It’s September and that means that U.S. 1 reporters and freelancers
take to the highway for our annual survey of rush hour traffic. For
nearly 20 years now we have been driving the same stretch of highway –
Route 1 from Franklin Corner Road at the south to Raymond Road to the
north – at the same time of year: usually the third week of September,
after Princeton University resumes classes and before the Jewish
holidays.
This year that window was last week, September 19 to 21, and we drove
and drove and drove. So where are the results? Not in this issue, as
it turns out. But they will appear soon, in the issue of Wednesday,
October 11.
For this issue, the Greater Princeton Chamber of Commerce’s business
to business Trade Fair has taken priority. The trade show comes at a
new time this year. In past years it was before Labor Day, and then it
moved to early September – it was well out of the way before the
traffic issue. This year, however, it is scheduled for Friday, October
6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Westin hotel in Princeton Forrestal
Village.
So beginning on page 12 of this issue you will find listings of all
the exhibitors scheduled to be there, plus lots of additional
information about them, plus profiles of the two trade show
celebrities – the new CEO of the Chamber, Karen Colimore, and the CEO
of the commerce commission and the keynote speaker at the Trade Fair,
Virginia Bauer.
On page 32 read about the winner of our own U.S. 1 Battle of the Bands
– Thursday Night Jazz – who will provide the live entertainment at our
second annual U.S. 1 Breakdown Party, which runs from 3 to 5 p.m., at
the trade fair at the Westin. The breakdown party is a fun,
let’s-relax-after-the-trade-fair event with great music, gourmet food
tastings, and a cash bar. It is free and open to the public.
We’re excited to have Thursday Night Jazz joining us this year. The
trio – 14-year-old high school freshmen – knocked the socks off the
160 patrons of a posh fundraiser held in Princeton for the Mercer
Alliance to End Homelessness last weekend. Guests walked into the
Snowden Lane garden of publishing executive Tim Andrews to find what
looked like a band of high schoolers who turned out to be immensely
talented, a truly sophisticated jazz trio.
Shirley Tilghman, president of Princeton University, and Doug Palmer,
mayor of Trenton, were among those who marveled at how they played
with the elan of musicians years their senior. (Tilghman and Palmer
were the recipients of awards from the alliance, along with Governor
Jon Corzine and Stephanie Wolcott of Tyco.)
The chamber’s trade show is "business to business," but another kind
of convention is set for Saturday, September 30. It has less to do
with business and more to do with relieving the stress of business.
Michele Engoran of the Center for Relaxation and Healing in Plainsboro
has organized a "Natural Living Expo: Mind, Body and Spirit" at the
Premiere Hotel, 4355 Route 1, Princeton. Cost: $10. It features 45
vendors with products and services including feng shui, Chinese herbal
medicine, and nutrition and wellness products. In Survival Guide,
Engoran tells how to put on an expo (page 9).
If you just can’t wait to get the results of the traffic survey, we’ll
give you a hint: It’s worse. You’d think you could predict that, but
no, some years it actually improves. This year, however, the afternoon
southbound run was significantly slower. We will use the time between
now and October 11 to try to find out why.
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