By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The month will mark one year since Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad member Michael Kenwood died in an attempted water rescue during Hurricane Irene.Family and friends will gather at a memorial service scheduled for 11 a.m. at Greenway Meadows Park on Aug. 28, the anniversary of the day he perished. A bench in the park will be dedicated in his memory, said squad President Peter Simon in a phone interview Wednesday.
It will be the first of two events friends of Mr. Kenwood have planned. A benefit concert to raise money for Mr. Kenwood’s family and the squad will take place Sept. 23, Mr. Simon said.
Members of Broadway Sings, a production company featuring Broadway talent, will perform at Princeton High School starting at 7 p.m. At 6 p.m. there will be a silent auction.
Mr. Simon was with Mr. Kenwood that fateful morning, as the two of them were trying to reach a partially submerged car on Rosedale Road to determine if anyone was inside. The rescue was aborted amid the dangerous waters, but the two men were swept away when Mr. Kenwood fell and took Mr. Simon, tethered together by a rope, with him.
The two got caught on a tree, with Mr. Simon cutting the rope. A fellow EMT swam into the waters to get Mr. Kenwood, who was seriously injured. He died later that night at University Medical Center. Only 39, he left behind a wife and a young daughter.
Mr. Simon recalled Mr. Kenwood as a “pillar” of the squad. Mr. Kenwood, a resident of East Windsor, had been a member for about four years. He was a lawyer who also owned a technology consulting company.
Mr. Kenwood was “a person you could rely on,” Mr. Simon said.
For details about the events or more information, visit the squad’s web site, www.pfars.org.

