P P Hamilton ton ost Hamilton ost SEPTEMBER 2024
SPECIAL SECTION STARTS ON PAGE 23
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Let them eat cheesecake
FREE
Election 2024: Poll workers wanted
Hamilton’s Cheesecake Lady aims to give the holidays extra flavor
By LiZ CiOcher
By ThOMas KeLLy
The desserts on holidays are complete, once the cheesecake comes out. “What kind is it?” is a usual question, because the traditional plain is great, but the many delicious flavors available are also fabulous. In restaurants, ears perk up when “cheesecake” is heard recited as one of the desserts. The Cheesecake Lady store in Hamilton is celebrating its 8th anniversary this September. The owner-operator is Lisa Parysz, who is The Cheesecake Lady. She bakes them, sells them, tests new flavors and hands them out the walk up window, to happy customers. Growing up in Lawrence with parents who were both teachers, Parysz is a certified sweets lover. “I have always baked and shared, so when I started making cheesecakes, I noticed that they got more attention than the other cakes I baked, and everyone was of See CAKE, Page 12
Harrison Cesaro-Golding, Lillian Yu and Wyatt Cesaro-Golding in The Kidz Kitchen in Hamilton.
A new recipe: Stirring up speech skills in ‘The Kidz Kitchen’ By LiZ CiOcher
Lifetime Mercer County resident Rose Kesting recalls some of her earliest memories helping in her mother’s kitchen — cooking, baking, and expressing her young creativity — throughout many years of her life. Now, after 30 years of experience in children’s speech pathology, she is coming full circle with these memories.
Kesting, also known as Chef Rose, held a passion for cooking throughout her adulthood, but until recently, did not take up culinary arts professionally. Instead, she studied speech and language science in her collegiate education, finding a career in speech pathology for children. For the last 13 years, she has been working with dyslexic children at a local private school.
In her lessons with these children, Kesting would occasionally incorporate small-scale cooking activities with no-bake recipes. The kids took so fondly to these lessons, on a productive level as well as a level of interest, that Kesting decided she would bring them up a measure. Thus, her idea for The Kidz Kitchen began to take shape. “In recipes, there are certain See KIDZ, Page 14
The best kind of back support is spine care close to home. Do it right. Here.
As Mercer County gears up for this year’s elections on Tuesday, Nov. 5, a pressing need has emerged for poll workers. Mercer County residents can help play a crucial role in the election process by volunteering to work at the polls on Election Day. “The biggest issue is that we want people to come out and vote, but if we don’t have the workers, how are they going to vote?” said Jill Moyer, Mercer County Board of Elections chairwoman. The number of poll workers is not only low in Mercer County—it’s a nation-wide problem. According to estimates from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, about one million poll workers are needed to staff approximately 100,000 polling places across the country this November. The prerequisites to become a poll worker include several hours of training prior to the date of the election to educate them on the process. This includes lessons on how to operate machinery, common votSee POLLS, Page 16
Academy Dental CHILDREN & ADULTS Complete Dentistry for the Whole Family
AcademyDentalNJ.com
rwjbh.org/spine
Currently Open for Emergency Dental Care See our ad on page 11
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD,1179 MA NEWARK, NJ PERMIT NO. 142