Princeton Magazine | Celebrating the Heritage of Princeton, New Jersey

Shop the yART Sale for Creative Local Art Finds

Shop the Arts Council of Princeton’s yART sale for creative bargains and one-of-a-kind finds, all handcrafted by local artisans, on Saturday, August 3, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This flea-market style event will be held outdoors in the Arts Council’s parking lot and around the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, 102 Witherspoon Street. Working in ceramics, jewelry, printmaking, painting, and more, 30-plus vendors will sell seconds, misprints, discontinued designs, and one-of-a-kind items at studio clean-out prices. more

Community Night Out Brings Princeton Together

The annual Community Night Out in Princeton is on Tuesday, August 6 at the Community Park Pool, 400 Witherspoon Street, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Stop by for a free night of swimming; grilled hot dogs; and all kinds of information, swag bags, and fun stuff from Princeton area vendors. Meet members of the Princeton Municipal Government, Princeton Recreation Department, Princeton Police Department, Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, Princeton Fire Department, Princeton University Department of Public Safety, and more, who will be on hand to demonstrate some of the equipment and services they provide. more

“Color Purple” at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

(Photo Courtesy of Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival)

There is still time to enjoy the long-running summertime Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University in the Lehigh Valley, Pa.

The musical The Color Purple runs until August 4. This year’s “Extreme Shakespeare” play is the romantic adventure Cymbeline, also running until August 4. A children’s show, Winnie-the-Pooh & Friends, runs until August 2, and “Shakespeare for Kids” until August 3.

This season, co-leaders Jason King Jones and Casey William Gallagher curated a lineup centered around the theme of “Persistence of Love,” reflected in each play or musical selected. more

Have Your Requests Ready for Dueling Pianos

(Photo courtesy of Palmer Square)

If you ask, “Do you know. . .?” You may hear, “Hum a few bars and we’ll play it.” Have your song requests ready, because the dueling piano players probably know them.

Sing, dance, and laugh along to this high energy, all-request, interactive dueling piano show performed by the Flying Ivories every Thursday on the Green at Palmer Square through August 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. more

Historic Seaside Heights Carousel Spins Again

Good news for carousel lovers: Ocean County and Seaside Heights have reopened the 1910 Dr. Floyd L. Moreland Carousel after a long restoration.

For the past nine years, Seaside Heights has worked with volunteers to restore the Wurlitzer organ, carousel, and carvings, and refurbish the mechanics of the carousel, bringing it back to life for riders of all ages to enjoy. more

Lambertville Named Among Most Charming Small Towns in U.S.

Explore Lambertville, and visit a city that is ranked among “50 of the Most Charming Small Towns in America” by HGTV.

For this feature, the Home and Garden Television Network selected one small town from each of the 50 states, with Lambertville named as the New Jersey selection. Known as “The Antiques Capital of New Jersey,” the online article says that Lambertville is “home to a variety of talented artists and crafters whose shops and galleries sit alongside the scenic Delaware River. This town of 4,000 residents, founded in 1705, also boasts federal townhouses and Victorian homes, a restored 19th-century train depot, Zagat-rated restaurants, and award-winning hotels and B&Bs.” more

History and Nature Hike at Institute Woods

Save your spot for a history and nature hike led by the Historical Society of Princeton (HSP) in the Institute Woods, at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), on July 20 or July 27 from 4 to 6 p.m. each day.

The tour exploring bits of history and the sights and sounds of the serene setting will meet at the Princeton Battlefield parking lot at 500 Mercer Street. more

Jersey Fresh Produce in Season at Trenton Farmers Market

Juicy corn, sweet blueberries, succulent tomatoes, and crunchy cucumbers are among other produce and homemade breads, pies, salads, and specialty stands at the Trenton Farmers Market in Lawrence Township.

A farmer-owned cooperative since 1939, the market is New Jersey’s oldest continuously running farmers market. Located on Spruce Street since 1948, it also carries Amish meats and poultry, kielbasa, cheese, and barbecued rotisserie chicken as well as homemade entrees at vendors such as Pulaski Meats, which specializes in Polish, German, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Russian food items. more

Phillips’ Mill Presents “The Half of It”

Be among the first audiences to view a never-before-performed play at the historic Phillips’ Mill in Bucks County, Pa. The Phillips’ Mill Community Association is presenting a Premiere Showcase production of The Half of It by Domenick Scudera, a Pennsylvania playwright. The play runs July 18-21 and is directed by Phillips’ Mill Theater Resident Griffin Horn. The Half of It is inspired by the life and work of Bert Savoy, a Vaudeville drag artist who was active in the 1910s and early 1920s and who, until now, has been largely forgotten. The Half of It runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m., with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, July 21. more

From the Publisher, Summer 2024

Dear Readers,

Welcome to your Summer issue of Princeton Magazine.

Normally, this letter would come from Editor-in-Chief Lynn Adams Smith, but given my long life in Princeton, Lynn thought that I would be a better person to review this issue of the magazine with you. Rather than the usual summary of what you can expect to read in the pages that follow, I thought I would write this letter as a more personal recollection of experiences related to the stories in this issue. more

The Saga of Jasna Polana

Barbara Piasecka Johnson, widow of J. Seward Johnson Sr., celebrates her “victory” in front of her mansion gate in Princeton, N.J., June 4, 1986. (AP Photo/Jack Kanthal)

A Look Back at the Story Behind the Famed Property

By Anne Levin

Last fall, the luxury golf club Jasna Polana was listed for sale. Set on 222 park-like acres bordered by Route 206 and Province Line Road, the property boasts an 18-hole Tournament Players Course designed by golf great Gary Player, and a palatial, 46,000-square-foot clubhouse.

Jasna, pronounced “yasna,” has earned a reputation for its meticulously manicured fairways, lush setting, challenging greens, and pricey entrance fee. But the expansive, gated property is best known — or notorious — for the chapter of its history that preceded the creation of the golf club in 1998. more

Grazing Through the History of Central New Jersey Dairy Farms

By Wendy Greenberg | Lead photo from shutterstock.com

On a recent overcast day, the cows at Cherry Grove Farm on Route 206 in Lawrence Township were lying down in the meadow expecting the rain that eventually came. Cherry Grove, on land owned by the same family since 1902, is one of the few dairy farms in Mercer County and nearby. The farm doesn’t bottle milk, as many local farmers used to, but in 2002 the Hamill family began making farmstead cheese in-house. more

Forward-Thinking Innovators from New Jersey

Edison, Bell Labs, Sarnoff, and More

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Thomas Edison famously said, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.” Of the many scientists and innovators from New Jersey who have contributed to technology and many other fields, Edison (1847-1931) obviously remains one of the most renowned. Besides developing the first commercially viable version of the incandescent light bulb in 1879, his famous inventions include the electrographic vote recorder (1868), phonograph (1877), an electric locomotive (1880); and a camera that could capture motion (1888). more

3D Printing

At the Digital Forefront of Creative and Technological Design

By Taylor Smith | Lead photo from shutterstock.com

As a medium, 3D printing’s roots stretch back to the 1980s, but it has since grown into a technology that provides artistic experimentation and manufacturing-grade industrial products. 3D printers also find applications in architecture and design, building models that provide mathematically accurate prototype design concepts. A wide range of people are using 3D printers these days — there are 3D printers for home use that are geared towards young teenagers and adults, and those for multimillion-dollar businesses and universities that conduct regular work on them. more

Rex Goreleigh

In the Beginning by Rex Goreleigh. (Invaluable.com)

Harlem Renaissance Artist Paved the Way for Arts Education in Princeton

By Ilene Dube

It sounds like the plot of an inspirational movie.

In the early part of the 20th century, a Black man grows up in the household of a white doctor, where his mother is employed as a housemaid. The man, who is artistically gifted, is orphaned at age 15. He moves to New York to study acting, becomes involved with the Harlem Renaissance where he begins studying painting and drawing, meets muralists Diego Rivera and Ben Shahn while waiting tables, and finds himself working on New Deal projects during the Great Depression.

Fast forward, and the man goes on to exhibit in museums abroad and at home. His work is collected by the likes of Toni Morrison.

This is, in fact, the true story of Russell “Rex” Goreleigh (1902-1986), who spent nearly 40 years in Princeton making and teaching art. more

Ocean Adventures

Shipwrecks, Mutinies, & Survival At Sea

By Stuart Mitchner

The sea never changes and its works, for all the talk of men, are wrapped in mystery.

—Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

A well-traveled old friend once told me, “If you want to know what it’s like to command a sailing ship, read Conrad’s The Secret Sharer.” In fact, the story has less to do with the unnamed narrator’s command of an unnamed ship than with the author’s command of the suggestive psychological nuances of the captain’s relationship with the fugitive he rescues and hides in his living quarters. Formerly the chief mate of a ship anchored nearby, the man had been hastily accused and confined for killing a rebellious crew member during a violent storm. After a single conversation, the captain believes the other’s story and empathizes with him, even to the extent of imagining the fugitive as a double of himself. He takes advantage of his status as commander to help conceal his “secret self” from the crew, even when his choices are risky and suspect, most eventfully when he steers the ship dangerously close to an island so that the fugitive can safely escape, “a free man, a proud swimmer striking out for a new destiny.” more

Turning Toward a Healthier Lifestyle Through Mindful Nutrition

By Mary Abitanto | Photography by the author

I am Jersey-born and raised and a true Jersey girl at heart. Growing up, I spent every summer on Long Beach Island at our shore house, only a stone’s throw away from the beach. One of my most cherished memories is shopping at the local farmers market in Viking Village located in Barnegat Light, a quaint little fishing town. The small farmers market there carries fresh-from-the-farm produce. My dad and I would pick the ripest tomatoes, corn, eggplant, and figs. The long-awaited first bite into a juicy, red-fleshed fig — oh how I love that taste. It’s a memory that will be forever etched in mind. more

Well-Designed Life, Summer 2024

Racing Pigs, Rides, and More at State Fair Meadowlands

For those who want to see if “our state fair is the best state fair,” as the Rogers and Hammerstein song declares, New Jersey’s State Fair Meadowlands is open through July 7, with fireworks on July 3 and 4. As the song concludes, “it’s the best state fair in the state.” more

Quilt Project Dedicated to Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood

Join the Arts Council of Princeton’s Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence Ronah Harris for a hands-on workshop on quilting on Sunday, July 7 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Princeton Public Library first floor exhibit area.

During her residency at the Arts Council, Harris is designing and completing a quilt dedicated to the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood. Sewing experience is not required to participate, and registration is not required. more