Robbinsville 0424

7/28/2019 Robbinsville 0424

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www.robbinsvillesun.com APRIL 24-30, 2013 FREE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Kids View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Police Blotter . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 11, 18

Meet me in St. Louis

RHS Robotics team advancesto world championship. PAGE 15

JOE GRAZIANO/Special to The Robbinsville Sun

Dr. Daniel Stobie, chief of staff at NorthStar VETS in Robbinsville, offers a villager in Malawi ataste of honey from a new beehive. Dr. Stobie and other veterinarians visited Malawi to workwith villagers on animal care and sustainable food projects. See the full story on page 14.

A taste of honeyResidents airobjections despite

$76 tax cutBy JOANNE DEGNAN

Editor

The Township Council intro-duced a revised $21.7 million mu-nicipal budget that provides anaverage $76 tax cut, but some resi-dents took issue with the pro-posed 2013 spending plan, withone former councilwoman callingthe tax break an election-yeargimmick.

The budget, as introduced onApril 11, would reduce the munic-ipal tax rate from 54 cents to 52cents per $100 in assessed value.A resident whose home is as-sessed at the township-wide aver-age of $381,000 would pay $1,981 ayear in municipal taxes, a de-

crease of $76 over 2012.Overall, the 2013 budget docu-

ment shows revenues and appro-priations now total $21,736,716 notthe $21.9 million as the mayor hadfirst proposed back in February.

The township ended 2012 witha $3,618,695 surplus and will use$3,050,000 of the 2012 surplus tosupport operations in the 2013budget.

The surplus at the end of 2013is, at this time, projected to be$568,695, CFO Deborah Bauersaid.

Forgive me if Im not a littlemore excited about a 2-cent elec-tion year decrease in taxes, for-mer councilwoman Sonja Walter

please see TAXES, page 13

Salary increases, iPads in new municipal budgetBy JOANNE DEGNAN

Editor

A review of the proposed 2013Robbinsville budget shows allmunicipal employees are in line

for at least a 2 percent pay raisethis year, but some will apparent-ly be getting even higher salaryadjustments, often because ofpromotions or increased work re-sponsibilities.

The salary issue was raisedduring the public comment por-tion of the April 11 TownshipCouncil meeting by Patriot Driveresident Sonja Walter, a formercouncil member who ran against

Mayor Dave Fried in the 2009 elec-tion.

Are there raises in this yearsbudget? Walter asked CouncilPresident Ron Witt during a pub-lic comment period that preceded

the councils vote to introduce thebudget.

There are 2 percent (raises) Ibelieve for municipal employees,

please see SALARIES, page 5


2/20

Girls U9 International Soccer

Rville Comets 4,Harrison Cherry Bombs 1

The undefeated RobbinsvilleComets defeated the HarrisonCherry Bombs 4-1 on April 13.The Comets used goals by Brit-tain Ruscito (2), Delanie Perrineand Aleca Fotiou to secure thevictory in a hard fought and phys-ical battle. Emma Horan andMaddie Pike created energy andan offensive spark while AlenaPietrini provided a lockdown de-fensive presence. Jaimee McEn-tee and Cara Alban were out-

standing in goal making a num-ber of key saves to preserve thevictory.

Rville Comets 3,Glassboro Doves 0

In their hardest test to date, theRobbinsville Comets overcame astrong defensive effort by theGlassboro Doves on April 14 to se-cure a 3-0 victory, improving theirrecord to a perfect 6-0.

The score was a tense 0-0 at

halftime when the Comets tookcontrol on two goals by BrittainRuscito and one by Delanie Per-rine. Kolette Schulz, EmmaHoran and Kailey Pacifico playeda tremendous all-round game andYianna Mazzella displayed herplay-making skills on offensive.Becky Blitz and Caroline Cogginswere sensational in goal earningthe combined shutout.

Little LeagueRookie League (ages 6-7)

Dairy Queen v. Efinger SportsIn Rookie League action on

April 11, there were outstandingplays in the field from Ari Pollackwith a diving stop at first base toget the out. Also, Andrew Hegel

made two great catches on pop-ups in the infield, including onediving from the mound. DairyQueens catchers Grant Paulus,Drew Schimer and Jack Morganalso provided excellent defense.Timely base hits came fromChristian Yoo, Ryan Dzeizdic, andJack Lustik.

Travel SoftballRville Rampage 10U

Capture TournamentThe Robbinsville Rampage 10U

travel softball team took to thefields again recently to partici-pate in the Lincoln Park SpringFever Fast pitch Softball Tourna-ment. The Rampage breezedthrough the seeding round of the

tournament, going 3-0 behindshutout pitching performancesby Brynn Hopkins (seven strike-outs) and Emelia Bercaw (13strikeouts). Offensively, the teamwas led by Gina Mollica whorocked five hits (two doubles anda triple), both Brooke Torringtonand Bercaw chipped in four hitsapiece and Sonia Bharatiyasmacked a home run.

During elimination play, in thesemi-finals, the Rampage wereone run behind and down to theirlast out in extra-innings beforethey loaded the bases on threeperfect bunts by Becca Siracusa,Mackenzie Martin and KarinaBharatiya. Gina Mollica thenlined a single to center field, plat-

ing the winning runs and sendingthe Rampage to the champi-onship game.

In the championship, the Ram-page trailed 3-2 going in to thefifth inning when Emelia Bercawcame up big for the Rampage,blasting a three-run home run toright field to put the Rampage upfor good. The game ended in the6th inning on tremendous defen-sive play with a first to home tothird double play, perfectly exe-cuted by first baseman Mollica,

catcher Julia Dottino and Hop-kins at third base. Then BriannaHaggerty threw out a runner try-ing to advance to third base to endthe game and bring the champi-onship to Robbinsville.

2 THE ROBBINSVILLE SUN APRIL 24-30, 2013PROFESSIONAL WEBSITES.

PEASANT PRICES.

youth sports scene

MIKE COGGINS/Special to The Robbinsville Sun

The Comets Kolette Schulz (center) moves the ball toward goal aftera nice pass from Emma Horan (left) during travel league play. Brit-tain Ruscito, No. 7, is at right.


3/20

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Registration - NoonTee Off - 1 PM


4/20

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First round of school projectsBy JOANNE DEGNAN

Editor

The Board of Education hasawarded a $2,364,000 contract forrenovation work at SharonSchool and Pond Road MiddleSchool, projects that will be paidfor with funds from the $18.9 mil-lion referendum voters approvedfour months ago.

The school board voted April 11to award the contract to Paul OttoBuilding Company of Cranford,which was the lowest bidder ofthe six companies that were

vying for the project. Bids rangedfrom $2.3 million to $3 million.

The projects include renovat-ing the cafeteria area and kitchenin the oldest part of SharonSchool, which dates to 1954, andcreating three new classrooms in-side the Pond Road Middle SchoolMedia Center.

The school district is expectingthis work to be done by the time

the new school year begins inSeptember.

Business Administrator BobDeVita said April 12 that the dis-trict intends to go out to bid inJune for the major project: a 27-classroom, two-story addition toSharon School, as well as the ex-pansion of the Pond Road cafete-ria. These projects are expected tobe complete by September 2014.

The added space provided bythe projects will enable the K-3Sharon School to become a K-4building, thereby relieving theovercrowding at the grade 4-8

middle school where there arecurrently 1,111 students.

Originally, the plans had calledfor 24 new classrooms at SharonSchool, but Spiezle Architectswas recently able to reconfigurethe space without expanding theadditions footprint to give thedistrict three extra classrooms.The original plan for PRMS hadbeen to create five new class-

rooms inside the media center,but that was recently changed tothree classrooms.

Three gives us rooms that arelarge enough to create instruc-tional space without taking awaytoo much of the media center,DeVita said.

Voters approved an $18.9 mil-lion construction referendum inDecember to addresses over-crowding at the K-8 levels by ex-panding the elementary and mid-dle schools.

The district has a current en-rollment of 2,900 students and its

elementary and middle schoolsare a combined 334 students overtheir intended capacity.

There will also be hundreds ofnew children enrolling in the dis-trict in the next few years becauseof approved housing develop-ments ready to be built.

See the architectural renderingsof the school projects online atwww.robbinsvillesun.com.

The following items weretaken from reports on file withthe Robbinsville Township Po-lice Department:

Someone stole 30 pieces ofdrilling equipment valued at ap-proximately $25,000 from a busi-ness in the Windsor IndustrialPark sometime between 7 p.m.,April 6 and 9 a.m., April 7.

Patrolman Robert Morganotook the report. There are nosuspects at this time.

***

Someone stole a ground-mount air conditioning unit val-ued at approximately $3,500from outside a business on thefirst block of Main Street some-

time between April 1 and April8.

Patrolman Bryan Boccanfusotook the report. There are nosuspects at this time.

***

A 49-year-old Oklahoma manwas charged with DWI andother offenses at 10:19 p.m.,April 9 after a traffic stop onRoute 130 South.

Patrolman Wayne Haugh sawa vehicle weaving and pulled itover near Robbinsville Storage.

The driver failed field sobrietytests and was arrested.

The accused was also chargedwith careless driving, recklessdriving, obstructing traffic andfailure to maintain lane.

police report

Visit us online at www.robbinsvillesun.com


5/20

for the non-contract municipalemployees, and there are a coupleof others that are in there thatyoull be able to see when thebudget is released, Witt said.

Prior to the budget introduc-

tion, the public can only gleangeneral information on what thedraft document contains by lis-tening to council discussions andthe questions council membersask administration officials.

Once introduced, the budget isno longer an internal workingdocument and is available to thepublic for review.

An examination of the $21.7million budget document after itsApril 11 introduction shows a 2percent increase in the line item

for council salaries, which wouldraise the pay of the five part-timecouncil members salaries to$4,968 each in 2013.

The line item for other ex-penses for the Township Councilwould increase 75 percent from$3,520 to $6,150. Asked for furtherdetails about this on April 16,Business Administrator JoyTozzi said the increase would payfor five iPads.

They are looking to cut down

on paper costs with the councilpackets being so large they want-ed to save more trees by going pa-perless, Tozzi said.

Collectively, salaries and wagesin the recreation services lineitem would increase 17 percent,from $75,521 to $88,701. Tozzi saidmost of the increase reflects apromotion given to the head ofrecreation who was originallyhired as a manager and promotedlast November to director, raisinghis salary from $56,100 to $65,000 a

year.There is also a 7 percent in-

crease budgeted for legal fees in2013, which would increase from$236,753 to $253,066. The Town-ship Council and mayor have pre-

viously discussed a plan to have amember of Township AttorneyMark Rosellis legal firm workpart-time in municipal offices.Roselli is paid a $12,000 a monthretainer to handle township legalmatters.

General administration salaryand wages are increasing by$42,784 (46 percent) while the totalfor salaries and wages listedunder the mayors office is de-

creasing $25,141 (30 percent).The total budget for salaries in

the mayors office is declining,even though the council has dis-cussed giving the mayor a $2,000raise that will bring his salary to$12,320 a year, because of the waysalaries are being reallocatedunder different departmentsbudgets in 2013.

Tozzi said April 16 that sometownship officials have portionsof their salaries split among dif-ferent departments based on

what type of work they do, andthe percentage of salaries allocat-ed to various departments canchange year to year.

In 2013, some people whosesalaries were previous charged tothe mayors office are going to becharged to other accounts.

It can get complicated, Tozzisaid.

Asked if anyone aside from therecreation director was receivinga raise exceeding 2 percent, Tozzi

that other salary adjustmentswere expected in the municipalclerks office and the finance of-fice, the latter tied to employeeswho have been promoted with in-creased responsibilities.

Tozzi, who earns $85,000 a yearas township business administra-tor, said she is in line for a $5,000salary adjustment, which wouldbe charged to the general admin-istration account.

The townships communica-tions officer, who had been work-

ing for Robbinsville as a part-timeconsultant at $35,000 a year (paidpartly out of the economic devel-opment budget), has been addedto the general administration ac-count as of Jan. 1 as a full-time

employee earning $45,000, whichis another reason for the increasein the general administrationssalary line, she said.

The engineering budgetssalary and wages line item showsa $59,370 increase, but the town-ship engineer, who is also the di-rector of community develop-ment and economic development,is not receiving any adjustment tohis $159,681 salary beyond the 2

percent raise all employees areslated to get, Tozzi said.

The line item increase in engi-neering department salaries isdue in part to the hiring of an$18,720 a year part-time assistantin that office, but mostly becausemore of the engineers salary isbeing reallocated to the engineer-ing budget instead of the generaladministration budget, Tozzisaid.

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Salary increases, iPadsin new municipal budget

SALARIESContinued from page 1


6/20

letters to the editor

in our opinion

Let the public back in


Anyone whos ever planned a

wedding knows its risky to

invite people and hope they

dont come. There is always a chance

someone will.

For years, the townships Technical

Review Committee (TRC) has been

inviting the public to attend its month-

ly 10 a.m. Wednesday meeting by pub-

lishing meeting dates and agendas on

the municipal website. Apparently,

they too were just hoping that no one

would come.

After The Robbinsville Sun attended

a Feb. 26 TRC meeting about a propos-

al to build a gas station and Wawa on

Robbinsville-Allentown Road, and

then made inquiries after a March 26TRC meeting about the Gordon-Simp-

son project was cancelled (according

to the township website), then inexpli-

cably held anyway, the Planning Board

attorney advised the township engi-

neer TRC meetings arent really open

to the public or press after all. The Sun

was told it could not cover future Tech-

nical Review Committee meetings.

What is the Technical Review Com-

mittee and why should we care? The

TRC, which includes the township en-

gineer, the attorneys for the planning

or zoning boards and other profession-

al staff, is the advisory body that re-

views developers proposals before ap-

plications are made to the Planning

Board or the Zoning Board of Adjust-

ment. A TRC meeting is an opportuni-

ty for developers to receive frank ad-

vice from township officials on what

changes are needed to make their

plans acceptable to the land use

boards that will eventually be voting

on them.

In his April 1 legal opinion, Plan-

ning Board Attorney Jerry Dasti

wrote the public does not have the

right to attend a TRC meeting becausethe TRC in not a public body. There-

fore, TRC meetings do not come with-

in the definition of a Meeting as de-

fined by the New Jersey Open Public

Meeting Act, he said.

If the TRC isnt really a public body,

why does the Township Code require

TRC members to elect a secretary and

chairperson every year, and fix a reg-

ular meeting schedule that shall be

posted in the Municipal Building? If

the TRC isnt a public body, why does it

record its meetings and why does the

Township Code require the TRC secre-

tary to prepare and provide the min-

utes of TRC meetings to the township

Planning Board and Zoning Board of

Adjustment members?

And if TRC meetings are only inter-

nal work meetings for staff, as town-

ship officials now claim, why have

they been posting meeting notices and

agendas on the municipal website for

years?

In my opinion members of the pub-

lic attending the TRC meetings would

be counterproductive since there is a

substantial give and take between the

applicant and the township represen-tatives concerning the proposed appli-

cation, Dasti wrote in his letter. That

give and take would be thwarted if un-

interested members of the public were

in attendance.

Which begs the question: How do

citizens silently observing a meeting

whose format allows no public com-

ment manage to thwart the give and

take of the proceedings by their mere

presence?

P.O. Box 7

Windsor, NJ 08561-0007

609-529-6611

The Robbinsville Sun is published weekly byThe Robbinsville Sun, P.O. Box 7, Windsor,NJ 08561-0007 and mailed to every addressin our community. If you are a Robbinsvilleresident, but not currently receiving a copyof The Robbinsville Sun, please contact us at

609-529-6611.

PDFs of the newspaper are free and av ailableonline at www.robbinsvillesun.com. Non-residents may obtain a six-month subscrip-tion of the newspaper mailed to their homeor business for $39.99. For more informa-tion about delivery, call 609-529-6611.

Email news releases, photos and calendaritems to [email protected] submitted for publication considera-tion should be high-resolution JPG format.

Calendar items must include the name of theevent, date, time, full street address, admis-sion fee (if applicable) and a contact email orphone number for further information.

For advertising information with TheRobbinsville Sun, call (609) 529-6611 oremail [email protected].

The Robbinsville Sun welcomes suggestionsand comments from readers including anyinformation about errors that may call for acorrection to be printed.

SPEAK UPThe Robbinsville Sun welcomes letters fromreaders. Brief and to the point is best, so welook for letters that are 300 words or fewer.Include your name, address and phonenumber. Phone numbers are for verificationpurposes only and will not be printed.

We do not print anonymous letters. Emailletters to [email protected] ormail to P.O. Box 7, Windsor, NJ 08561-0007.

The Robbinsville Sun reserves the right toreprint your letter in any medium includ-ing electronically.

PUBLISHER Dave Doran

EDITOR Joanne Degnan

The general media has gonesoft on the president

It was refreshing to read the column en-titled Campaigning waylays governingby Andrew Aromando in the April 10-16edition of The Robbinsville Sun.

The general media print, online and

television has gone soft on the presidentin regard to the economy, debt, deficits,Benghazi, entitlements, Fast & Furious, re-

ligious freedom, window-dressing legisla-tion, executive orders and the sequester toname a few while the president flies allover the country blaming everyone else forevery issue.

The perpetual campaign and same tired

speeches day after day has made this presi-dent a bore.

Ed Nelson

In your words

Send us a letter to the editor:[email protected].


7/20


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interfaith views

By DAN GRECOPastor

Lifetree Community Church

It happened again. As the sto-ries emerged of bombs explodingon the crowded streets of Bostonand a fun-filled day of racingturned tragic, everything simpli-fied.

I watched as news reports

pieced together what was unfold-ing. Very quickly, my petty littleproblems melted away. In a mo-ment, all that work I had to dowasnt so urgent anymore. Thatbathroom-remodeling project Ihadnt finished? Forgotten.

As the news sank in, I justwanted to hold my kids close, hugmy wife, and say a prayer for ourbrothers and sisters in New Eng-

land as they walked through adark day.

These moments happen toooften. In the middle of our day,well hear news of pain and suf-fering.

And in that moment, all thethings we stress over, hope for,and complain about, are instantlyprioritized.

What matters most? These

things that are consuming somuch of our energy, are theyworth it?

In times of pain and suffering,everything simplifies. My first-world problems arent so biganymore. The state of my lawn

just doesnt matter that muchwhen I hear of 8-year-olds losingtheir life. What bothers me most,is how, after a few days, I find my-

self right back where I was.Whining about this or that,stressing over things that arent abig deal.

Why cant I just maintain thatsense of clarity about what mat-ters most?

Too often it takes a tragedy towake me up from my fog of fool-ishness.

So, today, lets try again. Lets

do our best to remember whatsimportant.Lets hug our kids good and

tight, try to speak with kindnessto those we love, and try to resistthe temptation to stress aboutstuff that doesnt matter. Wewont get it all right, but hopeful-ly, well get it more today than wedid yesterday. And that does mat-ter.

A moment of clarity

MIKE FRANK/Special to The Robbinsville Sun

About 150 parishioners of St. Gregory the Great Church gatheredApril 14 to pray a balloon rosary that was later launched over theschools soccer fields.

Lifting prayers heavenwardSt. Gregory the Great Church

After the 9 a.m. childrens litur-gy on April 14, about 150 parish-ioners and friends prayed arosary constructed of 60 largeballoons and a 6-foot cross thatwas designed by children of theparish.

Several parish ministries at St.Gregs helped build the rosary,which was done in the papal col-ors of gold and burgundy inhonor of Pope Francis. Afterpraying together, the parish-

ioners released the rosary intothe sky as a visible witness to thechurchs devotion to the BlessedMother.

The event was sponsored bythe Home Life Ministry and as-sembled by the Knights of Colum-bus Council 7677.

Participants included the

Knights, the Altar Rosary Society,the Social Concerns Ministry, theEvangelization Ministry, St. Gre-gory the Great Academy, CCDchildren, and the After-Schoolprogram.


8/20

THURSDAYAPR. 25Chair Yoga Class: 10 a.m., Rob-binsville Senior Center, 117 Route130. No registration required. Freeclass under the direction of Connie

Ferrara for seniors 60 and older. Forinformation, contact 259-1567.

Coffee Donuts and a Movie: 1:30p.m., Robbinsville branch of the Mer-cer County Library System, 42 Rob-binsville-Allentown Road. Screeningthe 2012 Academy Award nominat-ed picture Lincoln. Pre-registeronline at www.mcl.org.

School-age Storytime: 4:30 p.m.,Robbinsville branch of the MercerCounty Library System, 42 Rob-binsville-Allentown Road. For chil-dren in kindergarten and up. Regis-tration required online atwww.mcl.org or call 259-2150.

FRIDAYAPR. 26Toddler Tunes: 10:30 a.m., Rob-binsville branch of the Mercer Coun-ty Library System, 42 Robbinsville-Allentown Road. This music pro-

gram is for children of all ages,accompanied by an adult. Onlineregistration required atwww.mcl.org. For questions, call259-2150.

Ravens Boys Varsity Baseball v.Hopewell Valley: 4 p.m., Rob-binsville High School, 155 Rob-binsville-Edinburg Road. Game sub-ject to change. Check online athttp://www.usatodayhss.com.

Ravens Girls Varsity Softball v.Hopewell Valley: 4 p.m., Rob-binsville High School, 155 Rob-binsville-Edinburg Road. Game sub-ject to change. Check online athttp://www.usatodayhss.com.

Robbinsville Little League OpeningNight Ceremonies: 5:30 p.m., Tan-tum Park, Meadowbrook Road.www.robbinsvillelittleleague.org.

SATURDAYAPR. 27Ravens Boys Varsity Lacrosse v.Delaware Valley Regional: timeTBA, Robbinsville High School, 155Robbinsville-Edinburg Road. Gamesubject to change. Check online athttp://www.usatodayhss.com.

Medicine Disposal Day: 10 a.m. to 2p.m., Robbinsville Police Headquar-ters, 1117 Route 130 North. Residentsare encouraged to dispose of theirunused, unwanted medicines safelyat this Operation Take Back NJevent sponsored in conjunction with

the township police and the Rob-binsville Municipal Alliance for thePrevention of Substance Abuse. Forfurther information, call 918-0002ext. 100 or email [email protected].

How to Talk to Your Child AboutHealthy Relationships: 10 a.m. to 12noon, Robbinsville branch of theMercer County Library System, 42Robbinsville-Allentown Road. A freeprogram to help you give your pre-teen and teenager the knowledgeand skills to have healthy, positive

dating relationships and avoid sexu-al violence. Presented by Woman-space. Registration required atwww.mcl.org or call the library at259-2150.

Family Movie Night: 7:30 p.m., thefields at Tantum Park, MeadowbrookRoad. Enjoy The Lorax (PG) on anoutdoor screen. The concessionstand will be open in this fundraiserfor Robbinsville Little League. For

more information, visit the recre-ation links on the township websiteat www.robbinsville-twp.org.

FRIDAYAPR. 28YWCA Young Wonders Preschool5th Annual Fashion Show & SilentAuction: doors open 12 noon, showstarts 2 p.m., Nottingham Ballroom,Mercer Street, Hamilton. Enjoyspring and summer fashions pre-sented by The Childrens Place ofThe Shoppes at Hamilton. AmbientDJs will be providing the musicalentertainment. Over 70 items are inthe silent auction including sportsmemorabilia and tickets to variousentertainment destinations. Ticketsare $8 in advance and $10 at thedoor. Call 609-587-1815 to reservetickets.

We Can Change the World, a spir-it-filled concert presented by theecumenical Community ChristianChoir, at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at theSeventh Day Church, 2290 Route33. Concert is free to the public witha free-will offering donated to desig-nated charities. For more info, go towww.ccchoir.com or call 609-587-7076.

MONDAYAPR. 29Senior Art Club: 10 a.m., SeniorCenter, 117 Route 130. Free oil orwater-based painting for seniors 60and older with all levels of expertise.Must bring your own art supplies.For more information, contact 259-1567.

Ravens Boys Varsity Baseball v.Allentown: 4 p.m., Robbinsville HighSchool, 155 Robbinsville-EdinburgRoad. Game subject to change.

Check online at http://www.usato-dayhss.com.

TUESDAYAPR. 30Create a Rainbow Childrens Craft:

10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Robbinsvillebranch of the Mercer CountyLibrary System, 42 Robbinsville-Allentown Road. No registrationnecessary. Drop in and make a craftwith the materials provided. Call259-2150 for information.

Chair Yoga Class: 10 a.m., Rob-binsville Senior Center, 117 Route130. No registration required. Freeclass under the direction of ConnieFerrara for seniors 60 and older. Forinformation, contact 259-1567.

Babytime: 10:15 a.m., Robbinsville

branch of the Mercer CountyLibrary System, 42 Robbinsville-Allentown Road. Rhymes, songs andsimple stories for children ages 6 to24 months accompanied by anadult. Pre-registration required atwww.mcl.org or call 259-2150.

Ravens Boys Varsity Lacrosse vs.New Egypt: 4 p.m., RobbinsvilleHigh School, 155 Robbinsville-Edin-burg Road. Game subject to change.Check online at http://www.usato-dayhss.com.

Robbinsville Little League Night atthe Trenton Thunder: 7:05 p.m.,Waterfront Park, Trenton. (TrentonThunder, AA affiliate of the NewYork Yankees vs. New HampshireFisher Cats, AA affiliate of theToronto Blue Jays). Tickets cost $10each. Email [email protected].

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way to reach all your local customers. But it was an expensive proposition until now.

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10/20

Three Robbinsville studentsare being honored for their artis-

tic efforts to encourage townshipresidents to shop locally.

Mayor Dave Fried announcedthe winners of the Keep It LocalRobbinsville art contest on April12. The winners are: SharonSchool first-grader AshleyRoberts, Pond Road MiddleSchool sixth-grader KayleeMcEvoy, and Robbinsville HighSchool 10th-grader AllisonKroepfl.

Students of all ages were asked

in February to create a posterthat best illustrated the messageKeep your Money Where YourHeart Is - Keep It Local Rob-binsville. The 50 entries receivedwere grouped into three age cate-gories elementary, middleschool and high school and post-ed on the townships Facebookpage for viewers to judge. The art-work receiving the most Face-

book likes won.Ashley, Kaylee and Allison will

be presented with their prizes inthe next few weeks, which will in-clude a pizza party and other giftsdonated by vcsalon and other lo-cally owned businesses.

Robbinsville Township hasembarked on an effort to encour-age residents to shop locally anduse local vendors for the servicesthey use, Fried said. We are ex-cited about the launch of this pro-gram to keep businesses, resi-dents and local charities all sup-

porting each other and all the stu-dents did a beautiful job.The campaign will be officially

launched June 8 at the Rob-binsville Township CommunityDay festivities. The winnersposters will be used to promotethe Keep It Local Robbinsvilleprogram and will be displayed intownship businesses and onlinepromotions.


Keep it Local art contest winners announced

ROBBINSVILLE TOWNSHIP/Special to The Robbinsville Sun

Top left: Pond Road Middle School sixth-grader Kaylee McEvoys entry won the middle school division.Top right: First-grader Ashley Roberts created this winning poster in the elementary division for theKeep It Local Robbinsville art contest. Below: Robbinsville High School sophomore Allison Kroepfl won inthe high school division.

Scholarship deadline May 1The Robbinsville-Hamilton

Sunrise Rotary Foundation re-minds graduating high schoolseniors that the application dead-line for Rotary scholarships isMay 1.

Each year the Rotary awardsabout $6,000 in scholarships toseniors who reside in either Rob-binsville or Hamilton and plan toattend a two- or four-year college,or vocational or technical school.

Individual awards range from$250 to $1,000.

More information about thefoundations college scholarshipsprogram, as well as the applica-tion, are on the Robbinsville-

Hamilton Sunrise Rotarys web-site, www.rhrotary.org. Questionsabout scholarships may be direct-ed to Tom Lanigan by calling 609-581-2211 or emailing him at [email protected].


11/20


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The following RobbinsvilleHigh School game results werecompiled from head coaches re-

ports for the week of April 8.

Girls Track and FieldThe Ravens girls track and

field team split a double dualmeet at home on April 10 againstHamilton West and Notre Dame.The girls lost to Notre Dame 83-57,but defeated Hamilton 87-53.

The girls record is now 2-1.

First-place winners for the RHSgirls team were: Myana Morris-Bullock (100 m); Makenzie Bay-

less (1600 m); Erin Holzbaur (400m); Paris Hughes (800 m); NoelJancewicz (javelin, high jump,long jump); Chloe Hoag (triple

jump); Andin Fosam (discus, shotput).

The Ravens were set to host theMercer County Relay Champi-onships Saturday, April 20, afterThe Robbinsville Sun had gone topress.

Ravens nest

By BETTY ODONNELLRecently while out with a col-

league in search of a restaurantthat would offer both a lively bararea where I could settle downwith a Bombay Sapphire Martinispeared with hand-stuffed bluecheese olives, along with a menuoffering interesting dining choic-es, we headed over to the CentroGrille and were thrilled that wedid. The bar area, nicely separat-

ed from the dining room, was live-ly and busy. I noticed many famil-iar faces.

My colleague and I ordered ourdrinks and were seated at a tablein the dining room. We weregreeted by our friendly and com-petent server, Jennifer.

The dining room was casualand comfortable with just theright amount of ambiance to sug-gest that this was going to be agood night.

The menu looked interesting,

something for everyone even ifwe had come with our kids. We

began with a few appetizers, theBourbon Jumbo Shrimp ($10)wrapped in bacon with a sweetand zesty sauce were fantastic!The Mahi Mahi Tacos ($10) spe-cial tequila lime sauce withgrilled pineapples was a pleasantsurprise, as was the Sweet & SourCrispy Calamari ($10) with itsbalsamic glaze and a deliciouscrunchy texture. The appetizerswere served in large portions that

could easily have been a quickmeal.Next, we were fortunate to

enjoy a sneak tasting from thenew spring menu featuring local-ly grown produce and organic in-gredients that will make itsdebut on the menu April 26. Abeautifully plated almond-crustedred snapper drizzled with a blackcurrent emulsion was delicatelyprepared and served on a bed ofroasted brussel sprouts ($21) wasmy favorite. Next we dined on

sliced, perfectly done marinatedBlack Angus ($29). We finished

with a Spiced Chai Bread Pud-ding ($6) and a Chocolate MousseDome ($6) with berries andwhipped cream a Centro signa-ture dessert.

Finally, here is a destinationrestaurant where the communitycan come together with their fam-ilies have a quality meal at a niceprice point, enjoy a cocktail, andcatch up with some friends.James and George Karalis and

Joe Immordino are the owners ofCentro Grille and are Rob-binsville residents. Recently Cen-tro sponsored the very successfulafter-party for the annual Rob-binsville St. Patricks Day Pa-rade Keeping it Local.

Betty ODonnell is a longtime Rob-binsville resident and lover of allthings culinary.

JOANNE DEGNAN/The Robbinsville Sun

Robbinsville Township Council President Ron Witt (center) reads aproclamation in recognition of National Donate Life Month to raiseawareness about the nearly 5,000 New Jersey men, women and chil-dren currently on waiting lists for organ donations. Terry and MarkMeade, of Donate Life Mercer, accepted the proclamation on behalf ofthe New Jersey Sharing Network.

Donate Life Month

Send us your Robbinsville news

Have a news tip? Want to send us a press release or photos? Shootan interesting video? Drop us an email at [email protected] the editor at (609) 529-6611.

Centro Grille: A dining destination right here in Robbinsville


12/20


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Student entrepreneurs win awards

TAWRYE MASON/Special to The Robbinsville Sun

Build Your Own Craving, a Virtual Enterprise snack company created and run by Robbinsville High Schoolstudents, advanced to the semifinals at the International Trade Show in New York City on April 11. Thefollowing day, BYOC placed in the Top Ten outstanding booths. From left are: Nicole DeMentri, co-design-er for the booth; Sirena Aguiar; Ryan Febles, President of BYOC; Tori Sankey, co-designer for the booth,Brandon Snyder, David Haftel, Dominic McAnany. Not pictured: David Pastuna.

TAWRYE MASON/Special to The Robbinsville Sun

Cache Cupcakes, another Virtual Enterprise company created andrun by students at Robbinsville High School, received an honorablemention for best booth design at the International Trade Show inNew York City on April 11. From left are booth designer Lauren Guidi-das, CFO Sarah Scneid and Cache Cupcakes President Alex Angeli.Cache Cupcakes website, designed by Christa Principato (notshown), won third place overall out of more than 70 teams.

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told the council, noting last yearthere had been a 1.4-cent increasein the tax rate. Im just wonder-ing if anything could have beendone sooner than this year to de-crease our taxes because it doesseem that there are manipula-tions.

The mayor and two councilmembers are up for re-electionthis year, but in 2012 when taxes

increased an average $54 a homethere were no regular municipalelections, other than a specialelection to fill a council vacancy.

In 2011, when three councilseats were up for election, therealso was no municipal tax in-crease.

Councilman David Boyne, thewinner of the special election,who was not a member of councilwhen the 2012 budget was adopt-ed, agreed with Walter.

I too believe that particular

tax increase last year was unnec-essary, and you know I said it lastyear as well, Boyne told Walter.

Mayor Dave Fried, who did notattend the April 11 meeting, hassaid the proposed 2-cent reduc-tion in the tax rate for 2013 ismade possible by $650,000 in newtax revenue coming in this yearfrom the Amazon warehouseproject being built on a vacanttract near Old York Road.

State law requires one-timerollback taxes be paid to townswhenever land assessed as farm-land, and consequently taxed at amuch lower rate, is sold andchanges to another use.

Several days after the councilmeeting, Fried issued a statementsaying that he was bewildered

by the election-year gimmick ac-cusation.

We are being accused of wait-ing until an election year to pro-pose this tax cut, Fried said.Yes, because I called AmazonCEO Jeff Bezos personally andtold him to delay plans for hisFortune 500 company so that theAmazon deal would come tofruition in an election year tobenefit me, he added sarcastical-ly.

Two other residents at themeeting took issue with thespending in the proposed 2013budget, which will have a fullpublic hearing and adoption voteat 7:30 p.m., May 9.

Rich Cruser, of Windsor-Edin-burg Road, criticized the priori-ties in the $1.8 million fire depart-ment budget because no money isprovided to purchase a tankertruck to serve rural areas of townthat lack hydrants.

Deputy Fire Chief Daniel

Schaffener, who was sitting theaudience, said the departmenthad to get rid of its old tanker be-cause it was becoming too costlyto maintain.

We have mutual aid compa-nies that are available right overthe border there that do havetanker trucks and theres an auto-matic response to the areas thatdont have hydrants so there isntreally a delay its perfectly wellplanned, Schaffener told Cruser.

Cruser, however, was not per-suaded.

We need a tanker, thats whatwe need, Cruser responded.You cant depend on another

company to bring water. What amI suppose to do? Stand there withmy hand on my butt while anoth-

er company decides to bringwater? This aint right.

Jared Drive resident Jim Gui-didas took issue with the $15,000budgeted for a redevelopmentstudy for the Foxmoor ShoppingCenter, where small businesseshave been struggling since the2011 closing of the supermarketthat anchored the center. Theshopping center is owned by Fox-moor Associates, a subsidiary ofDelaware-based Pettinaro Enter-

prises.I just want to voice a concernabout the amount of money weare potentially putting toward theredevelopment of Foxmoor, Gui-didas said.

Im all for small business, butIm also a little bit leery of takingtownship funds and using it to re-develop a privately held busi-ness.


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14/20


NorthStar VETS docs mission builds perspectiveBy JOANNE DEGNAN

Editor

They traveled 7,900 miles tobreed a sturdier goat, buildhealthier chickens, and bait theswarming honeybees so thatMalawi villagers can outlast thehungry season, but along the waythese local veterinarians learnedsomething themselves.

The 10-day trip was organizedby NorthStar VETS Chief of StaffDaniel Stobie through Villages inPartnership (VIP), a nonprofitthat unites churches, schools,businesses and communitygroups to form relationships withimpoverished villages in Malawiand support long-term sustain-able projects that improve peo-ples lives.

In an interview in his North-Star VETS office in Robbinsvillelast week Dr. Stobie reflected onhis experience working with theother New Jersey veterinariansto educate the Malawi peopleabout the best ways to care and

breed their animals to increaseproduction of sustainable food re-sources.

But what was envisioned as ateaching experience also turnedout to be a learning experiencefor the doctors.

They are a very joyful peoplewho have very little and we canlearn a lot from that, Stobie saidof the Malawi people he workedwith. Here in America there isoften discontent. People here al-ways are searching for more,wanting more.

VIPs founder and director, LizHeinzel-Nelson, who has beendoing work in Malawi for manyyears with her husband, the Rev.Stephen Heinzel-Nelson of Allen-town Presbyterian Church, per-suaded Dr. Stobie to put togetherthe veterinary team that madethe trip to Africa March 1-10.NorthStar VETS hospital paidfor the groups travel, and afundraiser over the winter raised

$30,000 to pay for the animals,medicines and supplies the vil-lagers would need.

Accompanying Dr. Stobie wereveterinarians Manoel Tamassia,a specialist in reproductive medi-

cine and genetics who works atNorthStar; and Laura Coffee, aveterinary pathologist whosearea of expertise is poultry andaquaculture.

Tim Schuler the official stateapiarist (beekeeper) also accom-panied the group.

Different animal projects havebeen started in Malawi over theyears to help sustain the villagersduring the rainy season, whenfood supplies have been depletedand new crops wont be ready toharvest for several months.

Goats, chickens, cows, and beehives were introduced as a sourceof food and a source of incomethat comes with the sale of eggs,milk, cheese, honey and the prod-ucts that can be made from

beeswax such as candles, lotionsand soaps.

But these well-intentioned ef-forts to launch animal projectshave also come with problems,which the veterinarians wereasked to troubleshoot.

They have a native goat, butwhen they introduced dairy goatsfor milk a lot of these Europeanbreeds were not able to survivethe climate and the diseases thatare there, Dr. Stobie said. Sothey bred the local goat to the Eu-ropean goat and they got off-

spring that could survive, but alsocouldnt produce any milk.

Dr. Tomassias task was to usehis expertise in genetics to workout a crossbreeding schedule forthem so they can get an animal

that will not only survive but alsoproduce milk, Dr. Stobie said.

Heinzel-Nelson said that whileeating breakfast one morning inDisi, the veterinarians discoveredsomething that had escaped thenotice of others.

They were eating eggs andthey said to me, Liz, the yolks aretoo white and that means thechickens arent getting enoughprotein, she said. And I wouldsay what does that matter andtheyd say if chickens arent get-ting enough protein they wont

lay as many eggs.The solution was simple and

inexpensive, she said.There was this guy cutting the

tall weeds with a thrasher andthey said gather that up and put it

in the chicken pen so the chick-ens will peck at that and get the

protein that they need, Heinzel-Nelson said.

The veterinarians also said theeggshells were too thin, which in-dicated the chickens had a calci-um deficiency. Villagers were toldto feed the chickens crushedeggshells and grounded up shellsfrom the snails and mollusks inthe fishpond.

The beauty of it was theywere never offering solutions thatwere ridiculously expensive orunrealistic, Heinzel-Nelson said.

Dr. Stobie, a small animal sur-geon who is also a beekeeper, saidhe worked with Schuler to teachthe villagers how to attractswarms of wild bees that emergeafter the rainy season to inhabitnew hives set up in the villages.

Here in the U.S., if you wantbees you go and just buy bees, butthats not an option in Africa, Dr.Stobie said.

What will make a swarm ofbees go into a beehive is if theres

been other bees there. Theyre at-tracted to the scent, orpheromones of the other bees.

What the villagers needed to dowas lure the bees by meltingbeeswax harvested from occupiedhives and painting that insideempty hives to attract a swarm,Dr. Stobie said.

Villages in Partnership hadabout 10 beehives set up, but theywere empty because they werenew, Dr. Stobie said.

Using makeshift paintbrushesthat the villagers created fromtwigs, twine and pine needles, theveterinarians showed the peoplehow to melt and coat the inside ofthe hives with melted beeswax.

Time will tell if the veterinari-ans succeed in their efforts tobreed stronger milk-producinggoats, establish new beehives andimprove the quality of chickensand their eggs, but Dr. Stobie sayshe is hopeful. The veterinariansintend to return every year for

five years to make sure the ani-mal projects are sustained.

I do feel like we made a differ-ence, Dr. Stobie said. Like any-thing, you have to plant the seedand watch it grow.

JOE GRAZIANO/Special to The Robbinsville Sun

Dr. Daniel Stobie, chief of staff at NorthStar VETS in Robbinsville, gives a beekeeper a protective suitand veil during a recent trip to Malawi where a team of New Jersey veterinarians worked with villagerson animal care and sustainable food projects.


15/20


RHS robotics advances to world championshipsBy ALLY DRAKE

Special to The Robbinsville Sun

Fifty of the best and the bright-est from New Jersey, Delaware,and eastern Pennsylvania com-peted in the FIRST Robotics Mid-Atlantic Regional Champi-onships, but Robbinsville HighSchool and its alliance partnerscame out on top in a victory thatadvances RHS to the world cham-pionships in St. Louis.

The Stabler Arena at LehighUniversity was filled with robotdriving, Frisbee-flying, and pyra-mid-climbing action during theweekend of April 12. UltimateAscent was the name of thegame, and the goal was to shootFrisbees into goals of varyingheights and point values.

For additional points, robotsclimbed to one of three levels on apyramid at the end of eachmatch. Each qualification matchlasted 2 minutes and 15 secondsand was played between two al-liances of three randomly select-

ed robots.The competition at Lehigh Uni-

versity was quick to heat up, withone of the first matches endingwith a score of over 200 points! Itsoon became clear, however, thatvictory would be hard-won, withscores sometimes differing byonly a couple points. Teams wereforced to make every point count,facing the fiercest competition ofthe 2013 season.

Nemesis quickly rose in therankings thanks to its superbdrive team: students Josh Falk,Antonio Papa, Dan Gavrushenkoand mentor Scott Meredith. Inone of the closer matches, Neme-sis was losing with seconds left onthe clock. The crowd began tocount down, 3...2...1..., and Neme-sis climbed the pyramid at thelast second to take the win! Infact, by the end of the second day,Nemesis was the second-rankedteam.

Not all of the action was taking

place in the arena, however. Backin the pit area, scores of judgesvisited Nemesis to see the robotand learn more about the team.Students presented the teamsbusiness plan and community

outreach events to the awedjudges. The safety advisers alsostopped by to visit Nemesis Safe-ty Captain Parth Mandrekar toensure the team followed all regu-lations.

The third and final day of com-petition kicked off on Saturday.Dance music blasted and teamscheered as the last few qualifica-tion matches were played. Al-liance selections for the finalswere made before lunch, in whichthe top eight teams picked two

others to join them in the finalsmatches. Working with Storm Ro-botics from Lenape RegionalHigh School and Sa-BOT-age fromDownington High School East inPennsylvania, Nemesis was part

of the first-ranked alliance.In the quarterfinals, Nemesis

faced off against the exact al-liance that had triumphed overthem in the TCNJ District Event.This time, however, it was Neme-sis who emerged victorious. Asthe quarterfinals advanced intothe semifinals, scores were be-coming higher and matches weregrowing closer. One nail-bitingmatch ended with a final score of191 to 171!

Eventually, Nemesis fought

their way into the finals. The win-ner would be determined by besttwo out of three matches. Afterwinning the first match, Nemesisgot ready to face off for the title ofMAR Champion. As the match

began, robots went flying acrossthe playing field to collect disks,and shot one after another intothe goals. There was no doubt itwould be a close one, as specta-tors lost count of all the disks fly-ing into their targets.

Teams cheered and waited ineager anticipation as the finalscore was tallied by the referees.The announcer called attentionto the projection screen where theoutcome would be displayed.With a final score of 140 to 136 ...

Alliance One takes the crown!A triumphant roar erupted

from the stands as Nemesis andits alliance celebrated their hard-fought victory. At the awards cer-emony, Nemesis was presented

with the Excellence in Engineer-ing Award, recognizing the teamfor its elegant and innovative in-take for the swift retrieval of Fris-bees. Nemesis now advances tothe World Championships beingheld this week (April 23-26) in St.Louis.

Now that weve won the MARChampionships, it will be excit-ing to go to the World Champi-onships and see how we stack upthere, student Josh Falk said.

Visit the teams interactive

website, frc2590.org, at any timefor updates on the 2013 season.

Ally Drake is a junior at RobbinsvilleHigh School and member of Team2590 Nemesis.


The winning alliance from the FIRST Robotics Mid Atlantic Regional Championships at Lehigh University is shown above (from left): Team1640 Sa-BOT-age from Downington High School East, PA; Team 2729 Storm Robotics from Lenape Regional High School, Team 2590 Neme-sis from Robbinsville High School. The victory advances Robbinsville to the world championships in St. Louis.


16/20


Fundraisers to help send

Pond team to global finalsBy JOANNE DEGNANEditor

The Pond Road students whowon the state Destination Imagi-nation tournament have organ-ized three fundraising events tohelp defray the cost of their tripto the global finals in Knoxville,Tennessee next month.

The DI Global Finals are an in-ternational creative problem-solving competition where thou-sands of teams from all over theworld will gather May 22-25 tosolve various challenges usingtechnical, theatrical, structural,improvisational or scientificskills.

The six Pond Road eighth-graders who earned an invite tothe tournament need to raise$8,300, plus their transportationcosts so that they, as well as the

parent or guardian they are re-quired to bring, can attend the

three-day event.The team will hold its first

local fundraiser Thursday, April25 at Moes Southwest Grill onHickory Corner Road in EastWindsor. The restaurant will do-nate 15 percent of the proceedsfrom meals sold that day to theRobbinsville DI team wheneverdiners present a copy of the DIteams flier.

Team members will be at therestaurant with extra fliers, orthe fliers can be downloaded inadvance from the RobbinsvilleIrish Heritage Associations web-site atwww.RobbinsvilleIrish.org.

The second fundraiser is aclothing drive on Saturday, May 4.The DI team will be distributingfliers over the next week to vari-ous Robbinsville neighborhoodsrequesting gently used clothing,

shoes, handbags, briefcases, back-packs, belts, ties, gloves, hats,

scarves, baby accessories, table-cloths, blankets, pillows, drapery,small rugs, comforters, sheets,towels, quilts, pots and pans,bikes and kids toys.

Donations will be collected onMay 4, but can also be dropped offany day before collection day at 8Acacia Drive. Leave items in tiedplastic garbage bags near thegarage anytime, except when it israining. No books, tapes, break-able items, or toys larger than 24-by-24 inches can be accepted.

The third DI fundraiser is abake sale that will be held duringthe Womens Expo at RobbinsvilleHigh School on Saturday, May 11.

The Pond Road Middle Schoolteam, known as the Hex Girls,who placed first in their agegroup in the statewide tourna-ment are: Abigail Valerio, Melis-sa DeShaw, Bonvie Fosam, Megan

Marsala, Rachna Sridhar andKaeleigh Sturgeon.

The Robbinsville EducationFoundation (REF) will host its10th annual Golf Classic on May21 to raise funds for the PondRoad Middle School pre-engineer-ing program.

This years outing will be heldat Mercer Oaks Country Club inPrinceton Junction and includeslunch, dinner and a full round ofgolf. Participants will includecelebrity golfer Irving Fryer, a17-year NFL veteran who was re-cently appointed head coach ofthe Robbinsville High School foot-ball team. Fryar and his friendswill be in the Grill Room at noonto meet and greet the golfers.

One of our core values has al-

ways been that a strong athleticprogram is best built upon thefoundation of a strong academicprogram, said Schools Superin-tendent Steve Mayer. In thislight, I am thrilled that the REF

golf outing brings athletics andour academic program togetherin a unique way to support thegrowth of the engineering pro-gram at Pond Road School.

Project Lead the Ways(PLTWs) primary mission is tospark student interest in science,technology, engineering andmathematics. Through PLTW,Pond students learn concepts re-lated to these fields of studythrough hands-on projects ad-dressing open-ended, real-worldproblems. They also develop andpresent innovative solutions. Theprogram is designed as a feederprogram for high school coursesin these subjects. The REF has

committed over $61,000 to this ini-tiative to date.The golf outing kicks off with

lunch at 11 a.m. in the Grill Roomfollowed by a 1 p.m. shotgun start.Cocktails will be served at 5:15

p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. Partici-pants can win prizes in severalgolf categories and 50/50 ticketsand door prizes will also be avail-able.

Sponsors to date include HomeDelivery America, First ChoiceBank and Triangle Copy of EastWindsor. Various levels of spon-sorship are still available. Thoseinterested in sponsoring the golfclassic should contact JodiStephens at 609-371-0071 or [email protected], or Debbie Baerat 609-731-7951 [email protected].

Tickets cost $150 per golfer. In-dividuals interested in support-ing the REF without golfing can

attend the event for dinner onlyfor $50, or can make a check dona-tion. For registration and spon-sorship information, go tohttp://www.wtpsmercer.k12.nj.us/Page/5616.

Tickets on sale for REF golf outing

Two local dancers in balletrendition of Shakespeare classic

Two Robbinsville dancers willbe performing in DanceVision

Performance Companys originalballet, A Midsummer NightsDream, based on William Shake-speares classic comedy and set toMendelssohns score.

Emily Pollack, a Sharon Schoolstudent and dancer at PrincetonDance and Theatre, and NicoleDeMentri, a Robbinsville HighSchool junior and dancer in theconservatory program at Prince-ton Dance and Theatre, are bothpart of the production. Emilydances the role of a pixie andNicole dances the roles of a spi-der in A Midsummer NightsDream.

Risa Kaplowitz, DanceVisionsartistic director and choreogra-pher of The Snow Queen andThe Secret Garden, uses herethereal choreography to bring tolife this wonderful tale of magicalcharacters caught up in acomedic entanglement of love,

jealousy, and fun, where fairies,pixies, and sprites make mischief

with the lives of unsuspecting,love-struck mortals.

After intermission, DanceVi-sion will also perform Gradua-tion Ball as a special bonus fea-ture, with original choreographyby David Lichine, and staged bySergio Manolo Molina. (DeMentridances the role of a senior girl inGraduation Ball.) Watch whatensues as a group of male cadetsare invited to a dance at a girlsschool in this humorous and play-ful ballet.

Performed by the regions mosttalented young dancers, this bal-let double feature is sure to pleaseaudiences of all ages. Perform-ances will be held 3 p.m., Satur-day, May 4; and 2 p.m. on Sunday,May 5 at The College of New Jer-seys Kendall Theater, 2000 Pen-nington Road, Ewing.

Tickets cost $20 for adults; and

$15 for children, students, andseniors. Group discounts areavailable, and DanceVision is of-fering a special discount to stu-dents studying A MidsummerNights Dream. To purchase tick-ets, visit www.dancevisionnj.org,or email [email protected] more information about dis-counts.

DanceVision also offers a free,educational talk one hour prior toeach performance. Get a previewof the story, and learn about theprocess of translating great liter-ature into dance. Simply come tothe theater one hour early andshow your ticket stub to attend.


Emily Pollack (front) and NicoleDeMentri, both of Robbinsville,will be performing in DanceVi-sions original ballet, A Midsum-

mer Nights Dream, at The Col-lege of New Jersey on Saturday,May 4 and Sunday, May 5. Fortickets, go online to www.dance-visionnj.org.

Send us your Robbinsville newsHave a news tip? Want to send us a press release or photos? Shootan interesting video? Drop us an email at [email protected] the editor at (609) 529-6611.


17/20

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convey the message about your business and your upcoming events!!

HELLORobbinsville

How To Contact Us CALL US 609-529-6611 or EMAIL US [email protected]


18/20


By Justin FeilSpecial to The Robbinsville Sun

Anthony Giesler was on theRobbinsville High School base-ball team last year, but his role isfar bigger this season.

Instead of coming off thebench for an at bat or to pinchrun, the Ravens senior has been afixture in the starting lineup andin the outfield.

It feels a lot different from lastyear, Giesler said. I feel morerelevant. You have more of a lead-ership role and the kids look up toyou. With everyone else beingyoung, they want someone to lookup to.

Giesler is one of five seniorswho have helped RHS get off to a4-3 start (as of April 15), when theRavens defeated Lawrence 8-0.

The speedster who bats out of theninth spot had a pair of hits and astolen base in the win.

Hes making the most of hisopportunities, said Ravens headcoach Tom Brettell. Hes got un-believable speed. Hes one of thefastest guys Ive ever coached. Ithink he was 5 for 7 to start theseason. He puts the ball in play.

Brettell said Giesler does thelittle things right.

To me, hes like another lead-off guy, Brettell said. If you gethim on base and get to the top ofthe order and get Ryan Fischer ontoo, were in business. Hes a guywhos waited his turn and is mak-ing the most of it.

The rest of the Ravens are fol-lowing suit. After a thrillingcome-from-behind victory intheir season opener, Robbinsvilleknocked off perennial powerSteinert to give wings to their

loftiest expectations.When we beat Steinert,

Giesler said, that definitelyshowed people were on the map,and were going to be a relevantteam.

Against Lawrence, the offensedidnt need much thanks to thepitching of Anthony DeChiara,who carried a no-hitter into thefifth inning before settling for a

two-hitter with three walks and apair of strikeouts.

Our pitching definitely locksit down for us, Giesler said. Ifwe put up three runs, we can wina game. We dont need a ton of of-fense, our pitchers solidify thingsfor us.

DeChiara and Michael Fischeralso had two hits apiece againstLawrence, while Stephen Dranoffscored three runs. Evan Bohan,Dranoff, Ryan Fischer, C.J.Gearhart and Dan McKiernan allhad one hit each.

Every day theyre going tocome out and play hard, Brettellsaid.

Theyre baseball players.They love to play the game.

The Ravens new-look team did-nt wait for the season to begin tostart gearing up for the year.

During the offseason, we allgot together and tried to get some

little offseason practices done,Giesler said. We tried to betterourselves.

Im definitely happy with mysuccess. Coming off the benchsince last year, I didnt know howId be, if Id be rusty, if I didnthave my timing right. Im happywith my success and how itshelping the team.

Giesler gets his turn

and makes the most of it

campus newsIan K. Rosengarten, of Rob-

binsville, earned academic hon-ors from the Harpur College ofArts and Sciences at Binghamton

University, in Binghamton, NewYork, by making the universitysDeans List for the fall 2012 semes-ter.

kids view

Have you ever seen a dog with a

blister, or an injury? This is asign that this dog has been in adogfight. Dogfighting is an illegalcontest where trained dogs fightor even kill each other for specta-tors entertainment. The dogs areforced to fight until one cannotcontinue to fight any longer. I be-lieve this should stop!

About 20,000 dogs die everyyear because of dogfighting. Ac-cording to the Humane Society,most dogs often die because ofblood loss, shock, dehydration, ex-haustion, and/or infection. Theanimals used to train these dogsare often stolen or boughtthrough free to good home ad-vertisements. Not only are dogsaffected by this crime, but peopleare as well. Small children areoften present at these matchesand they start to obsess over vio-lence.

Some people think dogfighting

is a fun and entertaining sport.They also think it is a good placeto make companions. The mainreason why people like dogfight-ing is because of the gambling.They enjoy seeing the blood andfinancial gains from the wins.

In my opinion, dogfighting iswrong. If you see or hear aboutdogfighting, call the police rightaway. Dogfighting happens every-where, whether you know it ornot. Please stop dogfighting byending this cruel sport.

Sahya Nara, age 12

The Sun welcomes submissionsfrom K-12 students. If your essay ispublished you will receive a com-plimentary ice cream from MaggieMoos, 2350 Route 33. Email sub-missions to [email protected] and include your name,age and phone number.

Dogfighting is cruel




19/20

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