Dancing Intern
Marlene Kowal, a freshman at Temple University and a graduate of High School South, Class of 2003, continues with her dance studies in the Philadelphia area. She was accepted into an internship program with Philadelphia’s modern jazz dance troupe, Koresh Dance Company, where she studies directly with Ronen Koresh. She was also awarded a similar work-study opportunity with Gwendolyn Bye, the artistic director for DanceFusion.
Summer plans include teaching dance at Camp Mariah, the Fresh Air Fund’s Summer Career Awareness Program in Fishkill, New York.
Later this summer she will be working with Midori Iro, the artistic director for Inertia. Her group promotes jazz, funk, hip-hop, street, and modern dance with commercial and theatrical connotations. Kowal will dance in October at the 11th Annual Dance/Poetry Festival hosted by Artists Embassy International and Natica Anngilly Dance Troup at the Palace of the Legion of Honor Florence Gould Theater in San Francisco. To sponsor Kowal’s dance studies with Midori Iro, call 609-951-3636.
Volunteers Honored
American Red Cross of Central New Jersey recently celebrated National Volunteer Day. The theme of this year’s event, “Inspire by Example,” is appropriate for the people who volunteer their time every day.
Volunteers from West Windsor include Kamala Acharya, Baral Ajunta, Steve Amendo, Charles Ascher, Pat Atkinson, Ann Avery, Julie Bartage, Victor Belanger, Mala Bhattacharji, Jane Carroll, Jeff Carroll, Melinda Chan, Natasha Chan, and Sonya Chhabra. Also, Charlotte Dey, Terry Forman, Terri Gans, Kimberly Hassmiller, Josephine Hendrix, Don Hutchinson, Dari Kalmus, Poonam Kapoor, Nancy Kaufman, Judith Klitzberg, and Judith Kornhauser.
Also, Jeffrey Mandell, Susan March, Gregory McBride, Joanita Miranda, Susan Nagel, Cadar Nocolata, Craig Norback, Deborah Nosko, Matthew Parente, and Raj Parikh. Also, Hema Ramamurthy, Sailaja Rao, Margaret Redman, Deborah Ritchie, Natalie Schoepfer, Ronnie Seligman, Maureen Sirhal, Seenu Srinivasan, Laura Tai, Sheldon Thaler, and Leah Todd. Also, Patricia Von Hippel, Kevin Walsh, Pamela Weiss, Susan Welsh, Betty Wong, Mimi Yong, and Susan Zavarro.
Volunteers from Plainsboro include: Joseph Ahearn, James Ball, Lois Becker, Carolynn Bitzer, Elizabeth Bondurant, Catherine Buttner, Shilpi Chakrabarti, Matthew Chu, Carol Dugan, Tammy Ehrhart, Kevin Fitzgerald, Antonina Garcia, Surbhi Girdhar, and Suvarna Gole.
Also, Tom Hacker, NidhiShree Karinoura, Mary Kendzierski, Michael Kendzierski, James Kish, Michelle Larkin, Bonnie Lisbona, Prathibha Mashettiwar, Christopher Moscicki, Alex Persico, and Carsuelo Persico. Also, Nirmala Rajan, Bansal Rohit, Ginny Roth, Harleen Sandhu, William Schafer, Vrinda Shanbhag, Asha Sheh, Aditi Shukla, Susan Sodie, Chris Stanko, Sheryl Streger, Jeanne Teske, and Harry Towner.
For information about Red Cross services and volunteer opportunities call 609-951-8550 or visit www.njredcross.org.
Honorees
Plainsboro’s Mayor Peter Cantu was honored by the Plainsboro Democratic Organization for his 30 years of service to the township committee at a brunch held on April 25 at the Westin Hotel. He was praised for his many accomplishments in the areas of farmland preservation, regional planning, and financial management by Congressman Rush Holt, Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin, Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, and Plainsboro Deputy Mayor Neil Lewis.
The Plainsboro Democratic Organization used the 25th Founder’s Day celebration to launch its annual community service voter registration drive. “It is crucial for people to take an active role in our democracy,” says chairman of the organization Robert Schwartz. “The power of the vote is among the most important rights we have in a democracy. It gives us the ability to register our views where it counts the most — at the ballot box.”
Anne Reilly of West Windsor was recently honored by Governor James E. McGreevey as a Wynona M. Lipman honoree.
She is chair of the State Public Affairs Committee of the New Jersey Junior League and was honored for advocacy and programs for women in her community.
Reilly led a committee that has dedicated itself to researching and advocating issues on behalf of the 4,”000 women of the New Jersey Junior Leagues.
At the forefront of advocating for childproof handguns, increased access to mammograms, and education opportunities, they are also involved with domestic violence, women’s health, child abuse prevention, foster care, adoption, accessibility of healthcare, environment, juvenile justice, and quality education.
Senator Wynona M. Lipman was the first African-American woman elected to the New Jersey Senate — seven times.
Business
Rona Smyth Henry of Plainsboro is a Leadership New Jersey Fellow, Class of 2004. A senior financial officer at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, she is involved in program development for childhood obesity prevention.
She previously worked in the adult day services field and has volunteered with the East Windsor Commission on Aging. She earned masters in public health and masters in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley. She completed a postgraduate fellowship in hospital administration at Duke University Hospital.
Richard S. Lehrich of West Windsor is one of the “The Ten Leaders of Criminal Defense Law of Northern New Jersey” for 2004-’05, based on a three-month survey by Digital Press International of Fort Lee. The principal at the law offices of Richard S. Lehrich in Cranford, he has been practicing criminal defense law for close to 35 years.
Born in Newark, he is a graduate of Rutgers University and received his law degree from Yale Law School. Certified as a criminal trial attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey since 1982, he has served as chair of the Criminal Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and as president of the Association of Criminal defense Lawyers of New Jersey.
He is married to Laura Le Winn, a family law judge in Mercer County Superior Court. (The News February 2, 2001). They have two college-age children, Dan, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, Class of 1999; and Tess, Peddie School, Class of 2001.
Martha Dee has joined RE/MAX of Princeton as a broker-sales associate. A resident of Plainsboro, she has worked in real estate for 15 years, and is a member of New Jersey Association of Realtors.
Phyllis Grodnicki, a sales associated with RE/MAX of Princeton has achieved the silver level in the Circle of Excellence for the New Jersey Association of Realtors for 2003. She has been working in real estate since 1992.
Foundation Appointee
Tom Sullivan of West Windsor was appointed to the College of New Jersey Foundation. Established in 1971, the foundation serves as the private fundraising arm of the college.
Sullivan is president and CEO of Princeton Partners. A graduate of TCNJ, Class of 1980, he has been vice president of their alumni association. He has served as chairman of the board for Special Olympics of New Jersey and on Governor James E. McGreevey’s High Education Long-Range Plan Quality Committee.
