LAMBERTVILLE: Council holds honors session

By John Tredrea, Special Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE — An outstanding high school math teacher, a Jewish synagogue, the owners of a 200-year-old inn, and the winner of the Girl Scouts highest award were honored at the June 18 meeting of Lambertville City Council.
   Official proclamations in honor of all four were written by city officials, read aloud at the council meeting and made part of the city’s permanent records.
   Honored were Karen Scheetz, a Lambertville resident, who teaches at South Hunterdon Regional High School; The Little Shul by the River, a Jewish synagogue on West Mechanic Street, New Hope; Edric Mason and Mary Ellen Mason, owners of the Lambertville House, which dates to 1812; George Michael, a previous owner of the Lambertville House; and Keziah Donnocker Groth-Tuft, winner of the Girl Scouts’ Gold Award.
   — Ms. Scheetz, daughter of Patricia and Robert Scheetz, lives on North Main Street in Lambertville, attended the Lambertville Public School, is a graduate of South Hunterdon Regional High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and elementary education from The College of New Jersey.
   The proclamation in her honor states that she “has established an environment of robust and rigorous learning while creating a culture of job and community of respect.” She is the recipient of the Governor’s Teacher/Education Services Recognition Program for Teacher of the Year, which was celebrated June 1 at a Recognition Luncheon at the Hunterdon County Polytech Careers Café in Raritan Township. June 23 was proclaimed Karen Scheetz Day in the city of Lambertville.
   — The Little Shul by the River was founded in 1994 by Rabbi Sandy Roth and a small group of Jews in the New Hope/Lambertville area. Rabbi Roth led the congregation until 2011, when she died after a long struggle with cancer.
   The proclamation states that “Kehilat Hanahar, or The Little Shul by the River, was created to provide Jews in the greater New Hope-Lambertville area with a permanent home where they practice the principles of Judaism consistent with the Reconstructionist concept.”
   The congregation “strives for diversity, inclusiveness and participation, and is committed to practicing Judaism in a manner that is relevant to Jewish Americans living in the Delaware Valley and building a multi-generational and diverse Jewish community.”
   The measure goes on to “congratulate The Little Shul by The River for 18 years of success.”
   — The Lambertville House is a stone inn constructed in 1812 by the Lambert family. The inn went up on Bridge Street, a new street in those days, “to take advantage of the proposed new wooden bridge over the Delaware River” to New Hope, the proclamation states.
   By 1814, the Inn also served as the Post Office with the address of “Lamberts Ville.” In 1888, the Lambertville House was enlarged to its current Georgian Colonial appearance and hosted many distinguished guests, including Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson and General Tom Thumb.
   In 1997, George Michael purchased the building, and the Michaels family renovated the structure in ways that “preserved the historical appearance and internal detail while adapting the space for modern use,” the proclamation states, adding that “Edric and Mary Ellen Mason purchased the Lambertville House in April of 2005 from George Michael with the intention of continuing the tradition of fine dining.”
   The Lambertville House celebrated its 200th anniversary on June 3.
   — Girl Scout Keziah Donnocker Groth-Tuft, a resident of Lambertville and daughter of Charlie Groth and Dan Tuft, is a third-generation Girl Scout and the first in her family to earn the highest award for a Girl Scout, the Gold Award.
   Many members of her family have been active in Girl Scouts. Keziah, a junior at the Solebury School, is an exemplary community volunteer, the proclamation in her honor notes. She volunteers at the Lewis Fishery, the Lambertville Free and Public Library and HomeFront.
   Her Gold Award project is called the “Amistad Project / El Proyecto de Amistad, “which brought Hispanic and English-speaking families together to learn about each other’s language and culture for the purpose of supporting the children’s friendships.
   The project was funded through the sales of friendship bracelets made and sold by Keziah. The project was documented by a manual produced by Keziah as the last step of her project. She met with Fran Bardusco, an ESL instructor and employee of the Lambertville Free and Public Library to organize her project.