Backyard event open to public
By: Jessica Beym
Music lovers are invited to grab a flashlight, a blanket and a picnic dinner and spend the evening of Sept. 30 at a candlelight concert on Cranbury Neck Road.
For the fifth year in a row, Matt and Patty Long, of 39 Cranbury Neck Road, are opening their spacious backyard to the community for an evening of entertainment.
Sponsored by the Cranbury Arts Council, the Candlelight Picnic Concert will begin at 5 p.m. and costs $5. Kids 6 years old and younger are free.
Joanne Hanson, a member of the Arts Council who has organized the event since its inception, said the concert is an enjoyable event for the whole community.
"The Longs have such beautiful property with a big field in the back of their home," Ms. Hanson said. "It’s a nice family way to get together. Teenagers and kids are there, people dance, girls dance with their daddies. It’s really great."
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The Long’s property will be lit with torches and more than 500 luminaries, or small bags with votive candles.
The music will begin at 5 p.m. with a performance from a local trio of Princeton High School students known as Stump. The band includes Cranbury residents Kyle Walsh, who plays guitar, Luke Brunskill who plays bass guitar and Princeton native Andrew Yedlin on drums.
Next up will be Jack and Chad Pinto, a father and son duo from Washington Drive, who will be playing acoustic guitars. Mr. Pinto said he and his son have been playing guitar together for about five years. They plan on playing songs from The Grateful Dead, Neil Young and new songs from artists like Jack Johnson.
"I do the rhythm and Chad will take the lead and play some solos, and we’ll try and harmonize a little bit," Mr. Pinto said. "We’ll play a lot of throwback stuff and some new stuff, but mostly the songs people will recognize."
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from last year’s audience, the Robert Murdock Band will return as the main act of the evening. The trio is known for classic rock hits from the 1970s to the present and has performed in Hamilton and East Windsor, as well as their hometown of Edison.
"It was a big hit last year," Ms. Hanson said. "Through the years we tried to make it more cultural so we had a Latin band and a jazz band, but it seems people like to dance to rock and roll the best."
Ms. Hanson expects between 150 and 200 people to come to the concert. They are invited to bring a picnic lunch, blankets or chairs for the show. Plenty of parking will be available at the Long’s house, Ms. Hanson said.
"People bring everything from take out, like chicken sandwiches to picnic food and others set up tables with linens and candles, the whole thing," Ms. Hanson said. "We get all types. Oh, and you can bring adult beverages."
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about 10 p.m. and families are encouraged to bring flashlights for the walk back through the field at the end of the night.
Tickets will be available at the door or can be purchased in advance by calling the Cranbury Arts Council voicemail at (609) 655-1705. Princeton High School students can also buy tickets from Judy Buckley or Martie Hayden, who are Arts Council members and teachers at PHS.

