Renovations in the talks, and works, in Cranbury
By: Lorraine Sedor
Tomorrow, Princeton Regional Schools will invite the community to see what’s new on Walnut Lane from noon to 4 p.m.
Princeton Regional Schools is officially opening its new facilities at Princeton High School and the John Witherspoon Middle School. The community is invited to celebrate this special occasion in a daylong celebration for all ages, which includes a street fair.
Cranbury will be well-represented at the festival, with the current eighth-graders manning a bake sale and beadwork booth.
This Sunday, Oct. 15, is the final garden session for this season’s Art in the Park program. It will be held at Angie and Dave Cook’s house, 143 N. Main St., noon to 4 p.m. In addition to some great architectural subjects, the location offers one of the best panoramic views in town. Colleen Cahill will be the guest artist.
Participants are reminded that all works completed at, or inspired by, one of this season’s locations are eligible for jury selection into the December exhibit in the Gourgaud Gallery, "Cranbury Gardens IV."
Because of an Open Space meeting the township scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 7:30p.m., Rob Smithers moved his Homefront Security seminar to 7:00 p.m. so residents may attend both. Mr. Smithers will discuss cyber security, identity theft and other topics related to personal and family security. The program will take place at the Cranbury Inn.
Town Hall will be open on Tuesday, Oct. 17 from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. for voter registration. To vote in the Nov. 7 general election, voters must be registered by this date.
The Cranbury Municipal Alliance on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism is pleased to share the following information about national Drug-Free Work Week.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced that Oct. 16 through 22 will be Drug-Free Work Week. The purpose of the designation is to educate employers, employees and the general public about the importance of being drug-free as a component of improving workplace safety and health. The campaign will be a collaborative effort between the Department of Labor and members of its Drug-Free Workplace Alliance; however, all employers and employees are encouraged to participate.
The Department of Labor established the alliance because no industry is immune to the hazards alcohol and drug abuse can cause.
Learn more about Drug-Free Work Week and ways to promote drug-free workplace messages both during the campaign and all year by visiting www.dol.gov/workingpartners.
Cranbury is home to many extraordinary young adults whose interests have brought important issues to the public’s attention. Meg Hayden is one such woman.
A Cranbury resident and graduate of Princeton High School, Meg is a sophomore at Penn State University studying International Development with a focus on World Hunger and Agriculture.
After working in the barrios in Lima, Peru for two summers and seeing the people’s lack of food, housing, water, electricity and education, she decided to start a program called "Flourish Peru," planting the seeds of education for Peru’s "seedlings."
"Peru is a place I hold near and dear to my heart," Meg said. "If you have never been there, close your eyes and imagine the beautiful landscapes where Monet would have painted the clear blues of its skies, where the stars are as easy to pick from the sky as an apple from an orchard, or the greens of its lush vegetation in the rainforest and the rich gamut of golds and browns of its mountains and deserts. Maybe Picasso would have painted the Incan landscape with its amazing buildings with hard and full strokes from his brush. However, alongside these beauties there are also places where poverty, hunger and disease all exist. These realities have no light to shine upon them."
In order to fund "Flourish Peru" she used part of a $2500 grant that Penn State University awarded to her last spring work in Peru this past summer.
Meg’s program is designed to help 30 Peruvian children in the shantytown of Ventanilla. These children have fallen out of the educational system because of a lacking funds and transportation. "Flourish Peru" will help reintegrate the children into the system by having them attend a preparatory school and by providing them with a nutritious breakfast and lunch, schools supplies, uniforms and health insurance.
Teachers and social workers are present to assist in the child’s development. Weekly food bags filled with rice, eggs, lentil, and milk are given to the parents of the children to help alleviate financial pressures. Students and parents also attend monthly workshops on topics ranging from basic cleanliness, human rights, workers’ rights and children’s rights, to nutrition, The workshops are meant to promote integrity and family well-being.
Meg invites all her Cranbury friends and neighbors, along with her high school and college friends, to support "Flourish Peru" through monetary donations. Meg may be contacted at [email protected], or you may send a check payable to Megan Hayden/Flourish Peru in care of: Megan Hayden, 9 Hardley Drive, Cranbury, NJ 08512.###
Residents can reach Ms. Sedor by phone at (609) 655-3386, by e-mail at [email protected], and by mail at 32 Evans Drive, Cranbury, N.J. 08512.

