P P Hamilton ton ost Hamilton ost FEBRUARY 2025
Community Educa�on and Be�er Health Programs located on page 2
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Soup kitchen keeps on cooking
FREE
Cub Scouts set to mark 50 years in Hamilton BY RICH FISHER
New leader, same mission for TASK BY MICHELE ALPERIN
Amy Flynn, the new chief executive officer of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, grew up poor on a dairy farm in rural Ohio, with early memories of an absence of heat during the cold winters. She remembers “going to bed at night and my mom stacking blanket after blanket on top of me and waking up in the morning and seeing my breath.” But an ethic of communal sharing trumped poverty in her farming community. “Even though our family didn’t have a lot, we never had so little that we didn’t have something to give back,” Flynn recalls. “We canned all summer to have food for the winter and shared some of that food with others who had less.” This commitment to communal sharing was exemplified for Flynn by her grandmother, “a person of service, who was always giving back to the community.” See TASK, Page 12
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Bolton, 18th Air Force commander, right, with recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross, assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, Jan. 23, 2025. Mercerville native, Capt. Anthony Carella, is second from left. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Lauren Cobin.)
Mercerville native awarded Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross BY THOMAS KELLY Aim High. Fly. Fight. Win. This has been the U.S. Air Force motto since 2010. One example of living this motto is Capt. Anthony P. Carella. A native of Mercerville, Carella is a decorated Air Force pilot who recently joined the elite 89th Airlift Wing, which operates Air Force One and Two, flying the president, vice
president and other important passengers. Carella attended Our Lady of Sorrows elementary in Mercerville and graduated from Notre Dame High School in Lawrence. His mother was an Italian teacher at Notre Dame for many years, and his dad owns a power generator business. Carella is also grandson to the family that began the Hamilton staple Carella’s Shoe Store and
No one plans for heart disease. But everyone should ave a plan for it. have
later Carella’s Chocolates, both on Nottingham way. “My dad also worked on a farm at one time. I saw that and with helping with the generator business, I appreciated the hands-on, mechanical work that was necessary to be successful,” Carella says. Carella, 30, attended Virginia Tech after high school. His goal was to study aerospace engiSee PILOT, Page 10
On Feb. 23 at St. Gregory the Great’s Ferrante Hall, Cub Scout Pack 91 will celebrate its 50th Anniversary, which is something that may have seemed improbable just five years ago. When Covid-19 gripped the country, scouting appeared headed for extinction in Hamilton. “Not on my watch!” 91 Cub Master Georgia Reed assured. Reed, who began as a Den Master in 2014 and became Pack Leader in 2017, kept the interest high by thinking outside the box. She offered her scouts such virtual activities as museum tours, craft nights and trivia games, to name a few. “We got as creative as we possibly could,” the Crockett Middle School music teacher andband director said. When restrictions loosened the pack made sure to get outside and participate in hikes and bike rides while following social distancing guidelines. Reed and numerous other volunteers went above and beyond to make sure the program continued in See SCOUTS, Page 6
Academy Dental CHILDREN & ADULTS Complete Dentistry for the Whole Family
AcademyDentalNJ.com
Currently Open for Emergency Dental Care rwjbh.org/heart
RWJ-187 SYSTEM_Cardiac_OlderWoman_2.75x1.5.indd 1
See our ad on page 9
1/22/24 12:23 PM
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD,1179 MA NEWARK, NJ PERMIT NO. 142