PACKET EDITORIAL, June 10
By: Packet Editorial
If Shakespeare were alive and well and living in Princeton, and happened to be writing "Richard III" at the moment, he would undoubtedly have Gloucester open the play with the scene-setting statement: "Now is the spring of our discontent."
Or perhaps he would simply have the clown reprise, from the final scene of "Twelfth Night": "For the rain it raineth every day."
Fortnight upon fortnight of cold, damp, dreary days from April to June may have been the norm for the Bard back in his Stratford-on-Avon days, but here in Central Jersey, it’s an extraordinary occurrence. Across the pond in London, merry old alchemists and barristers keep a stiff upper lip when a steady rain falls on the Inns of Court and Westminster Abbey. But proper Princetonians get downright depressed when it happens, day after day, on the Nassau Inn and Westminster Choir College.
And it isn’t just our spirits that are dampened. It’s our economic vitality, too.
Consider the impact this spell of horrendous weather has had on four separate events in the immediate Princeton area this spring:
Communiversity: It’s the biggest annual event staged by The Arts Council of Princeton an organization that’s already hurting as it struggles to modernize and expand its inadequate facility in the face of strong neighborhood opposition. In a typical year, this street fair will draw dozens of vendors, hundreds of performers and thousands of area residents to the barricaded streets in the center of town. This year, on April 26, it was rained out.
Memorial Day parade: Another Princeton tradition, this one sponsored by the Spirit of Princeton Committee, brings marching bands, drum and bugle corps, veterans’ groups and other participants from all over the state for the patriotic procession up Nassau Street. Residents bring out their folding chairs and line the sidewalks, then take advantage of holiday sales at downtown stores. This year, on May 24, it was rained out.
Reunions and the P-rade: Princeton University’s signature event attracts as many as 18,000 alumni, family and friends to the campus for a weekend of revelry, along with nostalgic visits to familiar downtown haunts for a memento, a sweatshirt, a cocktail (or two or three), a snack, a dinner. This year, from May 30 to June 1, off-campus participation was restrained and commerce curtailed by almost continuous rain.
The June Fete: The horses at the Belmont Stakes had a better track than visitors who braved the elements to attend Saturday’s 50th annual June Fete at the Princeton University athletic fields off Washington Road in West Windsor. For the sponsoring Auxiliary of The Medical Center at Princeton, this year’s event, dubbed "A Fair to Remember," was a day to forget. The Medical Center’s long-awaited and much-heralded name-changing ceremony took place under a tiny, crowded, not-quite-waterproof tent. Several artisans for whom the June Fete is a major money-maker never even bothered to set up their displays along the muddy "Lane of Shops"; others began folding their tents before noon. Although final numbers aren’t tallied yet, proceeds to benefit the hospital’s new Breast Health Center had to be terribly disappointing.
When will this all end? On June 21 (rain date: June 22), when The Arts Council tries a modified version of Communiversity (minus the university) with a "Summer Solstice" celebration? On July 2 (rain date: July 3), when the Spirit of Princeton Committee tries to stage its Independence Day fireworks extravaganza? On July 10 (no rain date), when the popular "Waiter’s Race" moved, for no discernible reason, from Bastille Day to Bahamas Independence Day spills out on Palmer Square?
Shakespeare might pose a prognostication from Sonnet 18: "And summer’s lease hath all too short a date."
Let’s hope not.

