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Steve Benowitz, 78, longtime mayor and township champion BY JOE EMANSKI AND SAMANTHA SCIARROTTA Bordentown Township lost a dedicated public servant last month when Stephen Benowitz died on Feb. 10 at the age of 78. Benowitz served as an elected member of the Bordentown Township Committee from 1979 to 1981 and from 2013 to 2023. He had been selected by his fellow committee members to serve as mayor every year from 2017 to 2023. Benowitz had resigned from his role as mayor and committee member on Dec. 31, citing health concerns. “The township has lost a remarkable man and a true giant of public service. Steve’s indelible legacy will forever be felt in Bordentown Township. On behalf of the Township Committee, I offer the most sincere condolences to Steve’s wife, Ellen Benowitz, and his entire family,” Bordentown Mayor Eugene M. Fuzy said in a Feb. 12 statement released by the township. “There is so much to say about Steve’s love of public service, love of Bordentown, and love for everyone who worked for the betterment of
the township. He will be truly missed,” Fuzy said. Benowitz was born in Philadelphia in March 1945. He moved with his family to Roosevelt, a small community in Monmouth County, graduating from Hightstown High School. His father, Bernard, was as a salesman and his mother, Frances, worked at Bamberger’s in the Princeton Shopping Center where McCaffrey’s is now. Benowitz himself worked part time in the menswear department. Roosevelt’s population when he was a kid, he said, was around 750 people. Benowitz remembered seeing Eleanor Roosevelt speak when she attended a school dedication to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and he said the town was a haven for artists like Ben Shahn, who had a studio with a frog pond where Benowitz and his friends would play in grade school. Benowitz went on the get an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Trenton Junior College, now Mercer County Community College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Rider University and a master’s in special education from Trenton See BENOWITZ, Page 14
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African-American Sites Tour gets fresh update
A site highlighted in the newly updated Burlington County African American Historic Sites Tour Guide is the New Jersey Manual Training and Industrial School in Bordentown. The state-supported co-ed boarding school for Black secondary-level students was nicknamed “The Tuskegee of the North.” For more information, turn to page 11.
Bordentown’s county bowling championship a true team effort BY JUSTIN FEIL Anmol Sidhu spent the fall juggling soccer, marching band and Madagascar: A Musical Adventure, but this winter turned his focus solely to bowling. It has paid off for the Bordentown Regional High School senior who made an enormous jump in one year to put himself
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in position to help the Scotties earn the Burlington County Scholastic League Tournament championship on Feb. 1. “There was a little bit of pressure because we talked as a team that we wanted to take that home,” said Sidhu. “We came so close last year. The year before we did well too. But we weren’t able to take it home. As a team, we talked about how much we
wanted that win. I wanted to step up for my team and put up a good game and a good series.” Sidhu had the top boys series at Laurel Lanes of 660, including a career-best 246 in Game 3. Right behind him was junior Lucien Carr with a second-best 654 series and a 240 high game. Bordentown finished with 2,910 pins to blow away Westhampton See BOWLING, Page 16
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