Princeton Magazine, Spring 2023

SPRING 2023

J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER

The Princeton Years 12

“A SEARCH FOR BEAUTY” (AND A FEW OTHER THINGS)

H. SANBORN

Specialty Museums in New Jersey and Pennsylvania 24

PRINCETON ROOTS

Elements of Floral Displays at Local Venues

Begin Life on a Preserved Farm in Stockton 32

USING OFFSHORE WIND FARMS TO DRIVE NEW JERSEY’S GREEN ENERGY

Sierra Club NJ Director Stresses Importance of “Clean Sources” 40

ON THE COVER: “Portrait of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” Alan Richards,

REAPING THE SPRING HARVEST

Healthy Delights from Nature’s Bounty 50

ARE YOU SOCIALLY FIT?

How Good Relationships Can Help Us Age Happier and Healthier 60

BOOK SCENE

BY

Russia and Ukraine in Literature 68

DISCOVER COUNTRY ELEGANCE AT THREE FIELDS

Mansion in May 2023 Designer Showhouse and Gardens 74

A WELL-DESIGNED LIFE

Polestar 3 — The SUV for the electric age

Configure yours today

polestarprinceton.com

SPRING 2023

PUBLISHER

J. Robert Hillier, Lh.D., FAIA

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Lynn Adams Smith

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Melissa Bilyeu

ART DIRECTOR

Jeffrey Edward Tryon

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Matthew DiFalco

Vaughan Burton

PHOTOGRAPHER

Mary Abitanto EDITOR

Laurie Pellichero

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Anne Levin

Mary Abitanto

Ilene Dube

Wendy Greenberg

Stuart Mitchner

Donald H. Sanborn III

Taylor Smith

William Uhl

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Charles R. Plohn

ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Jennifer Covill

Joann Cella

Laura Connolly

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Dear Readers,

Welcome to the Spring issue of Princeton Magazine, with J. Robert Oppenheimer on the cover. Oppenheimer is known as the father of the atomic bomb and Scientific American lists him as one of the greatest American physicists in history.

Anne Levin’s profile of Oppenheimer is focused on his Princeton years when he was the director at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and includes interesting quotes from residents who interacted with him during that time.

I highly recommend watching a video you can find on the IAS website in which Edward R. Murrow interviews Oppenheimer at the Institute on January 4, 1955. It’s a fascinating glimpse of the scientist puffing on his pipe with a huge computer humming in the background, while he explains a formula on a chalkboard and mentions Albert Einstein and George Kennan.

To learn about the Oppenheimer family today, you can watch a YouTube video with Charles Oppenheimer who is the grandson of J. Robert and founder of the current-day organization The Oppenheimer Project.

Universal Pictures is releasing a movie this summer titled Oppenheimer based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The film was partially shot at IAS and stars Cillian Murphy along with supporting cast members such as Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt.

In addition to the film, this story is timely because the United States Department of Energy recently restored Oppenheimer’s security clearance. The Atomic Energy Commission revoked his security clearance in 1954 when he was a victim of McCarthyism.

It can be challenging to write about nuclear weapons, wars, and politics, but we don’t shy away from those topics. In Stuart Mitchner’s Book Scene, he weaves together his own travel experiences with a thoughtful selection of Russian and Ukrainian literature to help better understand their cultures.

The war in Ukraine and living through the pandemic has reminded many of us that life is fragile and we need to make time for our own personal happiness.

The question of what makes for a happy and fulfilling life is addressed by the authors of the New York Times best-selling book The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

The book is based on Harvard University’s Study of Adult Development that began in 1938 and is ongoing. Wendy Greenberg’s article reveals some of the findings discovered during the 85-year-old study concerning the importance of relationships and social fitness.

Good genes are great, but research shows that joy plays a big role in a long, happy life.

These next three stories share common themes about nature and how by following your dreams, you can turn a passion into a career.

Princeton native Peter McCrohan’s interest in growing things began with his third grade teacher when she introduced the class to the wonders of germination as they planted radishes, spinach, and peanuts.

Ilene Dube describes McCrohan’s long journey of studying horticulture, growing flowers in the desert of Arizona, then returning east and purchasing 14 acres in Stockton to establish a flower farm. After clearing the land, rebuilding the greenhouse, and renovating the 1879 farmhouse, McCrohan is a prolific flower grower and a proud steward of preserved land.

In an article written by Taylor Smith, Anjuli Ramos-Busot’s journey from Puerto Rico to becoming the director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey has been driven by her fascination with the natural world and her passion for protecting the environment.

Ramos-Busot says there is an urgent need for cleaner air in New Jersey and shares her expertise on the subject. Along with Gov. Phil Murphy, she is also a proponent of increasing the number of offshore wind farms along the Jersey Shore.

Opponents to the wind turbines say they are responsible for the heartbreakingly high number of whale deaths, but most scientists say there is no connection.

Mary Abitanto’s passion is cooking and she has brought us an article on how to enjoy the spring harvest. She lists the spring vegetables available locally and shares some of her glorious recipes. My personal favorite is her Potato-Crusted Asparagus, Carrot, and Leek Quiche.

If you are looking for some fun spring outings, these next two stories will be of interest.

With the Princeton University Art Museum being closed for renovations, we thought it was a good time to highlight some of the specialty museums in our area. Donald Sanborn provides a wide range of museums offering a rich variety of exhibits about cars, insects, glass, ceramic tiles, and mid-century furniture.

You can also visit a museum that is a retired battleship, one that is a former iron and zinc mine dating back to the 1600s, another that is a former prison, and houses once occupied by Walt Whitman in Camden or Harriet Tubman in Cape May. There is a museum for everyone in this article!

Laurie Pellichero previews this year’s Mansion in May Designer Showhouse and Gardens to make sure we mark this event in our calendars. Attendees will wander the grounds of 17 landscaped areas and enjoy seeing 31 designed spaces inside Three Fields, a historic brick and stone mansion located in Mendham.

Staying on the subject of interior design, I often get asked about where I find the products featured in my Well-Designed Life pages. The answer is I do a lot of research and keep a running list of websites and designers of furniture, lighting, and home accessories.

I’m very drawn to products influenced by nature. A few of my favorites in this issue are the Corbin Bronze Bulb table with leaves, Nicolette Mayer embroidered Cockatoo napkins, and Made Goods organic veneer coffee table that looks like a tree stump.

We live in a global economy, so I also enjoy highlighting designers from around the world. The Tulip dessert plate is designed by the Italian fashion brand La DoubleJ; the ceramic cake stand is from Robert Gordon in Australia; and the Aya chair is designed by Marco Sousa Santos, who is a professor of industrial design in Lisbon, Portugal.

In closing, Bob Hillier and I are happy to report a few changes with Princeton Magazine concerning its format and distribution. We now hand deliver the magazines to every home in Princeton, thanks to our own Witherspoon Media Group carriers, and we have expanded the number of mailed copies in neighboring communities and across Bucks County, Pa. Beginning with the June issue, the format of the magazine will be a more contemporary square shape.

Bob Hillier and I began publishing Princeton Magazine in the Spring of 2009, so this is our 13th anniversary! We look back at the body of work with a great sense of pride and look forward to future issues celebrating Princeton as the cultural center of New Jersey.

Respectfully yours,

THE PRINCETON YEARS

For three days last April, the Institute for Advanced Study resembled its 1950s self. Vintage cars were parked outside. Actors Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, and Robert Downey Jr. were spotted in and around Fuld Hall and Olden Manor, wearing mid-century-appropriate clothing.

These actors and accompanying crew had descended upon the Institute — one of the world’s foremost centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry —to shoot scenes for a feature film about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the famed theoretical physicist and the Institute’s director from 1947 to 1966. Oppenheimer led the World War II Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. Less than a decade later, he was the most prominent victim of the McCarthy era “red scare.” Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer , is due to be released in July.

A blurb on the back cover of the 2005 book by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin sums him up concisely: “J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic

bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress.”

of California, Berkeley, and California Institute of Technology, before becoming wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico. The first atomic bomb was successfully detonated there in July 1945. A month later, the weapons were used to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, helping to end World War II.

After the war, Oppenheimer was named chairman of the General Advisory Committee of the United States Atomic Energy Commission. He became increasingly anxious about the prospect of nuclear proliferation. In American Prometheus , the authors write that physicist Freeman Dyson, a friend and colleague at the Institute, “saw deep and poignant contradictions in Robert Oppenheimer. He had dedicated his life to science and rational thought. And yet, as Dyson observed, Oppenheimer’s decision to participate in the creation of a genocidal weapon was ‘a Faustian bargain if there ever was one…. And of course we are still living with it.’”

Born to a prosperous German/Jewish family in 1904 and raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Julius Robert Oppenheimer was educated at Harvard before studying at Cambridge University in England and the University of Gottingen in Germany, one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical physics. He taught at the University

Due mostly to his past associations with people affiliated with the Communist Party, Oppenheimer was subjected to a hearing that resulted in the stripping of his security clearance and the end of his formal relationship with the U.S. government. This decision, just nine years after he was lauded as the “father of the atomic bomb,” was a public humiliation that weighed

heavily on him and disgusted many of his colleagues.

At Oppenheimer’s memorial service in Alexander Hall on the Princeton University campus in 1967, his Princeton neighbor and fellow physicist Henry DeWolf Smyth said in a eulogy, “Such a wrong can never be righted; such a blot on our history never erased…. We regret that his great work for his country was repaid so shabbily.”

Last December, the 1954 decision was nullified by U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who said it had been the result of a “flawed process” and affirmed that Oppenheimer had, in fact, been loyal to his country.

Oppenheimer, his wife Kitty, and their two young children arrived in Princeton in the summer of 1947. At their disposal was stately Olden Manor (also known as Olden Farm), a white colonial house with portions dating back to 1696. The site had been owned and farmed by the Olden family for generations. The west wing of the house served as a field hospital for General Washington’s troops during the Battle of Princeton in early 1777. The Oldens added on to

the house over the years, and it had 18 rooms by the late 19th century.

The Institute bought Olden Manor from the family in the 1930s. By the time Oppenheimer took over from previous director Frank Aydelotte, the property (now occupied by current Institute director David Nirenberg) came with a live-in cook and groundskeeper/ handyman. The barn and corral soon housed two horses, one of which Oppenheimer’s daughter, Toni, liked to ride around town when she got older. A greenhouse was built for Kitty, who filled it with many varieties of orchids.

and his sister Julie Carrie Fuld, the Institute was designed as neither a teaching university nor a research school. The first director, Abraham Flexner, described it as “a wedge between the two — a small university in which a limited amount of teaching and a liberal amount of research are both to be found.” Albert Einstein was hired in 1933 for a then-lavish annual salary of $15,000. Throughout the 1930s, Flexner also recruited John von Neumann, Kurt Godel, Oswald Veblen, and several other brilliant minds — mostly mathematicians.

Oppenheimer brought more physicists into the mix, including Dyson, Niels Bohr, George Placzek, and Hideki Yukawa. He also broadened the Institute’s scope to include classicism, psychology, archaeology, and poetry.

“In his speeches about the Institute, Oppenheimer continually emphasized that science needed the humanities to better understand its own character and consequences,” according to American Prometheus . “He hoped that he could make the Institute a haven for scientists, social scientists, and humanists interested in a multi-disciplinary understanding of the whole human condition.”

Princeton in 1947 was a quiet community, with one traffic light at Nassau and Witherspoon streets. Oppenheimer spent two thirds of his time on Institute business, and a third traveling, giving speeches, and attending classified meetings in Washington, according to Kai and Sherwin.

Founded in 1930 by Louis

He was tall, thin, and intense; frequently described as distracted from the real world. Those who had even the briefest encounters with him in Princeton recall them vividly, several decades later. John Loeser, who grew up in the town, remembers a day in 1963 when Oppenheimer spoke to a men’s service group at the YMCA.

“As a member of the YMCA’s youth service group, I was one of the high school students that served tables,” he wrote in an email. “We were allowed to listen, and each received a copy of his book, which I believe I still have. I recall his presentation included a tone of regret and optimism. He seemed a very cordial man and respectful of the use of the bomb, including references to them in his speech. I have added to my list of claims to fame the fact that I shook hands with him.”

Joel Goldberger wrote, “For the last few years of Oppenheimer’s life, both of my parents spent most weekends with J. Robert and Kitty, and often I accompanied them. They continued their close friendship with Kitty following his death.” Goldberger’s mother founded the Princeton Children’s Museum, “a more modest version of the Exploratorium that J. Robert’s brother Frank founded in San Francisco. Frank and my mother talked for hours about what a museum should be. Most of these conversations took place at Olden Manor, the residence of the director of the Institute for Advanced Study.”

Oppenheimer had a notorious nicotine habit. Numerous descriptions of him mention the everpresent smoke wafting above his head.

“His secretary was my godmother, and they

both met and had coffee and smoked in my family’s kitchen on several occasions,” wrote Rob Platten. “I am not sure why. He chain-smoked and the room was a cloud of smoke, with three adults all smoking and chatting as I ran through to grab a Coke and go outside to ride my bike. My memory of him is of a somber man, rather intense, with absolutely no interest in baseball or other important matters that dominated a young boy’s mind.”

Lydia Pirone, the mother of Princeton Councilwoman Michelle Pirone Lambros, was a 20-year-old secretary in the controller’s office at Princeton University when she was offered some weekend work at Oppenheimer’s office at the Institute.

“I would go on Saturdays to help his secretary, doing all the leftovers she had from the week,” Pirone said. “He was very quiet, very stoic. He was not handsome, but he had these piercing green eyes. I always initiated ‘Hello, good morning, sir,’ and he would answer politely. He was always very well dressed, unlike his wife Kitty, who was always in jeans and looked like an unmade bed. She had a drinking problem. The rumor was that he was having an affair with his secretary, and I could see why, because she was very attractive. I don’t know where she was living, but she used to come to work at the Institute in a horse and carriage, which was a little unusual, even then.”

While a cover story in Life magazine

depicted the Oppenheimers as a happy family, with photographs of “a pipe-smoking father reading a book to his two young children as his pretty wife looked on over his shoulder and the family’s German shepherd, Buddy, lay at his feet,” life at Olden Manor was far from easy. Numerous accounts in American Prometheus from neighbors, colleagues, and others who interacted with the family recall Kitty’s drinking and her frustrations with the role of Institute director’s wife. A trained biologist, botanist, and member of the Communist Party of America, she had little patience with small-town social life.

Not surprisingly considering his chainsmoking, Oppenheimer was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 1965. After undergoing unsuccessful radiation and chemotherapy treatments, he died in Princeton on February 15, 1967. He was 62.

His memorial service a week later was attended by some 600 of his colleagues and friends, from historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and novelist John O’Hara to choreographer George Balanchine and Manhattan Project Director General Leslie R. Groves. Smyth, diplomat George Kennan, and physicist Hans Bethe delivered eulogies.

A recollection by Art Dielhenn, an author who lives in Los Angeles and grew up in Princeton, perhaps describes Oppenheimer in his final years best:

“A hundred years ago when I was 17 or 18, I worked for Bohren’s Moving and Storage. One morning I was sent as the helper in the truck to move some guy and his wife. His name was Oppenheimer. At that age, all I knew was that he was some egghead from the university. On arrival, as I crossed the threshold into the entry hall, I had the sense that it was the saddest place I had ever been — dark, muted, and deadly quiet, except for his wife who seemed inebriated and still in night clothes and a robe, shuffling from room to room as if trying to find a treasured possession. She was whisked off by someone and we never saw her again. He was tall, lanky, and ghostly. What I didn’t know then, but certainly know now, is the immense toll his genius cost him. I don’t remember much else except that we tried to get out of there as fast as we could. As I reflect on this event now, I can’t imagine the weight he was carrying, the sheer magnitude of the future that he spawned, and the depth of grief he held for having done so.”

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“A SEARCH FOR BEAUTY” (AND A FEW OTHER THINGS)

SPECIALTY MUSEUMS IN NEW JERSEY AND PENNSYLVANIA

visit to a museum is a search for beauty, truth, and meaning in our lives,” artist Maira Kalman is quoted as saying. “Go to museums as often as you can.”

For those who agree, New Jersey and Pennsylvania offer many places to visit. From history (of multiple subjects) to cars and insects, museums in the area offer a rich variety of exhibits. About this, there is no illusion — even if visitors to Philadelphia choose to visit the Museum of Illusions.

Located within walking distance of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the Museum of Illusions Philadelphia (moiphilly. com) features attractions such as the Smart Playroom, where you can challenge your mind, and test your problem-solving skills, with dilemma games, puzzles, and a variety of other brainteasers.

“The Museum of Illusions Philadelphia offers visual and educational exhibits designed to tease the senses and bring out the playfulness in guests of all ages,” says Rob Cooper, founder of LOL Entertainment, the parent company of the Museum of Illusions Philadelphia, in a statement. “With more than 60 exhibits featuring holograms, stereograms, and optical illusions, visitors will learn about vision, perception, and the human brain and experience firsthand the science of how the eyes can trick the mind.”

Cooper describes exhibits such as the “Vortex Tunnel, where your mind will think that the ground is moving under your feet, but in reality, you are not. Or if spinning vortexes isn’t

your thing, you can defy the laws of gravity in the Rotated Room. Are you planning on going to the museum alone? Once you step inside, the Clone Table is sure to provide you with some much-needed company.”

When one considers that most museums only can exhibit a fraction of their collection at any one time, it is interesting to speculate about the items not on display. One museum in Philadelphia is featuring an exhibition that explores the question of “Unseen” items.

The Mütter Museum (muttermuseum. org) is a medical museum, founded in 1859, whose collection of specimens, wax models, and medical equipment ranges from the seventh century BCE to the present (though most of the historic items date to the mid-1800s), Photographer Nikki Johnson was given rare access to explore the Mütter’s restricted areas, and take pictures of the items and specimens normally unavailable to the public.

As the website explains, “Some of the specimens are not displayed because they have a similar pathology to items already shown. Others are fragile or need extensive conservation. The collection grew over the years as items were acquired from other, defunct institutions; the personal collections of retired physicians; or occasionally via donation from private individuals.”

Sports car enthusiasts will want to take a drive to the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum (simeonemuseum.org) in Philadelphia.

“Assembled over 50 years by Dr. Frederick

Simeone, the museum contains over 75 historically significant cars including Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Mercedes, Jaguar, Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette, Ford, and more,” states the museum’s website. Upcoming exhibits include “The Car Detective: The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles” (April 22); and “Le Mans Dynasties: Bentley, Alfa, Ferrari & Ford” (May 27).

If you want to see even more cars, consider visiting the Roebling Museum (roeblingmuseum.org) in Roebling. On April 29, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the museum will host its annual Car Show. If you prefer cycling, on May 6 you can go on a bike tour of the Delaware River Heritage Trail.

The Roebling Museum “tells the story of hard work in a unique place — a company-owned steel town in the early 20th century known for building America’s most famous bridges,” says Executive Director Lynne M. Calamia. “Through permanent and temporary exhibits, tours, and programs, with a visit to Roebling Museum, you’ll learn about suspension bridges, workingclass life, and industrial innovation.”

A new exhibit, “Roebling Works,” was “curated in partnership with the Smithsonian. The exhibit features fascinating stories and never-before-seen objects to reveal what it meant to work in a company town with a majority immigrant workforce.”

Calamia invites visitors to “Join us every Saturday at 1 p.m. for a walking tour through the historic company town to hear about the workers who called Roebling home. If you want to get a closer look at the company town houses, join us this summer for our annual garden tour.” The museum is open from March to the end of December.

In 1984 the late sculptor and philanthropist J. Seward Johnson conceived the museum that became the Hamilton-based Grounds For Sculpture (groundsforsculpture.org). The mission was to create an informal setting where

contemporary sculpture would be accessible to viewers of all backgrounds. Johnson envisioned “a public space where the broadest cross-section of the public is invited to relate to sculptural arts and nature in an emotional way and encouraged to overcome any … fear of art, for an experience that elevates the soul and heals the spirit.”

Outdoors, Grounds For Sculpture features nearly 300 contemporary sculptures sited across 42 landscaped acres. Indoors, exhibitions from established and emerging artists are featured in six galleries.

in Glassboro. Home to a collection of glass bottles of astonishingly varied shapes and colors, the museum “works to collect, preserve, and curate historic southern New Jersey glassmaking artifacts and fine art,” says Kristin Qualls, a trustee of the museum. “The museum aims to inspire diverse audiences to explore the rich cultural history of New Jersey’s glassmaking heritage and its connection with the founding and growth of the United States.”

Qualls adds that the museum “collaborates with artists, researchers, and teachers to develop exhibits and educational programs that encourage learning, exploration, and a deeper, more personal connection with the community. The museum is a short walk to Glassboro’s Town Square, with excellent restaurants and a popular brewery.” The Heritage Glass Museum is open Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and admission is free.

A current exhibition, “That’s Worth Celebrating: The Life and Work of the Johnson Family” runs through the end of 2024. Curated by Lynn DeClemente Losavio, program officer of The Seward Johnson Atelier, the exhibition focuses on the family’s “passions, their belief in the spirit of innovation and the power of community, and how the founder’s vision … shaped Grounds For Sculpture’s early years.”

Two new exhibitions, “Local Voices: Memories, Stories, and Portraits” and “Spiral Q: The Parade,” open on April 23.

ARTS, CRAFTS, AND BUTTERFLIES

It seems appropriate that the Heritage Glass Museum (heritageglassmuseum.com) is located

Some of nature’s beautiful craftsmanship is on display at the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion (phillybutterflypavilion.com). The website invites visitors to “get lost in the 7,000-square-foot tropical ecosphere, filled with live butterflies, tropical plants, a fishpond, and waterfalls.” A chrysalis chamber enables viewers to “witness the miraculous transformation from chrysalis to butterfly.” There also is an exhibit about honeybees and their importance to the ecosystem. Additionally, the museum’s “collection of “stick insects, praying mantises, cockroaches, tarantulas, and scorpions is sure to intrigue you.”

Located in Doylestown, Pa., the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle (mercermuseum. org), operated by the Bucks County Historical Society, celebrate the legacy of Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), an American archaeologist, anthropologist, ceramicist, and scholar.

A Smithsonian affiliate, the Mercer Museum features both local and national seasonal exhibits as well as a core museum collection of over 50,000 pre-Industrial tools. This permanent

collection offers visitors a glimpse at Industrial America through 60 different crafts and trades. The Mercer Museum also features a research library that is a center for local history related to Bucks County, Pa., and the surrounding region; its roots date back to the founding of the Bucks County Historical Society in 1880.

Music lovers should plan to attend “Everyday Rhythms: Music at the Mercer,” an exhibit that is on view through December 31. “In addition to expressing ourselves, and entertaining each other, we have created, played, and adapted instruments to send signals, tell stories, convey power, accompany rituals, organize work, sustain culture and tradition, and give order to community life,” observes an article on the museum’s website. “‘Everyday Rhythms’ explores some of these common uses of music and musical instruments — shared across many regions, people, and cultures.”

The article continues, “Instruments featured in the show include not only European-American forms, but also those from areas of Africa and Asia (acquired by museum founder Henry Mercer during … the 1920s).” The exhibit also includes a “segment featuring a few instruments crafted in Bucks County, or in the nearby Delaware Valley,

along with some tools employed by regional instrument makers.”

Fonthill Castle was built between 1908-1912 by Mercer, as his residence and a showplace for his collection of tiles and prints. The castle is an early example of reinforced concrete and features 44 rooms, more than 200 windows, and 18 fireplaces. Fonthill Castle’s interior features Mercer’s handcrafted ceramic tiles.

Once you have seen Mercer’s collection of tiles at Fonthill Castle, be sure to visit Tileworks (thetileworks.org), also in Doylestown. Mercer built the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works between 1911 and 1912. Mercer’s pottery “fully expressed the ideals of the American Arts and Crafts Movement, elevating Mercer to one of the movement’s most important proponents,” states the museum’s website. “His work was sought out by leading architects … to decorate public and private buildings all across the country.” Visitors can see “decorative halls and historic workshops,” as well as the steam engine and other historic machines that Mercer used to sculpt his creations.

Furniture aficionados should visit George Nakashima Woodworkers (nakashimawoodworkers.com) in New Hope, Pa. Nakashima (1905-1990) opened his

woodworking business in 1945 to use skills he learned as an Eagle Scout, architect, and woodworker. According to the studio’s website, he “discovered the south-facing slope along Aquetong Road … and persuaded the owner to let him purchase three acres of land in exchange for labor. As his business grew, he purchased two more parcels of land and built a dozen more buildings.”

Nakashima’s work was a reaction against 20th-century design, in favor of an aesthetic that recalled earlier historical periods. In his book The Soul of a Tree he writes that wood is not an inanimate object; on the contrary, it “lives and breathes.” After Nakashima’s death, his daughter Mira Nakashima became creative director at the studio. She has retained her father’s general philosophy and process, while adding her own style.

HISTORY MUSEUMS

The history of the USS New Jersey (battleshipnewjersey.org) spans a little over half of the 20th century — from 1938 (when she was designed) and her launch on December 7, 1942 (the anniversary of Pearl Harbor), until her decommission in 1991. Her service includes World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War, as well as conflicts in the Middle East. Approximately the size of three football fields, and over 11 stories high, the New Jersey was the longest battleship ever built. It boasts three turrets, each armed with three 16inch guns that fired a six-foot long projectile.

“Today the New Jersey continues her service as a living museum and memorial in Camden, New Jersey, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia where she was built,” the museum’s website observes. Guided tours, where a trained tour guide leads guests throughout the ship, launch every day at noon. Self-guided tours, where visitors are provided a map, as well as video and interpretive signage along the tour route, are available daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The route includes the Combat Engagement Center, where visitors can view a simulated tomahawk missile launch; the Admiral’s and Captain’s Quarters; the Wardroom; and the areas where the crew ate and slept. Visitors also have the opportunity to climb inside a turret of the ship’s guns.

Visitors also will want to see the Tomahawk Missile Launch pads, which could precisely strike a target 1,500 miles away. On weekends, there are free extended tours of 16-inch Gun Turret II and/or the Engine Room. The museum offers many types of tours and events, including

overnight encampments. Battleship New Jersey is located on the Camden Waterfront, across from Center City Philadelphia.

Also in Camden is the Walt Whitman House Museum (thewaltwhitmanassociation.org). In

1884 Whitman purchased the two-story frame house at 330 Mickle Boulevard (also known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) — the only home he ever owned — and resided there until his death in 1892. The historic site is open Wednesday through Saturday with reserved tour times at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Call 856.964.5383 to schedule a tour.

Tourists who are fascinated by military history and enjoy Battleship New Jersey also will want to visit the Old Barracks Museum (barracks.org) in Trenton. The museum’s website notes that in 1758, the “building now referred to as the Old Barracks was constructed by the colony of New Jersey, in direct response to petitions from residents who were protesting compulsory quartering of soldiers in their own homes. It was one of five such buildings throughout New Jersey constructed for the purpose of housing British soldiers … and it is the only one still standing. At the time it was built, it was the largest building in Trenton and the second largest public building in New Jersey after Nassau Hall in Princeton.”

The Old Barracks Museum’s exhibits include “A Symbol of New Jersey to the World: The Old Barracks at the World’s Fair” and “‘Necessary and Proper for the Public Good’: How the American Red Cross and the Old Barracks Association partnered to contribute to the World War I effort at home.”

Residents who objected to sheltering soldiers in their homes most likely would have been even

less happy at the prospect of housing the original occupants of a site in Mount Holly, which in 1966 was repurposed as the Burlington County Prison Museum (co.burlington.nj.us). Designed by Robert Mills (1781-1855), one of America’s first-born architects, the Burlington County Prison was completed circa 1811.

The museum’s website notes that the building was one of Mills’ “first designs as an independent architect and is a fine example of his ability to identify and solve some of the most difficult structural, safety, and utilization issues of the day.” The museum’s self-guided tour includes an optional audio guide. Brave visitors may want to try the museum’s Escape Game, in which “you will be given a case full of clues. Once you figure out the combination to open the case, you are on your way throughout the jail to find other clues leading to your ultimate ‘escape.’”

The Sterling Hill Mining Museum (sterlinghillminingmuseum.org) is a former iron and zinc mine in Ogdensburg. The Sterling Hill Mine dates to the 1600s, and it was New Jersey’s last working underground mine until its closure in 1986. It opened as a museum in 1989. Visitors who take the guided walking tour of the first

level (the only level open to the public) are taken through approximately 1,300 feet of tunnel. Guides explain different aspects of the mine — such as its geology, history, working conditions, and equipment — and show tourists areas such as the lamp room and shaft station.

Arguably, the most colorful section of the mine is the Rainbow Tunnel. The museum’s website explains that this is an “area of the mine wall where the intensely fluorescent zinc ore is exposed. When subjected to shortwave ultraviolet light, the walls fluoresce bright green and red.”

Located in Philadelphia’s Historic District, on Independence Mall at the corner of 5th and Market Streets, the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (theweitzman.org) was established in 1976. A Smithsonian Affiliate, the museum is described by its website as the “only museum in the nation dedicated exclusively to exploring and interpreting the American Jewish experience. The Museum was originally founded by

the members of historic Congregation Mikveh Israel, which was established in 1740 and known as the ‘Synagogue of the American Revolution.’”

Always on view is “Three Centuries, Three Floors,” an exhibition that “illustrates the stories of the American Jewish experience. Each floor covers almost a century and highlights the diverse backgrounds, expectations, and experiences of Jews who first came to these shores in the 1600s and the generations that followed.” Segments include Foundations of Freedom (1654-1880), Dreams of Freedom (1880-1945), and Choices and Challenges (1945-Today).

The Harriet Tubman Museum (harriettubmanmuseum.org), which is on Lafayette Street in Cape May, is located on a block that was home to anti-slavery activists. The museum’s website notes that Tubman (1822-1913) “lived in Cape May in the early 1850s, working to help fund her missions to guide enslaved people to freedom.” It was through work she did at Cape May — as a cook for hotels and families — that Tubman funded the Underground Railroad. The museum is in the Howell House, formerly the parsonage for the Macedonia Baptist Church. After an online launch in 2020 (to coincide with Juneteenth of that year), it physically opened in September of that year.

Thomas Edison National Historic Park (nps.gov), located in West Orange, encompasses Edison’s Glenmont residence and laboratory. It is here that Edison worked on inventions such as his phonograph and motion picture camera. Fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age probably remember the episode in which New Yorkers are dazzled by the first electric lights that illuminate the New York Times building. When a character wonders aloud whether culture is “headed in the right direction” after this “turning point in history,” one of the series’ protagonists replies, “We don’t have a choice in the matter … we must go where history takes us.”

Fortunately, an abundance of area museums enables us to retrace the steps that others have taken on that journey.

MERCER MUSEUM & FONTHILL CASTLE

PRINCETON ROOTS

Elements of fl oral displays at local venues begin life on a preserved farm in Stockton

Granted, it was a fairly balmy day in January to begin with, but when Peter McCrohan invited me inside the Mediterranean house, I found myself peeling off layers — wool hat and scarf, gloves, down jacket. He calls it the Mediterranean house because the plants he’s raising inside this greenhouse — white squill, oxblood lily, spider flower, and nerine — prefer a climate like that of grapes and olives.

“They grow in the winter and are dormant in summer,” says the tall 71-year-old farmer, wearing a worn leather cowboy hat and a down vest over a flannel shirt. “But they are frost tender, so I put a double-layered cloth over them at night. I mulch if it goes below 10 degrees outside.” Sitting at a patio table in the greenhouse, he looks down at his phone, noting that temperatures will dip into the single digits by the end of the week.

McCrohan operates Shoppons Run Farm in Stockton, raising flowers on four out of his 14 acres of preserved farmland. The season begins in March with flowering quince, followed by peonies, lilies, and deutzia, then dahlias in August and September. He also offers lilac, tiger lily, crinum, nerines, and bittersweet. “I don’t do arrangements, I don’t deal with event planning, I just grow the flowers,” he makes clear. His customers are largely floral shops and event planners, but he won’t turn anyone away. “People line up on the farm when they see things in bloom.”

Shoppons Run, named for a nearby stream, offers cut flowers from late March through October. Sixty percent of his business is dahlias.

“I’ll tell you why people don’t grow dahlias,” he says, taking me into the building where he overwinters the tubers. “It’s because you have to dig them out in fall, clean them, label them, put them in bins — that’s three weeks of work. From

the beginning of November until Thanksgiving, that’s all that I do.” He uses a portable radiator to keep the temperature at 42 degrees. “It’s a laborintensive crop.”

McCrohan had given me a heads-up to wear boots for the mud. Just to get to the place, I drove three-quarters of a mile down a dirt road passing a “no outlet” sign. “It’s too bad you couldn’t come in the spring when everything is in bloom,” he says. I explain that spring flower stories are sowed in the dead of winter, and besides, how else would I get to bask in a hot house?

dahlia tubers, he notes: “I have 25 bins with 100 tubers in each.” In the dahlia beds, “I grow 10 rows 120 feet long, spaced four feet apart. I have four gardens, and each holds 600 plants. Once you get it down you can make it work.”

And in the Mediterranean house, “each bed has 18 bulbs a foot, and there are 1,800 bulbs in a 10-foot bed,” says McCrohan,

He does all this without a staff — just hyaluronic injections into his knees, periodically, as he puts off the knee replacement surgery that he knows is inevitable. “I think I’ll get both knees done at the same time,” he says with a grin.

There are volunteers who help, including his dentist and his haircutter. And he did hire two 16-year-olds to create his website and social media. “They thought they’d won the lottery when I paid them,” he says.

He likes to cite tidbits from vintage gardening catalogs, such as the fact that Vineland, N.J., was once the dahlia capital of the U.S.

Among McCrohan’s clients is Lucy’s Ravioli in Princeton, and Dahlia Florals flower shop in Pennington. “She has a great eye,” he says of Dahlia owner Adriene Presti, who creates arrangements for, among others, Princeton University’s Prospect House, Chancellor Green, and the Princeton University Art Museum.

“I buy from him a lot because he’s local, and dahlias don’t ship well,” says Presti. “There are times where I’ve had New York designers in town working on events and they need dahlias right away, and Peter can meet the need.”

The horticulturalist/farmer/entrepreneur/ preservationist is also a numbers guy. “In this 20-by-22-foot room I start 1,200 4-inch pots. There are 12 pots to a flat, and you need about 10 flats for a wedding,” he says. To store the

Betty Baines-Saum of HAWK+FLORET in Frenchtown says, “I love using local growers and Peter is top notch.” His flowers work their way into arrangements for, among others, Grounds For Sculpture and the Princeton Seminary.

Other Shoppons Run Farm clients are event planners, floral shops, wedding venues, and realtors in the New Jersey and Bucks County,

Pa., river towns. In September 2022, when the New York Times Real Estate section was preparing a feature on Delaware Township, a photographer noticed five vases of flowers at a real estate opening and inquired about them. The photographer surprised McCrohan when she showed up with her cameras, and a few weeks later he was a centerpiece of the feature.

McCrohan has been interested in growing things since attending third grade at Nassau Street Elementary School, now home to Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts at 185 Nassau Street. Nearly two generations before Dorothy Mullen started the school garden at Riverside Elementary School, Miss Compton was teaching about germination and tubers and root development to third and fourth graders, McCrohan recounts. “We were planting radishes and spinach and even peanuts, which we planted in spring and harvested in fall.”

Overhearing a conversation at the Annex restaurant on Nassau Street in the mid 1980s, McCrohan learned that Miss Compton was living in a retirement home in the southern part of the state. He called to tell her she had such an influence on his life that he had just graduated from Cook College, the agricultural school at Rutgers, with a degree in horticulture. “‘You got so many of us interested in gardening, I just wanted to thank you,’” he says he told her. And it was just in time, as she died shortly thereafter, at 103.

Living on Hamilton Street, McCrohan babysat for his across-the-street neighbors, Carol and Alex Wojciechowicz. His older sister, Mary, went to school with New Jersey Barn Company cofounder Elric Endersby, and McCrohan’s younger sister, Patty, worked for the Barn Company. She was at Princeton High School at the same time as actor John Lithgow and photographer Richard Speedy.

McCrohan Sr. was still called “Chief.” His obit describes him as a raconteur; apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

His son recounts a lot of time spent in the principal’s office. How did that jive with being the son of the chief of police? “I had to keep my nose cleaner than other kids, but my father knew what kids do, and it didn’t take much to get called out back then — just running down the stairs or sneaking a Hershey bar in class. But as the son of the chief of police, I couldn’t drink beer or smoke pot at a dance.”

During summers off from Princeton High School, McCrohan worked at the Walker Gordon Farm in Plainsboro, baling hay. Later, while renting space at the Goldman chicken farm on North Post Road in Princeton Junction, he grew strawberries on three acres. It was a short but intensive season. Hopewell artist Ken McIndoe painted a large strawberry on a wooden pallet for a sign — to this day it holds center stage in McCrohan’s art collection in his house.

McCrohan’s mother, who worked at ETS as an office manager in the Buildings and Grounds Department, instilled a love of nature in her three children, according to her Town Topics obituary. His father, also named Peter McCrohan, served as chief of police of Princeton Borough from 1960 to 1973. Even after he retired to Florida,

“I wasn’t college material,” he admits. “I didn’t know how to study. But I realized I wasn’t going to make it growing strawberries alone.” Thus, he describes his 16-year journey to earn a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Cook College.

When his girlfriend moved to the West Coast to attend UCLA, he followed her, taking a job for her father, renowned botanist Howard Gentry. They were researching then-new crops, such as

chia and jojoba; and red squill, developed as rat poison by the Navy before World War II because it was a natural emetic. But McCrohan realized it had a beautiful flower and renamed it white squill for the bloom. He continued growing the squill on land he purchased in Murietta, Calif., while also taking other jobs, such as at the Desert Botanical Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., and for Native Seed Search in Patagonia, Ariz.

Growing flowers in the desert was all about chasing water, so McCrohan decided to return East 14 years ago. He scoured properties in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Maryland before finding his dream site on the 14 acres in Stockton. Purchased from the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, “it was covered with multiflora rose, ivy, and wisteria, and I said ‘perfect!’”

What was perfect was the soil, fitting the name of the region: Sandy Ridge. “The sandy loam is like the soil in Hammonton, perfect

for growing peaches (New Jersey was once the Peach State, he informs me), and where Campbell Soup grew its tomatoes,” he says.

“This is such a verdant area,” he continues. “For cut flowers, this area is ideal: It has a good climate with a long growing season, great soil, and, most importantly, markets that are close by.”

Among his neighbors are Sunflower Glass Studio and David Rago, of Rago Antiques.

After all the work to clear the land and establish the farm, waiting three years to get farmland assessment, he’s not so sure he’d do it again. Not to mention the 1879 farmhouse that needed work. He had to rebuild the greenhouse and depended on the income from the squill in Murietta while getting Shoppons Run established.

Now that this farm is supporting him (“I’m not doing this for a hobby,” he says), he is planning to preserve the farm in Murietta as wildlife habitat. “It’s the fastest growing town in

America,” he says of the region where he served on the Planning Commission to control rampant development. “I was a slow grow advocate in a fast growth town.”

His passion to preserve open space led him to run for Delaware Township Committee twice, the second time losing by only 100 points. He’s not sure if he’ll try again.

“Here I am in Delaware Township with preserved land — how can I take it to the next step?” he asks himself. “Maybe finding young farmers, helping them find long-term leases and getting organic certification where they can get the biggest bang for the buck. I want to act in a proactive way, not just preserving land but contributing to the modern high value of agriculture.”

And he plans to keep farming for as long as he can. His father, who lived to be 95, often touted early retirement as the key to longevity, but McCrohan has his own ideas.

For more than 15 years, Ms Warfel’s practice has focused on assisting victims of nursing home abuse and negligence She has been a featured speaker and panelist regarding issues in nursing home litigation and has worked to obtain favorable decisions on behalf of nursing home residents, including a notable case involving forced arbitration. Her efforts have resulted in millions of dollars for her injured clients. Together, PR&A and Ms Warfel will provide unrelenting representation to nursing home clients to ensure they are compensated fairly

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Anjuli Ramos-Busot was continually aware of the power and influence of nature. “I was always fascinated by the natural world. How could I not be?” she says.

From hurricanes and tropical storms to changing currents, insects, and colorful plant and wildlife, nature was everywhere, and Ramos-Busot remembers that, even as a child, she had an interest in science. “I have always been a scientist at heart,” she says. “Understanding and protecting nature drives me and is who I truly am.”

Ramos-Busot fi rst became aware of the Sierra Club while living in Puerto Rico. She earned her B.S. in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico, and about 15 years ago she moved to New Jersey to obtain her M.S. in environmental chemistry with a focus on atmospheric chemistry from Rutgers University. She still lives in New Jersey and remains as passionate as ever about her mission to preserve the health and longevity of the earth.

With an overwhelming interest in “protecting our environment — understanding its chemistry and physics,” Ramos-Busot aimed to make her own scientific contributions to the field by working on policy and writing rules and regulations at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). She also began fighting and advocating for various causes at the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club.

“Since my very early days as a conscious environmentalist, Sierra Club has always been a huge part of the environmental movement at large,” she says.

Now living in Central New Jersey with her own young family, Ramos-Busot has taken a particular interest in advocating for better air quality, which she sees as a serious statewide issue. “New Jersey is one of the most densely populated states in the country and also one of the fastest-warming,” she says.

She goes on to explain, “Living in New Jersey, I wanted to do more about our air quality, particularly in regard to methane’s contribution to climate change and its associated emissions from natural gas combustion. I volunteered for the Sierra Club prior to joining NJDEP and left my work there to join the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club, but this time as the New Jersey Chapter director.”

As director, Ramos-Busot is simultaneously a leader, spokesperson, scientist, and advocate on behalf of the state. It is not a position without challenges since she must regularly champion causes in the face of critics and deniers. However, none of that seems to shake her desire for a brighter future, and the prospect of offshore wind energy is just one of these goals.

NEW JERSEY’S RENEWABLE RESOURCE

Globally, the wind blows somewhere , sometime, at any time of the day. Unlike coal and oil, wind energy naturally replenishes itself with each turn of the clock, making it a renewable resource. Luckily enough, New Jersey is blessed with a substantial coastline and pre-existing wind turbines that have demonstrated just how impactful a role wind energy could play in the future health and wellness of the state and its citizens.

Regarding offshore wind energy, RamosBusot says, “Sourcing our energy from clean sources like wind is essential if we want to transition from a fossil fuel economy.”

Peggy Brennan-Tonetta, Ph.D., director of resource and economic development at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, agrees.

“Wind energy can be an essential part of a decarbonized future for New Jersey,” she says. “Currently, transportation remains the largest source at 39 percent of the gross statewide GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions. Electricity generation follows as the next largest source at 17 percent of statewide GHG emissions. However, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Offshore Wind Market Report (2022), wind power can only continue to grow if there are policies in place to support a clean energy transition.”

Brennan-Tonetta continues, “It is difficult for alternative energy generation sources such as offshore wind to succeed in the market given the tremendous number of subsidies and policies that support fossil fuel production.

Interest in offshore wind is growing as evidenced by technology improvements along with growth in the industry and number of lease areas.”

Some people might argue that a small state like New Jersey would not be able to make a global difference in the race against climate change, but Sierra Club New Jersey disagrees. “One of the biggest ways to make a difference is to vote for ‘green’ politicians,” says Ramos-Busot. “You have to look at what government officials stand for and vote accordingly. Residents can always visit our website ( sierraclub.org/new-jersey ) to see which candidates we endorse. Investing in an electric vehicle is also a great way to lower your carbon footprint. Alternatives include using public transportation or carpooling and ride-sharing when possible.”

THE URGENT NEED FOR CLEANER AIR

Breathing comes naturally, but as a New Jersey resident, have you ever considered the quality of the air you, or your child, are breathing?

According to the NJDEP, “Exposure to air toxics is a widespread problem that occurs throughout the entire state. These pollutants come from a variety of sources. NJDEP uses USEPA’s AirToxScreen to evaluate the types and amounts of toxics people are exposed to all over New Jersey.”

The six air toxics that the state most closely monitors are ozone, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and lead.

Estimated cumulative offshore wind capacity by country based on developer-announced CODs (the darker areas signify deployed capacity and lighter areas represent projected deployments). ( U.S. Department of Energy, Offshore Wind Market Report: 2022 Edition

Wind turbine components: 1-foundation, 2-connection to the electric grid, 3-tower, 4-access ladder, 5-wind orientation control (yaw control), 6-nacelle, 7-generator, 8-anemometer, 9-electric or mechanical brake, 10-gearbox, 11-rotor blade, 12-blade pitch control, 13-rotor hub. (Wikipedia)

Ramos-Busot points out that ground-level ozone pollutants worsen during the spring and summer with the onset of increased sunlight and hotter temperatures. In addition, heat waves in combination with stagnant, still air raise levels of particulate pollution, which negatively impacts those with respiratory or lung issues.

As stated on its website, Sierra Club New Jersey is partnering with Beyond Coal Campaign and Empower New Jersey (a coalition of 120 environmental, citizen, faith , and progressive groups in New Jersey) to combat what they view as the No. 1 threat to New Jersey’s health and well-being — pipelines and fossil fuels. There is also an effort by many environmental activists within the state to ban fracking. Contrary to popular opinion, fracking can be more harmful and disruptive than coal mining. Fracking contaminates drinking water and ground water, spilling over into wetlands, rivers, and oceans. Not only does this have a huge impact on human health, but it can be deadly to animals as well. Thankfully, in 2021 the Delaware River Basin Commission voted to ban fracking in the watershed.

HOW WIND TURBINES WORK

A wind turbine is made up of a series of sails or blades centered around a rotor, which catches the wind and translates the kinetic energy into rotational energy. In historic windmills, this process was used to grind wheat or pump water, but in a modern wind turbine, it turns a generator

that creates electricity. The blades used today are inspired by airplane wings and are designed to maximize rotational energy. Typically made of fiberglass and resin layers, these turbines can withstand high winds, hurricane-like storms, and intense sunlight.

Wind power is brought ashore via cables that are connected to a power grid. Cables generally run from the ocean floor to a location closely inland. According to us.orsted.com, “To put this cable in place, a hole is drilled using a technique called horizontal directional drilling. The hole starts in a small pit behind the dunes or a beach and is then bored using a drill rig machine.” Once the pipe and cable are set in place, wind energy can safely travel from the sea to the shore.

Currently, wind energy is still in the early stages off the Atlantic coastline. As of 2022, the state has just six wind turbines located 20 miles off the shore of Sandy Hook. There is a plan to develop several new major offshore projects along the southern Jersey Shore. Danish renewable energy company Ø rsted is helping New Jersey to develop its first offshore wind farm near the coastline of Atlantic City. The goal is for the wind farm to be fully operational by 2025 and to power approximately 500,000 homes.

Regarding wind energy’s importance for the state’s long-term health and economy, NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette has said, “From rising seas that threaten our coastline to higher temperatures that endanger the health of

our most vulnerable residents, climate change is already impacting New Jersey, and we must act to reduce its adverse effects. Through the responsible development of offshore wind facilities, we can protect our aquatic and coastal resources and the communities that rely upon them while taking bold action to address the climate crisis by reducing emissions from fossilfuel dependent energy sources. Alongside our interagency colleagues and stakeholders, the Department of Environmental Protection will play an important role in advancing this critical work.” (dep.nj.gov/offshorewind/projects.)

In terms of a long-range goal, “the state has set a goal to produce 3,500 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind energy by 2030.” This would power 2 million homes, create 4,300 jobs, and have a beneficial $702 million impact within the state of New Jersey, according to offshorewindnj.org.

For those who are curious or just regular beachgoers, the turbines may or may not be visible from the shoreline depending on the weather and/or cloud coverage. They are expected to be the most active and produce the most energy at the windiest times of day, which in New Jersey equates to late afternoon and early evening. Another positive is that the Atlantic region off the Jersey Shore has at minimum an average wind speed of 20 mph. As described on offshorewindnj.org, “the windiest season is winter, when offshore winds blow the hardest.”

South Fork Wind Farm

Sunrise Wind 1

Sunrise Wind Residual

Empire Wind 1

Empire Wind 2

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind 1

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Residual

Ocean Wind 1 - New Jersey

Ocean Wind 2 - New Jersey

WHAT DETRACTORS SAY

Those opposed to offshore wind farms have cited the possible eyesore of seeing wind turbines spinning away off the Atlantic City coastline. There has also been some concern over the turbines’ impact on whales, ocean health, and migratory birds. Several studies have been conducted on these subjects , and groups such as the Sierra Club say that no definite correspondence has been determined.

PARTNERS

Ramos-Busot explains that “factors like global warming have drawn the whales’ food source closer to shore. Also, there have been many occasions of whales being struck and impacted by passing cargo ships due to increased trade. These can result in the whales being beached off the coastlines. It’s also important to note that these are not isolated incidents. Since 2016, there has been a pattern of increased whale deaths from the coast of Maine to Florida.”

Thus, while there is no definitive connection between wind turbines and whale deaths, there is a definite correlation in the changes of whales’ behavior and increased whale deaths.

No significant connection has been found between the use of wind turbines and migratory bird deaths. It is known that most birds migrate within 3 miles of the coastline. As such, New Jersey’s wind turbines will be built 12 to 15 miles off the shoreline, so as not to interrupt bird flight.

Universally, climate change has been shown to be a larger detriment to the health of bird and marine mammal populations. As global temperatures rise, so do the extinction rates. As with all ecosystems, bird health relates to “controlling pests, pollinating flowers, and spreading seeds to regenerate forests and plant life (sierraclub.org/new-jersey).” For these reasons, perhaps a greater emphasis should be placed on the impact of global warming rather than the installation and utilization of offshore wind energy.

In 2022, the Fisheries Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cited infectious disease as a possible cause of death for an increasing number of harbor and gray seals. Secondary factors like malnutrition due to ecological changes (change in forage) were cited as increasing the number of Atlantic Florida manatee deaths ( fisheries.noaa.gov ).

In terms of whale deaths, the NOAA has observed an unprecedented number of right whale deaths since 2017. Every year, this species of whale travels from Canada and New England to the warmer waters of South Carolina, Georgia,

and Florida. Twenty right whale deaths occurred between 2017 and 2018, many of which were due to entanglement in fishing gear and/or garbage. Collisions with fishing boats are also a deadly risk to the whales.

“Right whales often swim and rest just below the surface, and are invisible to approaching boats and ships,” said wildlife biologist Clay George of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources on fisheries.noaa.gov. “It’s important for ship operators to follow vessel speed rules, and for boaters to slow down whenever possible.”

Entanglement in fixed fishing gear is tremendously hazardous for whales. State laws indicate where and how commercial traps and nets can be set. Depending on where you live in the country, seasonal boat speed restrictions are also in place during whale calving season.

To report a whale sighting, especially a whale that is injured, entangled, or dead, call the NOAA Fisheries at 877.WHALE.HELP (877.942.5343).

Come visit this

DECARBONIZATION EFFORTS

To keep planet Earth from warming at a rapid rate, state politicians must take a serious look at decarbonization. The term decarbonization refers to lowering greenhouse gas emissions produced by fossil fuels while switching completely to the use of zero-carbon renewable resources like wind energy, solar energy, hydropower, and geothermal. The reason that the government must be involved is that all facets of the economy and the way we live, shop, travel, and more, must align with the goal of decarbonization. This means that when you order something from Amazon, the package is delivered to your doorstep using an electric vehicle. For new building and home construction, this would likely mean electric heat pumps, solar panels, and “greener” building materials like recycled concrete.

The decisions that New Jersey makes in the coming years as to how to invest in offshore wind energy will have huge repercussions on the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Hopefully, through ground level efforts and the help of elected politicians, the dream of a completely “green” Garden State can come true.

To learn how you can get involved with the Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter, visit sierraclub. org/new-jersey or follow them on Instagram @sierraclub_nj.

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ReapingHarvest g Spring the

Healthy Delights from Nature’s Bounty

With photos by the author

s I take my walks on winter mornings, I am amazed to see the early signs of spring. The daffodils and crocuses start to peek through the hard, cold ground and, despite the frigid temperatures, are determined to break through. I love persistence, and it’s a good life lesson.

I walk past the bare apple trees and barren garden on my property knowing that in the spring the trees will blossom, and soon shiny red apples will emerge, and my vegetable garden will be bursting with life. Soon the snow will melt and yield to running waters and the flowers will be in full bloom. Everything that is gray and dull will soon be lively and colorful. I can hear (and see) the birds chirping and flying in erratic patterns searching for food, and the honeybees that have hunkered down for winter are becoming active in their beehives in my large maple tree.

Spring is such a beautiful time a year. It’s a fresh start to renew our commitment to eat more healthfully and to revitalize our diets with the abundance of fresh, vibrant, and delicious produce making its way to our local markets, farmers markets, and farm stands.

The spring harvest vegetables that start to make an appearance in April through May are leeks, arugula, kale, spinach, asparagus, radishes, and fresh herbs like dill, parsley, and cilantro. By May, we see strawberries, cabbage, lettuce, turnips, and endive. By June, broccoli, carrots, cherries, basil, snow peas, sugar snap peas, onions, peppers, and more will be in abundance. Refer to the New Jersey Seasonality Chart at findjerseyfresh.com/availability for a complete harvest schedule.

According to the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES), an integral component of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, increasing the nutritional profile of our foods can be as simple as eating seasonally. The reasoning behind this theory, meaning eating foods that are in season and at their peak flavor, is that often when food is harvested, it must then travel a far distance. In doing so, the nutrients we derive from fruits, berries, and vegetables will deteriorate over time. Elements like temperature changes and exposure to air and light will further impact the nutritional profile of our produce.

Area nutritionist Samara Kraft, MS, RDN, CDCES says that to increase the nutritional profile of our foods, “It is best to choose locally grown, fresh produce, which has the shortest transit time from the ground to the table, preserving most of the nutrients. You can also freeze produce to use at a later time. Alternatively, many frozen vegetables are flash frozen, which consists of blanching soon after being picked and then frozen immediately to retain nutrient composition at the ripest point.”

Kraft says that “eating a balanced, well-

rounded diet that is abundant in fruit and vegetables provides the body with nutrients that lead to good health. Produce contains many vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals.” For more about Kraft, visit alphacise.com.

Eating seasonally is a healthy choice. As a recipe curator, I often develop my recipes based solely on what is available and in season. In spring, I make pea-mascarpone ravioli, Asianinspired meals with crispy tofu and sautéed sugar snap peas, and roasted cabbage. In summer, we turn to our garden for inspiration and make pesto with the herbs; and roasted eggplant, baba ghanoush, and eggplant parmigiana with the eggplant. In fall, pumpkin is so versatile — I use it in soups, cakes, pies, bread, and to make pumpkin cookies for my pups. I imagine you get the idea of eating (and cooking) seasonally. With that said, frozen fruits and vegetables are a

healthy alternative to fresh and are always readily accessible.

To celebrate the spring harvest, I have developed a delicious Potato-Crusted Asparagus, Carrot, and Leek Quiche; Creamy Pea Pesto with Risotto; and Balsamic Glazed Roasted Cabbage for you and your family to make alongside a Summer Sunrise Mimosa, inspired by the Jersey Shore summer sunrise.

In my latest cookbook, NOURISH: Celebrating Nature’s Harvest and a Healthy Lifestyle , coming soon, I encourage you to turn to nature’s harvest to inspire your recipes and teach your palate to eat more healthfully. Eating healthy will give you more sustainable energy to do the things you love. I also give a special nod to gluten-free recipes. My cookbooks are available on Amazon.com. Follow me on Instagram @marioochcooks, where I share daily stories of cooking in my kitchen.

POTATO-CRUSTED ASPARAGUS, CARROT, AND LEEK QUICHE

SERVES 8-10

Quiche Ingredients:

1 ½ leeks, thinly sliced widthwise, about 1 ½ cups

8-10 asparagus spears, about ½ cup chopped

1 small carrot, peeled and cut into angled slices

8 large eggs

1 ¼ cups whole milk

4 ounces low-fat feta crumbles (or ½ cup shredded Gruyère cheese)

1 (5-ounce) package Chevre (goat) cheese

1 tablespoon light sour cream

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

¾ teaspoon sea salt

High-speed blender

10 in. enamel coated cast iron skillet

Small pot

Topping: 2 tablespoons of chopped chives

Garnish: Cooked asparagus spears and carrot slices

Top each slice with sour cream or crème fraiche

Potato Pancake Ingredients (for the base of the quiche):

2 medium Russet potatoes, scrubbed and grated, about 2 cups

1 small, sweet onion, grated

1 large egg

Cheesecloth (recommended)

4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Onion powder to taste

10 in. nonstick frying pan

Large dinner plate

Grater

These two recipes were developed for those living a gluten-free lifestyle. I know finding a quiche that is gluten-free (unless it’s crustless) is hard to come by. This quiche is very light, tangy (from the goat cheese and sour cream), custardy, fluffy, and flavorful. Serving this at your next brunch is a great idea as it can be pulled together for guests relatively easy.

With that said, feel free to pair this quiche filling with a pie crust of your choice. In that case, be sure to blind bake, a fancy term for prebake or parbake, the crust. In doing so, you must add parchment paper over the crust, then pie weights, dry rice, or lentils to maintain the structure of the crust. Bake at about 375 degrees for roughly 20 minutes or longer.

The biggest challenge you’ll face with any crust is that the outer edges may start to burn. Here is a great solution: Place a piece of foil over the entire quiche (or pie) and cut out the inside so that the center is exposed but the outer edges of the crust are completely covered. Use this as a pie shield in the event the quiche (or pie) crust starts to brown after the first 25 minutes of baking.

Note: If you are using a regular pie crust, don’t forget to chill the dough in the fridge for 2 hours or in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Add a baking sheet to middle rack. You will cook the quiche at a lower temperature.

Prepare the Potato Pancake:

Finely grate the potatoes along with 1 small onion. Add the grated potato and onion to a cheesecloth and firmly squeeze out all the moisture. Keep squeezing until there is no more liquid being released. In a large bowl, add the shredded potato and onion along with 1 premixed egg, salt, pepper, and onion powder for flavor. Mix all the ingredients with a fork.

In a 10 in. nonstick frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Once the pan is hot, add the potato-onion mixture and press down with a spatula to create a large pancake, filling the entire bottom of pan. Heat on medium until the bottom is browned and crispy. Then using oven mitts, top with a dinner plate, and gently flip the potato pancake onto the plate. You may also have success just flipping the pancake with a sturdy spatula.

Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the pan and allow it to heat up. Then carefully slide the pancake onto the frying pan, and heat on the other side until crispy. You want the pancake to be crispy, so if you press it with a spatula and it’s still wet, continue to cook it.

Prepare the Vegetables:

In the meantime, soak the leeks in a bowl of water for 5-10 minutes, rinse, and repeat until they no longer have any dirt. Leeks tend to hold a fair amount of dirt.

Steam or boil 8-10 asparagus spears just until bright green. Cut them into pieces, you’ll need about ½ cup. Reserve some for garnish. In a small pot cook the precut carrots by boiling for a few minutes, just until fork tender, and drain both on a paper towel-lined plate. Season with salt. Add the drained leeks to the cast iron skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Heat until golden, about 10 minutes. Then transfer to a plate.

Prepare the Quiche Filling:

Using a high-speed blender to blend all the ingredients creates a very smooth custard-like texture. You may omit the feta cheese and use Gruyère instead, but do not add the Gruyère to the blender, set it aside.

In a large bowl, add the eggs, milk, half the feta crumbles (reserve the rest), goat cheese, sour cream, cornstarch, and salt, and and mix with a fork. Then transfer the mixture to the blender and blend until smooth. Set the mixture aside.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees to cook the quiche.

Once the pancake is lightly browned and crispy, add some olive oil to the cast iron skillet — all around the sides and bottom. Then slide the crispy potato pancake onto the skillet. If it breaks do not worry, no one will know! Top with the browned leeks, the reserved feta crumbles, and asparagus. Then pour the quiche mixture over the top so it nestles into all the ingredients. Add the asparagus and carrots artfully to the top of the quiche. Add the chopped chives.

Note: If you are adding the Gruyere cheese in lieu of the feta crumbles, add the Gruyere on top of the potato pancake, then add the leeks and asparagus and top along with the egg mixture. I find if you blend the cheese into the egg mixture the Gruyere will float to the top, so to avoid that from happening add it to the pancake layer. You can also alternate cheese, onions, asparagus, and more cheese, creating layers of flavor. I don’t recommend omitting the goat cheese, it is what gives this quiche a nice tangy flavor.

Bake the quiche on top of the sheet pan in the middle of the oven until the surface is golden brown and the filling is set, and center will be slightly jiggly.

Cook times will vary, but 50 minutes is a good estimate. It will continue to cook and solidify as it sits. Serve warm. Transfer any leftover to a plate, cover tightly, and refrigerate.

You may serve the large potato pancake for another meal by itself. Pair it with caramelized leeks or onions on top, smoked salmon, capers (or caviar for a special occasion like Mother’s Day), and sour cream or crème fraiche on the side. And don’t forget my Summer Sunrise Mimosa!

SUMMER SUNRISE MIMOSA

Ingredients (per 8 oz. flute):

4 ounces organic prosecco, chilled

Juice from 1 mandarin orange (or ½ orange), about 2 tablespoons

Juice from ¼ lime, about 1-2 teaspoons

¾ oz. elderflower liquor, chilled

Zero sugar ginger beer to top off drink, chilled

Ice to chill glass

Garnish: Lime wedge

Enhance orange color with plant-based food coloring or vegetable dye

If you ever have the chance to watch the sunrise while visiting the Jersey Shore, take it. The summer sky is set ablaze with orange and red hues that light up the horizon. It’s one of the most stunning sunrises, and always leaves a lasting impression on me. This Summer Sunrise Mimosa is reminiscent of a sunrise, and it will dazzle your guests.

Start by chilling the glass, an extra but necessary step. Add chilled prosecco, orange and lime juices, elderflower liquor, and top off the drink with zero sugar ginger beer. Add a lime wedge as a garnish. For a more enhanced orange color, mix in some plant-based food dye or vegetable dye. You could also use some ginger kombucha in lieu of ginger beer. Refreshing, dazzling, and delicious! Choose a dry prosecco that has citrus and floral notes.

BALSAMIC GLAZED ROASTED CABBAGE

SERVES 4

1 head purple cabbage, sliced into 6-8 (1 in.) slices Soy sauce or balsamic glaze

Drizzle olive oil

Balsamic Glaze Ingredients : 2 cups balsamic vinegar

Cabbage is bursting with flavor in May. It’s a wonderful time to grill and although I have not tried these on the grill, I think they will be just as amazing as roasting. In this case, be sure to use a vegetable grill pan. Otherwise, roasting the cabbage in the oven is simple and will result in a caramelized taste that doesn’t resemble its raw counterpart.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the ends off the cabbage and use for chopped salad. Place 6-8 slices, depending how large the cabbage is, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with a little oil and add a drizzle of balsamic glaze (or low

Roast for 25 minutes until caramelized. Alternatively, you can break up the cabbage steaks and roast a little longer and they get really crispy, and equally good. Serve with a pinch of salt. These are irresistible.

Here is a super easy recipe for making balsamic glaze without the use

In a small pot, add 2 cups of a good balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes until reduced to half. I promise you do not need any sugar in this recipe, and the taste is so sweet!

CREAMY PEA PESTO WITH RISOTTO

SERVES 3-4

Creamy Pea Pesto Ingredients:

1 (10 oz.) package cooked frozen or fresh English peas, about 2 cups

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tablespoons water

¼ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated

2 heaping tablespoons mascarpone cheese

1 tablespoon chopped chives

Salt to taste

Optional: Squeeze lemon

High-speed blender

Risotto Ingredients:

2 ½ cups Arborio risotto

Salt & pepper to taste

Red chili flakes to taste

Shaving of Pecorino Romano cheese

Squeeze of lemon

Garnish: Basil chiffonade (also known as basil ribbons)

Cook peas according to package directions. Then blanch them in cold water, about 1 ½ minutes. Drain thoroughly.

Add cooked peas to the high-speed blender (or food processor) along with the rest of the ingredients. Using the agitator stick, blend pea pesto until smooth and creamy.

Note: Blanching is shocking quickly boiled or steamed vegetables with cold ice water to retain their color and nutrients.

Risotto Preparation Suggestions:

Sauté a little sweet onion in a tablespoon or more of olive oil. Thoroughly rinse risotto in water until the water runs clear. If possible, choose organic rice. Use a broth like chicken broth or water to prepare the risotto. Avoid any broth with a tomato base. Toast the risotto and add liquid and cook according to package directions. Reserve 2 ½ cups for this recipe. Combine half of the prepared Creamy Pea Pesto with the risotto. Season the risotto with a squeeze of lemon, Pecorino Romano cheese, red chili flakes, and cracked black pepper. Mix until well combined. Add the basil chiffonade as a garnish.

This is a restaurant-caliber meal that your family will love. I t truly is the “peas de resistance.”

Ginkgo Group, LLC About

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And as always, anxiety-free treatment by Princeton’s premier implant practice.

Three things our implant patients can count on: Biocompatibility. Durability. Aesthetic beauty.

PEACE OF MIND

“I initially moved into Maplewood with my husband Joe when he was diagnosed with dementia. After his passing, I didn’t want to start a new journey alone. I was comfortable in the community. The staff and friends I made were all lovely, genuine and true, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. Fortunately, I could move into Vistas and whether I need help or want to talk, there is someone there to comfort and support me. As a teacher for 30 years, I’ve always been a people person, eager to get involved and it was important to me to have a full social calendar. I exercise a couple times a week and enjoy catching up with my neighbors. On Wednesday nights we venture out to eat at local restaurants and there is always something new to try. I also joined Maplewood’s dementia support group to share my perspective on caring for and living with Joe. The help, care, support, and love I have received from Maplewood has truly been a gift.”

With a renowned reputation and unrivaled services and amenities, Maplewood Senior Living communities offer residents an exceptional lifestyle. No matter what our residents need, we provide the right level of support and the added peace of mind families are looking for.

Our VistasTM program was designed specifically for those looking for some extra support in their daily lives. Expert caregivers are available to lend a hand with personal care, or with more comprehensive support, such as medication oversight. We also offer a variety of health and wellness activities, a full schedule of social and cultural programs, fine dining experiences, scheduled transportation, and more. We take care of everything so our residents are free to explore their interests and pursue their passions.

ARE YOU SOCIALLY FIT?

How Good Relationships Can Help Us Age Happier and Healthier

With so much health guidance available — reduce cholesterol, get more exercise, monitor blood sugar, get regular checkups (all good advice) — it would be easy to overlook something like social health. But it might also be surprising to learn that something called “social fitness” can lead to better overall health throughout our lives, especially as we age.

The importance of social fitness is the major finding of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which began in 1938. A new book, The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness (Simon and Schuster 2023), by the study’s current director, Robert Waldinger, M.D., and its associate director, Marc Schulz, who holds a Ph.D., emphasizes the health benefits, including brain health, of strong human connections.

Princeton is a place where those connections can potentially thrive, due to a plethora of civic and cultural organizations, the availability of activities, and even residences for older adults with communal activities as amenities. The many organizations seeking volunteers and members, including student groups, can help forge human connections. One is never too young, or too old, say the study’s (and book’s) authors.

A recent piece written by Drew Dyson, CEO of the Princeton Senior Resource Center (PSRC), described a woman who discovered the PSRC’s

virtual programs during the pandemic. She tried a virtual symposium, then enrolled in the Evergreen Forum in the fall, and is now involved in a support group, an exercise program, and lifelong learning programs where she has found friends and received support.

According to Dyson, “research has long shown the deleterious impact of social isolation on seniors, affecting mortality, mental health, and self-perception. This has clearly been exacerbated since the beginning of the COVID pandemic in March of 2020.”

The findings were a bit unexpected. Waldinger said in a February 2023 Harvard Gazette article that the middle age study participants thought cholesterol or blood pressure would be an indicator of happiness in older age.

The study found, however, that important as physical health is, it is “interpersonal connectedness, and the quality of those connections,” that really impacts health and happiness. These connections can be family, but also neighbors, coworkers “even our regular barista or cashier.” New connections can be made in a bowling league or a climate action group.

Contrary to what many people think, said the authors, it’s “not career achievement, or exercise, or a healthy diet. Don’t get us wrong, these things matter (a lot). But one thing continuously demonstrates its broad and enduring importance: good relationships.

“I was lonely and felt myself fading into a depression, so I started looking online for senior programs,” she said, as Dyson retells it.

The book continues, “In fact, good relationships are significant enough that if we had to take all 84 years of the Harvard Study and boil it down to a single principle for living, one life investment that is supported by similar findings across a wide variety of other studies, it would be this: good relationships keep us healthier and happier. Period.”

THE BEGINNINGS

The United States in 1938: A New Deal. A growing interest in what makes humans thrive. The March of Dimes is founded. World War II had not yet taken over the American consciousness, but Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” sure did. Arlie Bock, Harvard’s chief of Student Health Services, wanted to learn what helps people thrive, instead of what makes people sick.

The Harvard University study began with 268 Harvard students, Classes of 1939 to 1944, including the future President John F. Kennedy and Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee. At around the same time, Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck selected 456 young men from inner city Boston neighborhoods, ages 11 through 16. Of the original Harvard cohort, 19 are still alive, all in their mid-90s.

The two studies became the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which later included women, and recently more than 1,300 descendants of the original group.

In the 1960s and 1970s George Vaillant, the director of the study from 1972 to 2004, was among the scientists who began to see adulthood as a period of “important flux and opportunity,” when positive change is possible. Previously, developmental research tended to focus on children.

The conclusion after years of personal

interviews, medical data, and family interviews, by Harvard Study staff who crossed the country, has been consistent: Supportive relationships with others keep us happy and healthy. Moreover, strong relationships appear to delay memory decline. The isolated and the lonely showed an earlier decline in brain function, according to the study and the book.

Waldinger, 71, is the fourth director of the study, the longest in-depth longitudinal study on human life ever done, as the authors note. A psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, he asked, in a 2015 TED Talk in Boston, “What if we could watch entire lives as they unfold through time?” He continued, “What if we could study people from the time they were teenagers all the way into old age, to see what really keeps people happy and healthy? We did that.”

He confirmed that the clearest message from the study is that good relationships keep us happier and healthier. “Good relationships,” he said in the TED Talk, “don’t just protect our bodies; they protect our brains.” Partners or friends can argue and disagree, as long as they feel they can count on one another.

In a CNN interview with Michael Smerconish, Waldinger noted that “People who are happy and healthiest are active in keeping up their relationships . . . keeping contact with friends and family and community members.”

LONELINESS AND RELATIONSHIPS

The well-reviewed book was the topic of more than 300 press events as of mid-March. The first thing that strikes co-author Schulz, from audience questions and comments, is that “there is an epidemic of loneliness particularly in at-risk populations,” which include seniors and college students, “the feeling that no one has your back.”

Between 20 to 50 percent of the U.S. population reports being lonely, said Schulz in a phone interview. He noted that some young adults have a tendency to push back the development of social connections to when they think they will have more time, and focus instead on their career.

But, as he said, “life is now. Time can pass by quickly.” His advice is to “work on connections. Friendships are formed with repeated contact with the same individuals, such as regular activities. It can be a sport, a painting class … that is how we are likely to make friends.”

Schulz, 60, who is the professor of psychology on the Sue Kardas Ph.D. 1971 Professorship and director of data science at Bryn Mawr College outside Philadelphia, is a clinical psychologist, focusing mainly on emotion and relationship dynamics in the context of adult development. Schulz was brought into the study some 20 years ago by Waldinger, a colleague who had worked with him on another longitudinal study.

“People are becoming more aware of the importance of cultivating social fitness,” said Schulz. He emphasized that social fitness “is just as important as physical fitness. Activities, maintaining relationships with relatives and friends,” have a positive effect on brain health and overall health, he said. While there are no guarantees in life, “we have found that not having close connections is a risk factor, like smoking. There is evidence that close connections help maintain brain health.”

For those who can’t get together physically, there are alternatives, he said, but the more “lifelike the better. Zoom is great, or sometimes a simple text goes a long way.”

The study is continuing, Schulz reported. “We are studying more than 1,300 children of participants, actively collecting data, and looking at the impact of new things like social media use,” he said.

Asked what basic message he would convey, he reiterated that “it is important to human health to maintain connections. It is important to the physical self.”

THE YOUNG

Humans are “affiliative,” said one local psychologist. Emerging adults (those from about 18 to 25 years old) tend to place more importance on relationships than adolescents, said Candice Feiring of The College of New Jersey Psychology Department, and director of

the Romantic Relationship Research Lab there. Studies show that “romantic relationships are very important during this time,” she said.

Feiring cited a longitudinal study by Wyndol Furman at the University of Denver with 200 students that showed that more quality of support in a relationship among emerging adults compared to adolescents is more likely to result in less anxiety and less depression.

“What we know of the 18-25 group is that their romantic relationships are lasting longer and becoming more supportive and more central in their network of family and friends,” she said. “If there is a problem to solve – children are more likely to seek out parents or grandparents, and adolescents their friends, while emerging adults turn to a romantic partner.

This is a crucial time for developing health romantic relationships, said Feiring, who is working on a romantic relationship education program that would offer training aimed at nurturing skills, like perspective taking and empathy during romantic conflicts.

There is a need for programs that offer more opportunities to practice skills, she said.

GROWING OLDER

The example given by PSRC’s Dyson of the woman who found community by enrolling in programs and activities — one of many seniors who found that as well — noted that the World Health Organization has written about “how

social isolation has a damaging factor on older adults, and that loneliness and social isolation increases the risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, cognitive decline, dementia, depression, anxiety, and in general, shorten lives.”

According to Dyson, “Community senior centers have long played an important role in combatting social isolation and helping older adults thrive. Recognized by the Older Americans Act (OAA) as a key community focal point, nearly 10,000 community senior centers serve more than 1.2 million older adults every day. The Princeton Senior Resource Center helps older adults in our community combat isolation through dynamic lifelong learning opportunities, compassionate social services, caring connections and support, and much more.”

“We have so many ways for people to connect — in-person, online, and hybrid options. And then there are all of our classes and workshops too — so many opportunities,” said PSRC Communications Director Kathy Whalen.

The organization’s full calendar (princetonsenior.org/virtual-programmingcalendar) has many opportunities to connect in person, including pickleball; table tennis; fitness and stretch classes; game days that include mahjongg, Scrabble, and canasta; social groups like Women in Retirement and Men in Retirement; monthly meetings, breakfast meetups, and coffee meetups; and support groups like Aging Gaily and Widows and Widowers.

Whalen herself wrote about how she helped her mother connect to the PSRC. Her mother, who lives in an adult community, was in lockdown during the pandemic and turned to a regular family Zoom, but it wasn’t enough. She signed up for the PSRC Zoom chair yoga class and was assisted by the PSRC tech team. Later, she joined, with her family’s encouragement, the PSRC Fireside Chat and Let’s Talk groups. She discovered online worship services and enrolled in online art programs.

“The friendly engagements with her peers widened her communal network,” said Whalen. “This was just what the doctor ordered.”

LESSON FROM “THE GOOD LIFE”

The Harvard Study is not the only study to find that relationships are connected to happiness. Other studies mentioned in The Good Life that confirm its findings are the British Cohort Study; Mills Longitudinal Study; Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study; Kauai Longitudinal Study; Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study; Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Life Span; and Student Council Study.

Another study, by Sir Angus Deaton, a senior scholar at Princeton University, and Daniel Kahneman tried to quantify the relationship between money and happiness. Not only did study confirm that households making over $75,000 a year were not happier, but those making less did “correlate, modestly, with more happiness.” More recently Kahneman, with Matthew Killingsworth, published a study that found that happiness does not plateau after $75,000 and can continue to rise.

The Good Life , based on the Harvard Study of Adult Development, contends that happiness doesn’t have to do with income, career success, or the number of people you know, but the quality of your relationships. And relationships need to be nurtured.

Giving a person some attention and empathy will lead to a better relationship. Waldinger and Schulz point out that time and attention “are the essential materials of happiness. They are the reservoir from which our lives flow.”

The book notes that communication is not only an exchange of information — “human touch and physical proximity have emotional, psychological, and even biological effects.” There is no substitute for being together, said the authors. The Harvard study shows that avoiding talking about difficulties in middle age had negative consequences more than 30 years later.

Even though attention to devices affects our relationships, on the positive side, social media can be used to sustain relationships with friends and family. In 1950, 20 percent of all households did not consist of a married couple; in 2020, it was 51 percent. But everyone benefits from having a “secure connection.”

A family unit can be many things. The book describes the ballroom culture in which members of the LGBTQ+ community organize in “houses” and compete in drag ballroom competitions. Houses are not physical but a “social sanctuary.”

“What matters is not just who we consider to be family, but what our closest relationships mean to us over the course of our lives,” said the authors.

“Life is always at risk of slipping by unnoticed. If the days and months and years feel as if they are moving too quickly, focused

attention might be one remedy.”

The book suggests cultivating a variety of tools to be used appropriately for different challenges. “If a couple can cultivate a bedrock of affection and empathy (meaning curiosity and the willingness to listen), their bond will be more stable and enduring.”

With the pandemic, the authors went back to the study records to see what the original members said about how they got through life crises. They had lived through the Depression and World War II. They said they leaned on their most important relationships; some were with fellow soldiers.

“The support they got from others during those hard times, and later in processing them, was crucial. And we find that today,” said the authors. “The Harvard Study teaches us that it is crucial to lean on those relationships that can hold us up when things go sideways.”

Not everything has to go smoothly. “A good life requires growth and change,” the book states. “This change is not an automatic process that occurs as we age. What we experience, what we endure, and what we do all affect the trajectory of growth. One can learn a lot at an older age.”

Most of the research participants had already lived their lives before the study’s significant findings. “That’s why we wrote this book: to share with you what we couldn’t share with them,” said the authors.

The book repeats the Harvard Study’s conclusion, but it bears repeating: “Good relationships keep you happier, healthier, and help us live longer.”

IT’S TIME TO REASSESS YOUR 2023 WEALTH PLANNING GOALS

With both economic and market factors affecting wealth planning, the present is a good time to reassess your wealth planning goals for 2023 and beyond.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

Although inflation seems to be cooling as the Federal Reserve has reduced the pace of its interest rate hikes, inflation spikes over the past year have significantly increased certain living expenses — making it vital to take a closer look at any life transition decisions this year or next. For instance, if you are planning to retire later this year, you should reexamine the new costs of your fixed and discretionary expenses.

We suggest reanalyzing asset sufficiency to cover retirement years, given elevated spending levels and higher borrowing costs. For Glenmede clients, an effective way to test sufficiency is by performing or revisiting a comprehensive GoalsBased Wealth Review. The review examines the probability of maintaining lifestyle goals during heightened market volatility, including inflation and interest rate fluctuations.

MARKET FACTORS

Markets still appear relatively expensive, and that may impact some wealth planning techniques. However, most of the planning techniques we recommend focus on the long term. If market performance in 2023 is muted or more volatile compared to longer-term averages, do not be dissuaded from embarking on planning today. For example, waiting for a market correction to occur to make gifts into long-term trusts may yield little benefit. Generally, the longer the planning horizon or the duration of a planning technique, the less of an impact an expensive market will have on the technique’s overall success.

However, market volatility can provide some near-term opportunities. With a market or asset class correction, planning techniques such as asset swaps with grantor trusts, Roth IRA conversions, or grantor retained annuity trusts could be deployed to take advantage of lower asset values and reap the rewards of a market rebound.

FAVORABLE ESTATE PLANNING ENVIRONMENT

After spending a couple of years analyzing and preparing for tax legislation aimed at curtailing

estate planning techniques and raising income tax rates, we find ourselves in a familiar and favorable tax planning environment. It now appears the current lifetime gift and estate tax exemption will not be reduced until January 1, 2026. Given this extended opportunity, we believe it is important to not become complacent but rather to act this year.

Knowing that changes to tax legislation are proposed regularly, we continue to watch for the introduction of bills relevant to our clients at the state and federal levels. Of special concern are several proposals that appeared in the House version of the Build Back Better

and stewardship of assets for the next generation and their descendants. Moreover, if a trust agreement is flexibly written, trustees will have the ability to be strategic in their decision to make distributions of income to beneficiaries, and sales that have already occurred to existing grantor trusts may escape application of new laws. Hence the importance of taking advantage of opportunities that exist in the current legislative environment.

BE PROACTIVE

Uncertainty surrounding market events or future tax law changes should not prevent you from being proactive in your current planning. We note three areas of focus for income tax strategy and a few actions:

Manage your portfolio while being tax-aware:

• Create a capital gains budget for appreciated portfolios.

• Consider converting existing IRAs to Roth IRAs to diversify tax treatment during retirement and eventually for your heirs.

Consider family circumstances:

• Shift income where possible to generations in lower tax brackets.

Act in late 2021. Though these provisions did not ultimately become law, some would have eliminated planning techniques that derive their benefit from a trust’s “grantor” status. A grantor trust is specifically drafted in a way that causes the income of the trust to be included on the grantor’s personal income tax return. This trust design also allows for sales between the grantor and the trust without income tax recognition. Grantor trust treatment can result in substantial tax savings for the trust to preserve more assets for future generations. Other proposals in the bill would have imposed significant surtaxes on trust income. A 5 percent surtax would have kicked in on trust income over $200,000, and an additional 3 percent surtax would have been levied on trust income over $500,000. Should like proposals be reintroduced and passed, sophisticated tax planning opportunities involving trusts could be drastically reduced.

Given that uncertainty, should you still be using trusts for your estate planning? The simple answer is yes. Trusts provide many nontax benefits, such as creditor and divorce protection, fiduciary oversight, guidance for beneficiaries,

• Make trust distributions to beneficiaries with lower income tax rates.

Meld philanthropic goals and tax planning:

• Plan for tax-efficient charitable giving by using appreciated securities.

• Consider charitable lead or remainder trusts when attempting to meet both legacy and philanthropic goals.

Elizabeth Walsh, a Princeton University alumna, is regional director for Glenmede’s Princeton office. For more information, please contact Elizabeth at elizabeth.walsh@glenmede.com or 609.430.3124.

This article is provided solely for informational purposes and is not intended to provide financial, investment, tax, legal, or other advice. It contains information and opinions which may change after the date of publication. The author takes sole responsibility for the views expressed herein and these views do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s employer or any other organization, group, or individual. Information obtained from third-party sources is assumed to be reliable but may not be independently verified, and the accuracy thereof is not guaranteed. No outcome, including performance or tax consequences, is guaranteed, due to various risks and uncertainties. Readers should consult with their own financial, tax, legal, or other advisors to seek advice on their individual circumstances.

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RUSSIA AND UKRAINE IN LITERATURE

Ayear before the invasion of Ukraine, I said in the Fall/Winter 2021 Book Scene that while I’d never actually been to Russia, I lived through “a St. Petersburg summer” in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and spent “my first Russian winter” reading The Brothers Karamazov . The phrasing suggests a naive belief in a literary realm beyond time, space, and politics, a land of no boundaries when, in fact, the novels I was reading were American editions published in New York.

My first summer in Europe I found novels and stories by Russian authors like Gorky, Gogol, and others under the imprint of the Foreign Language Publishing House in Moscow. The curiously bound and decorated volumes I discovered in Vienna were more than books to me because they came from what was then the Soviet Union. I saw myself buying low-priced literary contraband from the old Russia shut off from the West behind the Iron Curtain. The title pages in both English and Cyrillic seemed incredibly exotic, as did the bindings and paper reeking with the scent of Soviet machinery, the actual ink and metal of the printing presses. I lugged a dozen books home with me, as if they were souvenirs of an actual visit to the U.S.S.R. They’re all long gone now, with three exceptions that happen to have Ukrainian backgrounds.

I kept Short Novels and Stories by Anton Chekhov because of an amusing cover illustration presumably modeled on Luka, the

village in Ukraine where he grew up. Ukraine native Nikolai Gogol’s Mirgorod and Evenings Near the Village of Dikanka survived because of strikingly bright, colorful, flowery covers and decorated endpapers that complement Gogol’s lush prose (“How intoxicating, how magnificent

GOGOL’S CHOICE

In her New Yorker essay, “Novels of Empire: Rereading Russian classics in the shadow of the Ukraine war,” Elif Batuman points out that Gogol achieved critical recognition only after moving to St. Petersburg and writing in Russian. Both now and then, as Batuman shows, writing in Ukrainian meant having no readership, therefore no reputation in Russia. She quotes contemporary novelist Oksana Zabuzhko’s claim that even if you were to produce a work as great as Faust in Ukrainian, “it would only lie around the libraries unread.” A guest essay by Zabuzhko in the New York Times (“The Problem With Russia Is Russia”) suggests that the U.S. and the West have actually enabled Russian imperialism and “the rise of a new Hitler” by “agreeing to blame Communism alone for all the atrocities of the Soviet regime.”

is a summer day in the Ukraine!”). When I first read that sentence, I had no reason to think of Ukraine as separate from Russia — it was all Russia, or so I thought.

According to Batuman, the Kremlin, meaning Putin, now uses Gogol’s work as evidence “that Ukraine and Russia share a single culture.” She quotes a 2021 article by Putin himself demanding to know how this heritage can be divided between Russia and Ukraine when Gogol’s books are written in Russian with “Little Russian” folk sayings and motifs. Again, it’s all Russia and as Zabuzhko puts it, “the problem with Russia is Russia.”

Although Batuman loves Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment , she has to confront the possibility that the works that helped define her

life can be coopted to serve the Russian über alles argument that Putin calls “Russkiy Mir.”

UNDERSTANDING THE WAR

Among the numerous publications offering avenues to understanding the Russia-Ukraine crisis, The Zelensky Effect : New Perspectives on Eastern Europe and Eurasia (Oxford University Press $24.95) by Oleg Onuch and Henry F. Hale, is “the go-to book for grasping Ukrainians’ morale in the face of Russian aggression,” says Marc Berenson, senior lecturer at King’s Russia Institute, King’s College London. The book begins with Zelensky’s March 20, 2022 recitation of Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko’s reference to “the sound of a new Iron Curtain lowering and closing Russia away from the civilized world.”

Onuch is senior lecturer in politics at the University of Manchester. Hale is professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University.

THE UKRAINIAN EXPERIENCE

President Zelensky is on the cover of the new paperback edition of Andrew Wilson’s The Ukrainians: The Story of How a People Became a Nation (Yale University Press $20). According to the publisher, the book begins with the myth of common origin in the early medieval era, then looks closely at the Ukrainian experience under the tsars and Soviets, the experience of minorities in the country, and the long path to independence in 1991. Wilson is a lecturer in Ukrainian studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College, London.

RUSSIAN AGGRESSION

Serhii Plokhy’s The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine’s Past and Present (Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute $19.95) is now available in

an affordable paperback reprint. In his preface, Plokhy says that “Russian aggression turned not only Ukraine but also Ukrainian history into a battleground.” Writing in the Times Literary Supplement, Larry Wolff finds The Frontline “illuminating for the current moment…. What emerges from some of these essays … is a powerful sense that Putin’s wantonly destructive delusions and machinations have had the unintended effect of helping to consolidate Ukraine as the unified and distinctive nation whose existence he flatly denies.”

The author of Unmaking Imperial Russia , Plokhy is Mykhailo S. Hrushevs´kyi Professor of Ukrainian History in the Department of History and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University.

A UKRAINIAN FAMILY

Inside Ukraine: A Portrait of a Country and Its People (Batsford $35), which will be reissued this month, opens with a note from the publisher, Polly Powell, who says that the book came into her hands from the Ukrainian family she was hosting in London. The mother and two girls had traveled 30 hours via a bus, a train journey to the Polish border, and then a flight from Krakow (“They didn’t know I was a book publisher and my immediate interest was a surprise to them”). Described by the original publisher as “the product of five years and 100,000 kilometers of travel around the country by the volunteers of Ukraïner,” a multimedia project “launched in 2016 to help Ukrainians discover the varied regions of their country and to promote Ukraine to the world.” With 350 images, the book presents the people of Ukraine and their stories, with a cast of characters that includes traditional

carol singers, wild honey farmers, potters, railway men, artists, sheep breeders, and broom makers.

WAR AND CHILDHOOD

In Y ou Don’t Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl from Ukraine (Union Square $19.99), Yeva Skalietska writes, “My goal was to put my experiences into writing so that ten or twenty years from now, I could read this and remember how my childhood was destroyed by war.” Calling the book a “firsthand account that shows courage,” Kirkus Reviews says it records “the immediate sounds and sensations of explosions, sirens, and panic.” Skalietska and her grandmother fled Kharkiv as the war intensified; they currently live in Ireland.

CHEKHOV’S CHILDHOOD HOME

After his last visit to the Ukrainian town where he spent childhood summers, Chekhov wrote in a letter to Ukrainian friends, “I have left my soul behind in Luka.” According to a story in The Independent written in May 2022 when Chekhov’s former home, now a Chekhov museum, was under fire from Russian missiles, “both sides claim Chekhov’s works as their national heritage,” and “neither has been capable of protecting his legacy.” In May 2003, when Putin and then-Ukrainian president Leonid Kochma visited the Chekhov museum in Yalta (the White Dacha, where he wrote some of his most notable works), both presidents expressed their thanks in the guest book. At a time when the museum was having serious financial issues, Putin donated a book about handicrafts and his visitor card.

Dream Big From

CABIN RUN FARM

The genesis of Cabin Run Farm was 1785 in the original keeping room and throughout the years, this formidable homestead has grown to 37 plus acres and has become one of the most prestigious compounds in this area of Bucks County. The main house is sited on the precipice of a hillside overlooking Cabin Run Creek and the distant farms. The current stewards have spent endless time restoring the home to its pristine condition. The additions, constructed over the century, move seamlessly from one room to another. The entire 37+ acres are perfect for an equestrian enthusiast or there is ample room for a barn and or indoor arena. Call Art Mazzei 610.428.4885 or Stephanie Garomon 215.595.7402

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SOPHISTICATED COUNTRY

Rare opportunity to own a new build in Solebury. This 3,700 sq ft home, sited on 2.1 acres, offers a great room that boasts cathedral-like truss work and encompasses a stone fireplace, open kitchen and breakfast area. The huge second level space with bath can function as an optional primary bed suite or an upstairs family room. The unfinished walkout lower level can add an additional 2,500 sq ft. Minutes from the night life of New Hope, 50 minutes to Center City and 90 minutes to NYC. Solebury Mountain is one of those rare designs where the architect met the challenge and “colored outside the lines” and created something unique and innovative. Call Art Mazzei 610.428.4885 or Evan Walton 215.327.4709

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TRAILS END

An absolute one of a kind custom built river front oasis set on a stunning 5.5 acres with an incredible 525 feet of private panoramic river front views, deep water boat slip and floating dock. Follow this private lane to a lush and manicured landscape that provides unrivaled sight lines of the Delaware River and the high bluffs of New Jersey. There is over 140 acres of dedicated open space that buffers the property and direct access to the towpath along the canal. This home is built above the flood plain and has a full footprint garage and storage area that has space for 4 cars, a boat and an additional recreation & elevated storage area. Call Evan Walton 215.327.4709

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WATERVIEW

Waterview is arguably one of the more coveted addresses in the quaint river town of New Hope. Tucked between the Delaware River and Delaware Canal, this prime location is one of the finest aspects of Waterview Place. The one of a kind townhome, marries clean, linear design with stunning European forward directional vision. This highly sophisticated and stylish house has breathtaking views from all 4 floors and has great natural lighting. Premium imported wood flooring that encompasses the entire house along with finest fixtures of modern taste. This magnificent property moves you from the usual contemporary design in today’s market to a new vision that is aesthetically chic. Call Revi Haviv 845.492.1315

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Discover Country Elegance At Three Fields

Mansion in May 2023 Designer Showhouse and Gardens

Three Fields, an elegant French manor style home situated on almost 36 acres of pastoral, rolling fields in the Borough of Mendham, has been chosen as the site for the Women’s Association for Morristown Medical Center’s (WAMMC) 20th Mansion in May Designer Showhouse and Gardens.

Located just an hour from Princeton, Three Fields is a 9,000-square-foot stone and brick home designed by New York architect Greville Rickard for Benjamin Duncan Mosser and his wife, the former Florence Willets Mosford. It was built between 1928 and 1930 and its many architectural elements include tall, steeply pitched tile roofs accented by dormers; wood casement windows; and French doors that open

to the formal gardens, ponds, and fields beyond. The façade is made up of several conjoined units, as if the mansion had been expanded over the years.

The WAMMC is a 400-plus member volunteer organization founded in 1893 to provide financial support for Morristown Medical Center, part of the Atlantic Health System, in advancing the quality of health care in the community. Now celebrating its 130th anniversary, the WAMMC hosts several events, but its signature fundraiser is the Mansion in May Designer Showhouse and Gardens, open to the public every two to three years.

Since its inception in 1974, this fundraiser has raised more than $12 million for a variety of causes at Morristown Medical Center. Past Mansion in May sites include Upton Pyne

in Bernardsville, Giralda Farms in Madison, The Vail Mansion in Morristown, Blairsden in Peapack-Gladstone, and Alnwick Hall – The Abbey in Morris Township. Due to the pandemic, the last Mansion in May, Tyvan Hill in New Vernon, was presented as Splendor in September in 2020. It raised more than $1 million to benefit the expansion of the Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute at the medical center.

As to why Three Fields was chosen as this year’s showhouse, Mary Courtemanche, Mansion in May 2023 co-chair, says, “Three Fields continues the tradition of using historic homes for Mansion in May. It is a home that we felt would be of interest to both interior and landscape designers. Plus, its owner wants to give back to Morristown Medical Center.”

Mosser, the home’s original owner, was a partner in the prominent Wall Street banking and brokerage firm Clark, Dodge & Co. for nearly 30 years. In 1949, less than a year after her husband’s death, Florence Mosser sold Three Fields to Andrew Fletcher and his wife, the former Elizabeth Dorothea Camp. Fletcher served as mayor and councilman of the Borough of Mendham and was on the board of, and a major benefactor to, the Mendham Library. In the mid-1960s, the Fletchers gave Three Fields to Mendham Borough, and the trust holding the proceeds from the borough’s sale of the property in the 1980s, after their deaths, continues to benefit the community.

“Three Fields is now privately owned, and the owner will take up residence after this year’s event,” says Barbara Ruane, Mansion in May 2023 co-chair.

Courtemanche notes that highlights of the mansion include “the attention to detail that the owner has put into the restoration of Three Fields, the way the large house feels like a home, and the gorgeous property.”

For this year’s Mansion in May, Three Fields will feature approximately 31 design spaces, as well as 17 beautifully designed landscape areas. Twenty-nine of the area’s leading interior designers and 15 prominent landscape designers have worked since the beginning of February to perfect their spaces.

“Visitors to the mansion will be wonderfully surprised at how gracious the home is, and how beautiful and serene the property is,” says

Ruane. “There is also the excitement of seeing 11 new interior designers and four new landscape designers while also viewing new things from old favorites.”

Master Plan for the landscape design of Three Fields. It is her seventh Mansion in May project.

“Many of the early 20th century estate properties are disappearing to suburban development,” says Cohan. “Three Fields is one of the most intact estate homes I’ve seen. The home is an excellent example of Tudor Revival and has amazing views as well as the bones of what was before. In my design practice we try to honor those elements and create spaces that also work for contemporary living. Mansion in May allows others to experience that and is an important force in respecting and preserving Morris County’s country estate legacy.”

The WAMMC has pledged to raise $1.5 million from this year’s event to benefit the expansion and modernization of Morristown Medical Center’s Institute of Bioskills Training and Innovation. The center, opened in 2005, offers health professionals a safe and controlled environment where they can practice skills without risk of patient harm through simulation training. This training helps bridge the gap between theory and practice.

“There is no overall theme,” continues Ruane. “Each designer works independently, showcasing their skills in however way the space they were awarded moves them.”

Susan Cohan, principal and design director of Susan Cohan Gardens, was selected to create the

“The Bioskills lab was chosen as this year’s recipient because it touches all areas of the hospital,” says Courtemanche. “It is used by residents from surgery, emergency medicine, OB/ GYN, internal medicine, and pediatrics. It is also used by respiratory therapists, nurses, physical therapists, EMTs/paramedics, and medical students, all of whom can go and practice or learn new skills.”

in May 2023 Designer Showhouse and Gardens will ultimately “have an enjoyable visit, learn something new about design or landscape, and feel good that their visit is ultimately helping to ensure that Morristown Medical Center continues to be the No. 1 hospital in New Jersey.”

The Mansion in May 2023 Designer Showhouse and Gardens will be open daily May 1 through May 31. The mansion opens for self-guided, general admission tours at 10 a.m., with the last ticket sold at 3 p.m. Group and individual private tours are also available starting at 9 a.m. For further information and to purchase tickets, go to the “Tickets” tab at mansioninmay.org.

Viewing the outdoor gardens can take place either before or after the mansion visit. Ticket holders can also shop in the boutiques and have lunch on the grounds in the Three Fields Café. Guests should note that pets and children under the age of 12, including infants, are not permitted in the mansion.

Offsite parking with free shuttle service will be available at 82 West Main Street, Mendham. For more information, visit mansioninmay.org.

A WELL-DESIGNED LIFE

Hudson Grace black wood brasserie serving plank; $188; hudsongracesf.com

Zafferano Perle wine glass; $36; elizabethbruns.com

Tracey Garet designed 7 Cup Square plaster chandelier; $14,400; 1stdibs.com

Formations Zhara candlesticks; price upon request; jerrypairatlanta.com

Eric Javits Gillian bag; $295; ericjavits.com

Formations Peruvian cabinet; price upon request; thebrightgroup.com

Carrie Forbes Salat woven raffia sandals; $395; bergdorfgoodman.com

Craig Bassam designed Spindle side chair in carved solid walnut and satin brass; price upon request; bassamfellows.com

Pasquale Bruni Bon Ton 18K rose gold, milky quartz earrings; $5,100; saksfifthavenue.com

Chopard Happy Hearts rose gold, diamond, mother of pearl bangle; $3,220; chopard.com

Kim Seybert Garden Party linen cocktail napkin, set of 6; $75; elizabethburns.com

Robert James Bayroc cast stone dining table; price upon request; robertjamescollection.com

Cell/Text: 609-658-3771

E: HeidiHartmannHomes@gmail.com

W: HeidiHartmannHomes.com

A WELL-DESIGNED LIFE

Robert Gordon Australia Garden Party ceramic cake stand; $50; robertgordonaustralia.com

Ben Soleimani Terra alabaster and brass chandelier; $4,360; bensoleimani.com

Industry West ash and cane cabinet; $4,200; industrywest.com

Hereu Cabassa straw and leather trimmed tote bag; $590; bergdorfgoodman.com

Corbin Bronze Bulb table with leaves; price upon request; corbinbronze.com

Hermes Faubourg Polka watch, mini model in rose gold with diamonds; price upon request; hermes.com

Tory Burch Marquetry Disk sandals; $348; neimanmarcus.com

Made Goods Page organic veneer coffee table; $3,550; stephaniecohenhome.com

Nude Glass Chill carafe with marble base; $219; bloomingdales.com

Hudson Grace stemless champagne flute, set of 8; $55; hudsongracesf.com

Nicolette Mayer Cockatoo hemstitch linen/cotton cocktail napkin, set of 4; $40; nicolettemayer.com

Marco Sousa Santos designed Aya beech armchair; price upon request; branca-lisboa.com

La DoubleJ Tulip dessert plate, set of 2; $160; bergdorfgoodman.com

CB2 Jed linen and shearling settee; $2,499; cb2.com

AT THE

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