the Harrison Street Park project forward were the focus of Borough Council’s meeting last Tuesday. Council members Andrew Koontz and Margaret Karcher were not present.
During their monthly meeting last Wednesday, members of the Princeton Environmental Commission organized their goals for the year, and discussed leaf and food composting, as well as the Sustainable Princeton public meeting planned for March 11.
In the business of both taking in and selling goods, thrift and consignment stores are apt economic barometers. The Nearly New Shop on Nassau Street, the One-Of-A-Kind Consignment Gallery at the Princeton Shopping Center, and the Princeton Consignment Boutique in Skillman have all seen an increase in activity at their stores.
“We’re spending virtually all of our non-public board meeting time fashioning the budget,” observed School Superintendent Judy Wilson at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Princeton Regional Board of Education.
As the featured speakers in the opening program of the spring Althea Ward Clark W’21 Reading Series last Wednesday, authors Karen Russell and Nicholson Baker were a study in contrasts.
Sasha Sherry stands 6’0 and is a tower of power for the Princeton University women’s hockey team.
Last February, the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team quickly found out it was in over its head as it faced Johns Hopkins in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at Baltimore’s M & T Bank Stadium.
In the early going last Wednesday, it looked like the Princeton High boys’ basketball team might get blown out by Pennington as the squads met in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals.
When Felix Mendelssohn died in 1847, he was mourned in Germany as a national hero. An elaborate statue of him was erected in Leipzig, where for more than a decade he’d conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In 1936, visiting Leipzig on a tour with the London Philharmonic, Sir Thomas Beecham planned to pay homage to the composer by laying a wreath at the foot of the statue, unaware that the Nazi city government had deemed “the monument to a Jew” a symbol of “the damage” done to the “cultural heritage by Judaism.” When Beecham arrived with the wreath, there was no statue. It had been pulled down and hacked to pieces.
It is always refreshing to see Princeton University students supporting the University ensembles by attending their concerts. Students come to the hall with computers in hand to work right up to the minute the concert begins, and they cheer on their friends as they take the stage. Saturday night’s concert of the Princeton University Glee club and Chamber Choir brought both students and community residents to Richardson Auditorium for a clean performance of three interesting choral works.