Don’t adopt ordinance
To the editor:
It has come to my attention that the township has proposed an ordinance stating that parking would be restricted on Scotch Road, Pennington-Harbourton Road and Pennington-Titusville Road. If this ordinance is enacted, the only available parking to attend events at the Timberlane athletic fields would be back at either the high school or middle school, which are about a half-mile away. This would prevent any physically handicapped person or senior citizen from attending any events at the Timberlane athletic fields. The only possible way to get to the athletic fields would be to walk down one of theses said roads, which is extremely dangerous even for an able-bodied person or to use the cross-country track, which is next to impossible for someone who is of limited mobility.
As a handicapped student myself, if this ordinance is enacted, I could never attend a game or any other school event hosted at the back fields. My brother is on several sports teams, and I would be prevented from attending and watching him play in any of his games. I feel this proposed ordinance, as written, would be very discriminatory to the handicapped and senior citizens of the Hopewell Valley.
I also find it rather illogical that one of the arguments raised in favor of this ordinance was that the people who lived along these roads in question could not host parties at their homes during athletic events because their guests could not find parking due to a lack of spaces available, supposedly taken up by all sports families that would be visiting the fields. Well, if this ordinance passes, wouldn’t their party guests also not be allowed to park on theses roads? Or is this some sort of Orwellian ordinance where some citizens are more equal than others?
Obviously some agreement must be reached so that all our citizens are safe and happy. Therefore, I request that the ordinance be voted down or at least amended so that parking is allowed along Pennington-Titusville Road. That way our handicapped and senior citizens also would be able to attend events at the fields.
Richard Gainsborg
CHS student
Seniors need seniors!
To the editor:
This letter is to make more seniors aware of the fact that earlier this year, the governing bodies of Pennington, Hopewell and Hopewell Township approved the establishment of a Hopewell Valley Senior Center Planning Committee composed of nine members five from the township, and two each from Pennington and Hopewell boroughs. Since then we have evolved into the HV Senior Advisory Board. Our three municipalities are the only ones in Mercer County that do not have a senior center providing full services instead of just a nutrition center in Pennington.
Our HV Senior Advisory Board is nearing the point of hopefully hiring a part-time senior services coordinator to assist us in researching possible sources for funding, etc. However, we need more of you seniors to attend our meetings and tell us what you want in the way of senior services and support us whenever we must go before the municipal governing bodies.
Some of you may have valuable information on funding possibilities, location of a senior center, construction, etc. We need you!
Chairman Larry Mansier has spoken to the Monthly Men’s Luncheon Group at the Presbyterian Church and asked for their support by attending our monthly "public" meetings, which are held at the Hopewell Township Branch, Mercer County Library, near CHS, the second Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. I spoke to the seniors attending the Seniors Quarterly Breakfast at the Hopewell Valley Golf Club and urged them to attend our meetings. The township administrator and I attended lunch with the seniors at the existing nutrition center on Reading Street. We both encouraged everyone to attend our monthly meetings. However, despite our efforts for public input, we have yet to see anyone representing the "public" at any of our meetings. It’s almost as if none of you care. We must have your support or we will not achieve anything. The place for you to express your opinion or complaints is not with other seniors, but by coming to our meetings and also the municipal meetings where "final" decisions are made.
Our next meeting will be on Dec.13 at the library’s Meeting Room at 2 p.m. Please don’t disappoint us.
Sevy Di Cocco
Hopewell Township
A wonderful night!
To the editor:
On Nov. 18, the Hopewell Elementary School PTO sponsored its first Harambee Festival. The evening was designed to highlight the ethnic and cultural diversities within our community with entertainment, food, education and crafts.
Pennington Quality Market provided bountiful amounts of delicious foods representing the Mediterranean and European cultures. Tortuga’s Mexican Village of Princeton and Lambertville donated their specialties for all to sample. Hopewell parents Lisa Bass, Larissa Soos, Fabiana Lacerca, Laurie Cleveland, Ruby Chan, Tracy Hart, Gail Chapman, Mary Skevington, Bridget Krolik, Stacy Meltzer, Kathy Coppins, Vikki Obst and Angie Olsen donated ethnic dishes that literally flew off the tables. Lisa McComb-Graf, wife of school board member Werner Graf, donated several of her family’s traditional Korean dishes, which were a hit as well.
We were thoroughly entertained by the Millstone River Dancers, who performed and gave instruction in traditional English dances. Winsor Li demonstrated and gave instruction in the salsa. All enjoyed Princeton University’s Middle Eastern Belly dancing troupe, Raks Odalisque, and Marie Moore’s School of Irish Dance, who featured several girls from Hopewell Valley’s elementary schools. The night was rounded out for our student body with interaction and education provided by Princeton University’s: International Student Union, Asian American Student’s Association (ASSA), and the Taiwanese American Students Association. Au Pairs in America collectively represented over 20 countries from around the world.
Local crafter, Peggy Connelly brought the art of quilt-making to H. E. Ten Thousand Villages of Princeton, a local nonprofit program with the mission to provide vital jobs and income to people in developing countries marketed their handicrafts and told their stories.
The success of the night was measured by watching our children learn new dances, write Chinese calligraphy with university students, compete the traditional art of German leaf collages and origami, play with traditional toys and perhaps even walk away from the night learning how to say simple phrases in may different languages.
The generosity of local businesses; PQM and Tortuga’s, Princeton University students and parents alike made our first Harambee a great success, I give you my heartfelt thanks. A special thank you to PTO members Paula Curran, Nancy Apple, Vikki Obst and Gail Chapman for keeping the night flowing without a hitch and to Victoria Kaftka, a junior at CHS for managing the sound system for the entertainers during the event.
The cultural richness of our community was never more evident than it was that night.
Carolyn Bender, president
Hopewell Elementary PTO
Harambee coordinator
Light the luminaries!
To the editor:
This holiday season will be a happy, peaceful time for most of us. But behind closed doors in some homes, violence will tear families apart. Domestic violence is a serious problem that impacts individuals and the wider community. In Mercer County, more than 3,500 incidents were reported in 2004.
To bring attention to domestic abuse and offer hope to those in violent homes, Womanspace, Mercer County, began Communities of Light in 2002. This community-wide candle lighting event is a powerful symbol of neighbors joining together to bring this often hidden problem to light. It is a way to declare "not in my backyard."
Communities of Light 2005 will take place on Dec. 18 in five Central New Jersey counties Mercer, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Ocean and Somerset.
We at Compass Healthcare Communications invite fellow residents of Mercer County to join us in helping shed light on the problem of domestic violence. Please purchase one or more luminary kits and light your walkway or driveway on Dec. 18.
Luminary kits cost $10 and contain materials to light 100 linear feet. Kits will be available in neighborhoods, retail locations and online at www.womanspace.org. Proceeds from luminary sales will benefit Womanspace and similar organizations that provide services to individuals and families affected by domestic violence. Locally, kits may be obtained at: Failte Coffeehouse, Hopewell; Cup of Joe, Pennington Quality Market and The Front Porch, Pennington; and the Pennington Ewing Athletic Club.
The light from 100,000 candles will make a profound statement during this holiday season that all families deserve to live in peace.
Peter H. Nalen, president
Advisory Board member,
Womanspace
Parking law has
negative impacts
The following letter was written to members of Pennington Borough Council and submitted to the HVN for publication:
The Pennington Presbyterian Church has been at the heart of this community for nearly 300 years. For decades, the church’s Harvest Festival has been a happy event for the entire community. But this year was different, quite different, because so many attendees received $50 tickets resulting from brand new parking regulations. The Harvest Festival is not an isolated example of events at Pennington Presbyterian Church that have been negatively impacted by the new parking regulations.
Most events or functions at the Pennington Presbyterian Church last longer than one hour. The most obvious and significant examples are weddings and funerals/memorial services held in our church. A more complete list of activities at our church that are adversely affected by the recently enacted one-hour parking limitation can be found in the next paragraph. As can be readily seen, these activities include not only those that are directly related to our church but also a significant number of community activities. Every one of the activities on the list below meets during the times covered by the parking regulation and requires attendance in excess of one hour.
The church is used for funerals/memorial services with luncheons, weddings, Ecumenical Retired Men’s Luncheon, Harvest Festival, Older Adult Ministry Committee Brown Bag Luncheons with speaker, Older Adult Ministry Committee meetings, Nursery School, Women’s Bible Study Group, Parish callers. Outside groups using the church are SHIP Counseling (NJ State Health Insurance Assistance Program), Alanon, Daisy Girl Scout troop, Brownie Girl Scout troops (two groups), Girl Scout troops (two groups), Hopewell Valley Recreation Department (senior exercise class), Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. Special events include Boy Scout Pancake Breakfast, Nursery School Christmas Celebration and Presbytery meetings.
On behalf of the Session and members of the congregation of the Pennington Presbyterian Church, we request that the Pennington Borough Council rescind the recently enacted parking regulation imposed along Main Street, south of Delaware Avenue, that limits parking to one hour between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. We recommend that the regulation be replaced with one that limits such parking to three hours. We make this very reasonable request because the new one-hour parking limit imposes an undue hardship on our church members and on the community-at-large almost every day of the week.
It is important to note that we do not seek a complete rescission of all the recently enacted parking restrictions, precisely because we recognize and acknowledge the legitimate concerns of local merchants and others also impacted by the regulations. Nor do we seek a change in the parking limitations on Main Street north of Delaware Avenue, even though we are fully aware that members of our congregation and others using our church facilities have historically parked in those locations. Instead, we simply request that the time limit on Main Street, south of Delaware Avenue, be changed from one hour to three hours. It is our honest belief that our proposal appropriately balances the concerns of all affected by the parking regulation.
To facilitate a full discussion of the issues raised by the recently enacted parking regulations, we respectfully request that the concerns of the Pennington Presbyterian Church be placed on the agenda of the Pennington Borough Council in January 2006. At that time we will come before you to more fully explain our position and to eagerly respond to your questions.
The Rev. Susan Fall
Hope Anderson, clerk of Session
Norway student
needs family
To the editor:
AFS Intercultural Student Exchange Program urgently needs your help. AFS is looking for one good family to host an international student from Norway starting as soon as possible and through June 2006 (about six months). AFS students attend your local high school and become part of the host family and the community.
Seventeen-year-old Katherine arrived this summer and wishes to have the opportunity to live with another family for the remainder of her program. She is a good and conscientious student with solid values, good judgment and a very positive attitude. She blends seamlessly into any group and makes friends easily. Katherine has three brothers and sisters in Norway and is used to being tolerant and flexible. Katherine speaks fluent English and enthusiastically enjoys the American culture and people.
This year, five Mercer County families have opened their hearts and their homes to AFS students. Host families provide their AFS sons or daughters with a bed, meals, guidance and support. There are many types of host families; single parents, grandparents as well as two-parent households with small children, teenagers, or no children at home. Students come with their own spending money and medical coverage and have a desire to participate as active members of their host families, schools and communities.
AFS, formerly known as the American Field Service, is a worldwide nonprofit organization founded 58 years ago by World War I and II volunteer ambulance drivers who believed that educational exchanges would help create world peace.
Please consider participating in the AFS mission which "works toward a more just and peaceful world by providing international and intercultural learning experiences to individuals, families, schools, and communities through a global volunteer partnership." If you are interested, please e-mail me at [email protected], or call 532-6520. For more information about AFS visit: www.usa.afs.org. We urgently need your help!
Joan Malchow, president
Greater Princeton Chapter of AFS
Lawrenceville

