Wedding Wonders

February 2020 | princetonmagazine.com

FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the February issue of Princeton Magazine. Our retro cover of Springdale Golf Club was taken from a vintage postcard and features a view of Cleveland Tower in the distance. Springdale is celebrating its 25th anniversary, but you don't have to be a golf enthusiast to enjoy Ilene Dube's article.

History buffs will be interested in learning that George Washington's encampment before the Battle of Princeton was located near the current fifth tee. The original 240-acre parcel of land was once Stockton Farm, and the first clubhouse was originally a tenant-farmer house. Today, many people consider the golf course to be a wildlife sanctuary with fox, deer, hawks, and migrating birds contributing to the natural beauty of the landscape.

One of the most scenic views in Princeton is frotn the Cleveland Tower overlooking the course. The tower is set at the highest point between Alexander Street and the Institute for Advanced Study neighborhood, and has been a popular sledding spot for multiple generations of Princeton residents.

The Cleveland Tower is a memorial to President Grover Cleveland, who, after his retirement from public office, lived in Princeton at 15 Hodge Road and served as a University trustee. The tower is home to a massive carillon organ containing 67 bells, with the largest one weighing 12,880 pounds.

The summer carillon concert series is a delightful little-known secret where the audience brings blankets, lawn chairs, and picnics on the lawns around the tower. To learn more about the carillon and to watch a fascinating video of how it's played, visit www.gradschool. princeton.edu/about/carillon.

February marks the start of wedding planning season, and we invited local florists to design wedding bouquets and matching boutonnieres. The photos taken by Jeffrey E. Tryon are paired with romantic poems selected by Laurie Pellichero, and the result will have you dreaming about spring
romance.

One of the participating florists is Vaseful Flowers, part of the Community Options Enterprise that provides employment for people with disabilities. Their shop is located at the site of our former office on Witherspoon Street. Our publisher, Bob Hillier, has purchased flowers at Vaseful and gives the shop and the arrangements positive reviews. Some of our readers may not be aware that Bob inherited his love of flowers from his mother, Florence, who was an award-winning flower arranger and the founder of The Flower Basket on Nassau Street in 1948. She was also the owner of two other Princeton flower shops that she purchased in later years.

Further on the subject of love, over a thousand of T.S. Eliot's romantic letters to Emily Hale have been unsealed, after sitting in the basement of Firestone Library for 60 years. Eliot and Hale's romance began in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when they both performed in Jane Austen's play Emma while he was a graduate student at Harvard and she was a teacher at Simmons College. You have to read Donald Gilpin's article to discover if this love story had a happy ending.

If you have grown weary from the gray skies of February, consider brightening up your home with some redecorating. We had such a great response to our series of portraits of architects in their homes that we decided to repeat the concept with local interior designers. Anne Levin's profiles of talented designers reveals the ir perspectives on creating beautiful, functional spaces using natural light, color, art, and personal touches.

February is Black History Month and we are proud to share with you "If These Stones Could Talk," an informative and heartfelt story about African American history in the Sourland Mountain region. Wendy Greenberg interviewed local residents Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills about their extensive research conducted over a decade, and how they uncovered new found history about slavery in central New Jersey. Since writing their book, their ongoing efforts have involved collaboration with the Stoutsburg Cemetery Association and the Sourland Conservancy. This has led to the opening of the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum in a one-room church built in 1899. To learn 1nore about the history, culture, experiences, and contributions of African Americans in our region, visit
www.ssaamuseum.org.

Bob Hlillier and I hope you enjoy this issue of Princeton Magazine and look forward to the promise of spring in Princeton, and all that it has to offer.