Former borough mayor, Mike Winkler, escorted them through town
By John Tredrea
About a dozen high school students from Orange, France were escorted through sunny downtown Pennington Borough one morning last week by former borough mayor, Mike Winkler.
Mr. Winkler is also a longtime history teacher at The Pennington School, where the students are staying.
Accompanied by Melanie LeBrocquy, their English teacher in Orange, a city of 35,000 near Avignon, the students visited Borough Hall, the police station, library, Sun Bank, Pennington Presybterian Church and, last, but not least, the Cup of Joe coffee shop.
The students quickly thronged in there, perhaps hoping for, well, a Cup of Joe. They did look tired, after all, having just flown in the day before. But they had a busy itinerary their first day here, so that had to wait.
In Borough Hall, Mr. Winkler, who was mayor for eight years and a borough councilman for seven years, summarized government in America, particularly at the local level. "The municipal level is the one that’s closest to the people," he said.
Student Arthur Thenon wanted to know about taxes. "Who collects them, and for what?"
Mr. Winkler replied: "We pay a lot of taxes, though not as much as people in Europe do. We pay state and federal income taxes and local property taxes." He added that the local taxes pay for things like schools, police and public works.
The former mayor added that, in his mind, one of the striking things about Pennington, which has a very low crime rate, is that it is just five miles from a city, Trenton, that is in the midst of serious gang-related crime problems. "There have been a lot of shootings there recently," he said.
Mme. LeBroucquy nodded and replied: "We have just had five Mafia-related shootings in Marseille back home."
Police Director Bill Meytrott showed the students the police facility and said: "It’s a small station . . . We have no lock up here." Individuals who need to be incarcerated are sent to the county correction center in Hopewell Township, he said.
Mr. Winkler noted that Pennington is one of the few towns left in the state (Hopewell Borough is another) in which members of the government are not paid. He recalled an observation on this topic made by the late Ezra Bixby, a longtime councilman and legendary figure in these parts. Said Mr. Winkler with a smile: "I brought this subject up to Ezra once, and his answer was: ‘Someone looking for a salary is not the kind of person we want on Pennington’s government.’"
While stateside, the students are planning to visit New York, Philadelphia, Princeton and Lancaster County, Pa. "I have been looking forward to seeing all of them, especially New York," one of the girls said. "I’m sure I will spend too much money there, shopping!"
Elizabeth Swiderski, Megan Clare, Marly Faherty, Melanie Sluyter and Corina Kwami (shown in the photo) were among Pennington students who traveled to Provence, France, over spring break and are serving as hosts to French students here.
Coerte Voorhees of Hopewell Township accompanied his mother, Karen Voorhees, a faculty chaperone, on the trip to France.
Those shown in the photo are: (front from left) Ariane Dubus, Anais Hilaire, faculty chaperone Melanie Lebroquy; (second row from left) Elizabeth Swiderski, Gwenaelle Bouhyer, Anais Abate, Ludivine Bernard, Fanny Perez, school History Department Chairman Michael Winkler; (third row from left) Megan Clare, Margaux Souillard-Vitale, Lea Mariette, Marly Faherty, Melanie Sluyter, Arthur Thenon, Corina Kwami and Coerte Voorhees.