By: Merle Citron
For many years, Tony Lagana lived on Coryell Street, but that was before he met and married Judi and moved to New Hope. When they were first married, Tony worked as a video production teacher in public education, while Judi was the head of her high school English Department. And then Anthony was born. Judi stayed home with Anthony for his first two years. Last September, Tony and Judi decided to switch roles. Tony is now at home full time, having taken a leave of absence from his job in order to help raise Anthony. Tony hugged his son as he told me, "This is really what I want to do. It’s time to be with my son and I feel very fortunate to be able to do this." Then he paused. "Of course, I’m the only man in the play group, but I don’t mind." Anthony Lagana is a very lucky little boy and all of us are lucky to live in a time where role-reversal is not only "thinkable" but "do-able".
Donny Lewis of North Union Street is 71 years old and proud of it! Donny chided me for taking so long to get around to mentioning him in Chit-Chat. "Joe Hazen always used to mention me in Chit-Chat," he told me. Donny is still working and you’ll often see him pushing a food cart around town. For 50 years, Donny worked for the Acme Supermarkets, retiring 10 years ago. "I miss all the other Acmes," he stated. During his years with Acme, Donny worked at the Lambertville, Flemington, and the Trenton-based Acme supermarkets. "Even though I retired from the Acme, I still do a lot of delivery things for local stores like the Lambertville Trading Company and for people, too," Donny added.
Watercolor artist Janet Waronker lives in East Windsor but spends a lot of time here in Lambertville. She stated, "I have always enjoyed visiting the galleries, stopping in the shops, and attending the art openings. I really miss living in this neck of the woods." Janet lived in New Hope for 10 years and then "he" came along. "He" lives in East Windsor, ergo, so does she! And that’s how it goes.
Brenda Reasoner of West Amwell recently paid a visit to the Main Street Bankon Bridge Street. It was hard to miss Brenda’s bright red earrings and matching pin. According to Lea Cronce, "Brenda has a new pair of ear rings and a matching pin for every day of the year." Brenda denied that this was true but did finally tell us, "I can’t guesstimate the number of pairs of earrings I own." Leigh Esposito suggested, "You can figure out how many pairs of earrings Brenda owns by checking out her QVC bills." Insightful.
Plans have been made for a well-deserved vacation for the Dave and Cheryl Greaves family. Dave and Cheryl live in Stockton and were born and raised in this area. Dave owns Wooden’s Home Improvements, so he’s always working, and has had no time for vacations. Cheryl hasn’t had time to take off from her nine-to-five either. And, for the past 20 years they have voluntarily given a great deal of their time and energy to plan and organize the Shad Festival. Cheryl and Dave and all the volunteers have worked behind the scenes each year to bring us a festival that not only put the name of Lambertville on the map, but also worked like a well-oiled machine. The details of such a huge undertaking are enormous and exhausting, which is why Cheryl and Dave have finally "retired" from Shad Festival work. Instead, this season they are heading south to the Dominican Republic for their well-deserved days in the sun. Have a great time guys and thank you for years of effort on behalf of our community.
Jan Purcell, accomplished artist and talented writer, lives in Hopewell. As of late, Jan has been spending her time writing articles, which have been published in the New York Post, The Princeton Packet, and the Trenton Times. A couple of years ago, Jan began writing art reviews for the Trenton Times and has recently expanded into writing travel articles. A few weeks ago, she finished writing an article about her all-expense paid trip to Europe. Jan is the first one to admit, with a wink of the eye, that it’s not easy to have to sail down the Danube making stops in Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Her trip to the Caribbean in the middle of December to write a travel article wasn’t an easy assignment, either. "It’s a tough job," she told me, "but someone’s got to do it." Interestingly, after five days away, Jan feels a need to touch base at home and then she’s ready to go again.
Right here on Main Street in lovely downtown Lambertville is located Fisherman’s Mark, a social service agency, which runs programs for Hunterdon, Mercer, Bucks, and Montgomery counties. Barbara Petty runs the agency and has done so for quite a few years. Their programs benefit many people, helping to improve the quality of their lives. Fisherman’s Mark has grown and a few years ago they completed the renovation of a house, which now serves as its offices. Now they are building an addition next door.
Patrick Gallagher of Delaware Avenue was born with many gifts including brains, versatility, wit, and tremendous energy. So, it should come as no surprise that Patrick not only works full time for Bristol-Myers Squibb in Princeton, but at the same time, does all the work required in order to receive his MBA degree from the Wharton School. Now that’s no easy feat. Obviously Patrick is working very hard these days. Hang in there, guy!
Lucid Lighting is located at the Laceworks and it is the brainchild of Rob Wallace, a familiar face around Lambertville. During the 15 years that Rob has been in town, he has worked hard to make Lucid Lighting a very successful business. "I call my lights stylish, transitional lighting, and I sell them all over the United States," he told me. "I’ve sold lighting to some very familiar names including Robert DiNero and Carley Simon."
John and Barbara Henchek have lived on Quarry Street for more than 30 years, and during this time the Hencheks have been involved in many community-based activities. Barbara teaches in Delaware Township, working as the director of her middle school resource center. "I’ve been teaching for 29 years," she told me, "and I still love it." John used to bean account executive with AT&T. He retired and put his varied interests and energy into a new career. John and Barbara do research, as well as lecture on the subject of antiques. They are very knowledgeable about antiques and both are antique brokers, specializing in folk art, fraktur (early American decorated manuscripts) and furniture of the 18th and 19th century. John and Barbara are currently giving their spare time to help raise funds to renovate Lambertville City Hall, the former Holcombe House, to its originalglory.
And there you have it folks, a little chit and a little chat.
