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Library gets $1.5 million for refresh
Bowne helps lead champs Hun in MCT final
Steinert grad fulfills dream with new pet grooming shop, Jurassic Bark By JOe EMANsKi
By Rich Fisher
The building at 137 Farnsworth Avenue in Bordentown has been home to a pet grooming business for the better part of 15 years. Entrepreneur Zachary Moon has ensured that the location remains home to a pet grooming into the foreseeable future, even after the business that called it home since 2011 — Little Friends Pet Grooming — has closed. Moon assumed operations and ownership of the business in March, taking over from Jen Procaccino, who had owned Little Friends. He renamed the business Jurassic Bark. The hand-off went smoothly, with Procaccino staying on board as a member of the Jurassic Bark staff. Thanks to Procaccino, some of Little Friends’ customers have now become Jurassic Bark customers. “It’s been going well,” says Moon, 35. “I got to take over See JURASSIC, Page 14
When Deacon Bowne walked into Hun baseball coach Tom Monfiletto’s office for his eighth-grade interview, it was as close to a formality as one could get. “I remember the talk I gave to him and I said ‘One of the biggest pillars we go by is trust and how much can we trust a player to represent the program the right way, to represent themselves the best way and to honestly know the game and put the work in and execute and know what to do on the field,” Monfiletto said. “I looked Deacon in the eyes and I said, ‘I’ve trusted you since you were 10 years old.’ He’s been coming to our camp since he was really young. He’s been one of the more mature kids I’ve ever coached, aside from being arguably the best catcher we’ve had.” That’s high praise considering Bowne’s fellow Hamiltonians, Danny Melnick and Cole See DEACON, Page 16
On hand at the Hamilton Township Public Library to celebrate a recent $1.5-million award are library board president Anthony “Skip” Cimino, library director Scott Chianese, assistant business administrator/board member Joy Kerlin, board member Darrell Vigh, county executive Daniel Benson, Rep. Andy Kim, Mayor Jeff Martin, board member Renee Rogers, board member and secretary Iris Tonti, council president Anthony Carabelli, Jr., and council vice president Rick Tighe. Story, page 4.
Hamilton activist wins NAACP’s Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver award By JOe EMANsKi
On a rural street in the small western Mississippi city of Ruleville stands a tidy little park dedicated to the memory of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, who grew up there. There is a pavilion and monument to Hamer in the park, complete with a life-sized statue. The
chair of the national committee that raised the funds necessary to commission and erect the statue in 2012 was Patricia ReidMerritt, distinguished professor of Africana studies and social work at Stockton University, in Galloway Township. In 2023, the Hamilton resident donated a replica of the statue to the City of Atlantic City, where
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Hamer made a famous speech at the National Democratic Convention in 1964. For her efforts to uplift the legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, as well as her decades of dedication to civil rights and social justice issues both on and off campus, Reid-Merritt received the first ever Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver Civil See AWARD, Page 11
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