Plainsboro resident Charlie Liu is set to travel to Boston on Jan. 7 to compete as a division finalist in the Music Teachers National Association’s Senior Piano Competition.
The winner of this competition will compete in the National Finals during the MTNA National Conference in Baltimore, Maryland in March.
Liu earned the spot in the finals after winning the Senior Division of the New Jersey MTNA Piano Performance Competition. A junior at High School South, Liu has been studying piano for 12 years.
Liu has been an accomplished piano player since early age, setting a world record at age 8 for performing in all three concert halls inside the world-famous Carnegie Hall.
He has performed on the Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey shows, and he became the youngest musician to become Lang Lang International Music Foundation Scholar. Liu has won top prizes in state competitions, as well as other solo and concerto competitions.
Girl Scout award winners
Ahana Banerjee, Diya Rai and Sreekruthi Dubagunta recently earned their Girl Scout Silver Award for their project, “Take a Trip Around the World.” The girls are in the 8th grade at Community Middle School and are members of Cadette Troop 71602.
The goal of their project was to educate children about different cultures around the world. As part of the project, they taught seven sessions for grades K-2 during the Extended Day Program in Town Center Elementary School.
They thaught the other kids about China, France, Mexico, India, Italy, Germany and Kenya. Some 70 children were divided into three groups, with each group was led by a different girl. Activities included country facts, crafts, games, dances, music, stories, fun packets and passports related to the country of the week.
Also completing her Silver Award project was Natalie Raday of West Windsor, a scout in Troop 70935.
The goal of her project was to help kids learn about recycling and to make fun habits of it. Raday created a folder of crafts, games and presentations about recycling. She taught the kids about reducing and reusing, as well as recycling in presentations. She led and played each game with the children. She provided the documentation of the games, crafts and presentations to the EDP and PTA directors of the school district.
Death
Florence E. Grover, 93, of Princeton Junction, died on Nov. 12, the at Parker at Monroe senior community.
Born in Trenton, she was the eldest of six children of William and Florence Walter. She grew up in Windsor and graduated from Allentown High School. She worked at Fort Dix and Walson Army Hospital, volunteering at canteens for departing soldiers during WWII and was very proud to have two sons in the US Army. Grover taught Sunday School at Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church and served as a homeroom mother at Dutch Neck Elementary School. Having lost a son in combat in Vietnam, Florence was honored as a Gold Star mother.
She married LeRoy (Pete) Grover, a Dutch Neck farmer. Together they operated the Grover Farm, the first local pick-your-own farm for decades growing potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, pumpkins, sweet corn, asparagus and numerous other vegetables.
She is predeceased by her parents, William and Florence (Zecker) Walter; her husband, LeRoy Grover; and her son Specialist Four Thomas R. Grover. She is survived by her sons, Robin of Alexandria, VA, Ted and his wife Janice, of Princeton Junction.
Memorial contributions may be made in Grover’s memory to Good Grief, Inc., 5 Mapleton Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08540.
Charlie Liu,
