Pam Hersh

Highland Park High School Sophomore Rubin Hersh is trying to shed some beautiful light and lights on the town this winter season. He conceived and is implementing the Highland Park Winter Light Competition for residents who register for the contest. There will be three winners who will receive a $50 gift card to SuperFresh – a gift that will brighten winter celebrations. 

The five-dollar registration fee will be donated to the Highland Park Community Food Pantry. The three categories of lighting excellence are: 1- Creative; 2- Festive; 3- Traditional/Classic. The sponsors of the event are SuperFresh; Main Street Highland Park; and DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America), the business entrepreneurship club at Highland Park High School. READ MORE

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No end of summer doldrums for Highland Park residents, because the town thanks to Main Street Highland Park is hotter than ever with arts and entertainment activities. An unofficial survey of outside vendors in Central Jersey indicated high satisfaction for Highland Park’s farmer’s market and street fairs and said the activities are very well run and “more vibrant” and “creative” than those same activities in other New Jersey neighboring municipalities. And what is scheduled for September underscores those opinions. This week at the market, the town celebrates the new school year and the beginning of Highland Park’s month of town wide art events! The Highland Park Public Library will be back at the market this Friday! READ MORE

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Highland Park’s Porchfest returns this Sunday, May 19th from 12pm to 6pm, rain or shine. 

Porchfests are free, co-operative community events run by the town’s musicians and residents, akin to big music festivals but with small town appeal. 

This year’s event features over 60 performances across 22 porches. Some porches will host one performance, while others will have back-to-back, 45-minute sets by various artists for the duration of the event. 

“There’s all styles of music, which is really great,” said event co-organizer and Highland Park resident Gary Kaplan. 

The full schedule lists funk, bluegrass, jazz, punk, alternative and rock bands, plus duets and solo acoustic artists, rap, techno and ethereal music, and even a musical about space cops. 

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American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School have leapt into spring with upcoming performances that are destined to leave audiences and dance critics awed and leaping from their seats in exuberant praise. (pictured is the new logo by Lai Wei)

Dance aficionados may have missed the spectacular celebration of the organization’s 70th anniversary on April 20, but still can be wowed with upcoming shows including: Princeton Ballet School’s “May Fiesta,” two shows on Saturday May 4 (Sunday is sold out!); American Repertory Ballet’s (ARB) critically acclaimed and joyful masterpiece “Midsummer Night’s Dream” on the weekend of May 10 through May 12; and ARB’s season finale when it partners with Princeton Symphony Orchestra to present “Interwoven” at The Princeton Festival held at Morven Museum & Garden. (Details below and at www.arballet.org)

The Platinum Jubilee Gala was a sold-out milestone event honoring the chairs of the Board of Trustees from 1954 through to the present. Nine of these honorees were in attendance, including: Nancy Becker, Patrick Bradley, Susan Croll (current Chair), Dr. DonnaJean Fredeen, Rachel Gray, Dr. Penelope Lattimer, Nancy MacMillan, Marie Mascherin, and Charles Metcalf. “We were thrilled to celebrate these leaders who each made a significant and positive impact, and to give special recognition to Dr. Penelope Lattimer, founder of our renowned DANCE POWER program and current chair of our advisory committee; and Nancy MacMillan, who has served on our board for nearly 45 years and continues to provide the organization with exceptional guidance and support,” says Julie Diana Hench, executive director. READ MORE

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Yesterday, New Jersey experienced an unexpected geological phenomenon – a 4.7 magnitude earthquake. This nearly broke the record of the 1783 earthquake in Rockaway Township, with a 5.3 magnitude. The April 5, 2024 earthquake was a once-in-a-lifetime event. The magnitude 4.8 earthquake near Tewksbury was the most significant to impact North Jersey since 1884, when an Aug. 10 earthquake somewhere near Jamaica Bay toppled chimneys and moved houses off their foundations as far as Rahway. READ MORE

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New Jersey is not in the path of totality for the solar eclipse that will occur on April 8, 2024, but the state will observe a significant partial eclipse. For about 45 minutes, the majority of the Sun’s disk will be obscured in New Jersey by the new moon as it transits in its orbit around Earth. Cape May Lighthouse will experience 84 percent totality, while locations west and north will see higher totality. High Point State Park in Sussex County will experience 93 percent totality. For comparison, New Jersey experienced between 70-80 percent of totality during the Great American Eclipse of 2017. READ MORE

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The Highland Park annual 5k race and Spring Street Fair, organized by Main Street Highland Park and the Highland Park Recreation Department, are back this year on Sunday May 5. The 5k race, which is a fundraiser for the Highland Park Public Schools’ PTO, kicks off the day of fun at 9:00 am. Race organizers are seeking race registrants for both the full 5k and kids’ races (Click here to register for the races), event sponsors (Click here to be a sponsor), event volunteers (Click here to sign up to volunteer), and PTO donations (Click here to donate to the HP Schools PTOs). After the race, the Spring Street Fair goes from 11:30 am – 4:30 pm. Head downtown to Raritan Avenue for three full blocks of food, music, performers, vendors, and the annual Earth Day event organized by Sustainable Highland Park! READ MORE

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Middlesex College is launching a certificate program this summer, starting June 2024, to train students to become active contributors to local news in Middlesex County. Middlesex College is one of just four community colleges selected by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH) and Journalism + Design at The New School (J+D) to co-develop and launch certificate programs in community journalism across the state. The noncredit program is free and open to anyone interested in participating (including high school students) thanks to a $40,000 grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH) and Journalism + Design at The New School (J+D). The program will run as a pilot for two years. The eight-week course will be taught by Middlesex College faculty – History Professor Cristobal Espinoza-Wulach and English Professor Melissa Edwards – and will teach students how to produce compelling content based on the issues that shape their communities. READ MORE

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Message from Main Street Highland Park:Fresh fabulous food combined with joyful activities defines Highland Park’s Farmers Winter Market on Friday March 1! The Winter Market is open every Friday through March 29 from 11:00 – 4:00. (Starting in April, the Market will be open until 5:00 pm.)   For more updates about the Market throughout the off-season, follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

The vendor of the week is Amazing Sourdough.We are excited to welcome a new vendor this week, Amazing Sourdough! This brother and sister team offers delicious home baked sourdough goods. Their breads are hand made in small batches using unbleached and unbromated flour with no additives or preservatives. READ MORE

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NJ Motor Vehicle Commission and the Borough of Highland Park invite you to the upcoming indoor Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) mobile unit event, Community Center, 220 South Sixth Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904, March 4-March 8, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The MVC event will be dedicated to issuing REAL ID licenses, as well as renewing vehicle registrations. 

No walk-ins allowed. Please register via the links below: first one for REAL ID; second one for vehicle registration. 

REAL ID: https://telegov.njportal.com/njmvc/AppointmentWizard/225

REGISTRATION RENEWAL: https://telegov.njportal.com/njmvc/AppointmentWizard/262

A REAL-ID compliant driver’s license will be needed for persons who want to fly within the U.S. effective May 2025, unless they have a U.S. Passport. To see what documentation is necessary for obtaining a REAL ID, please visit: https://www.nj.gov/mvc/realid/selector.html

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