For Bordentown Current
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Featured in Jeep Action Magazine (Australia), April 2014.
Chaplain Jerry Skorch and the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 899 bear veteran Dick Pinter out of The First Baptist Church of Bordentown, N.J. to a horse-drawn caisson Saturday, Feb. 21.
A snow-covered bugler stands at attention after sounding “Taps” for Richard Pinter, who was known as "The Lone Bugler" in Bordentown Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Tania Lecaros and her daughter, Alexandria Albarran, who is participating in Jump Rope For Heart at Peter Muschal Elementary School, despite a car crashing into their house.
Alexandria Albarran and her mother, Tania Lecaros, form a heart in front of the Christmas tree at the Hamilton home of Lecaros' mother.
"Haunted" White Hill Mansion in Fieldsboro, N.J. is often the site of paranormal investigations due to the buildings historical presence.
For JeepTruck.com
Featured in Jeep Action Magazine (Australia), April 2014.
What the moon is made of
By: TOM SMITH for BUCKSLOCALNEWS.COM
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| Chef Will Mooney's restaurant, The Brother's Moon, serves only the freshest fine foods in Hopewell, N.J. |
For many cooking is a necessary means to an end; for Executive Chef Will Mooney of The Brother's Moon restaurant it is a passion. "Cooking is all I've ever done," says Mooney. Situated along Broadstreet in Hopewell, The Brother's Moon features fine food, much of which is locally grown, a rich history and a comfortable environment to enjoy it in.
The Brother's Moon, which offers take-out, catering and bakery goods, is proud of the fresh ingredients used in preparing their food. "We deal with a lot of local farms, which is now becoming sort of the 'in' thing to do." said Mooney who also feels an important part of running his business is "making sure it is certainly the freshest and finest foods available and also fun to eat."
He argues that, compared to items from as great a distance as California, locally produced food has more vitamins and nutrients and doesn't begin to wilt or lose it's quality. The Brother's Moon also applies this sustainable mentality to their seafood. Mooney tries to get away from farmed fish, because of the possibility that it is harmful to the environment and instead supplements other foods that may be new to his customers. "Our new menu has octopus and mackerel and we have some fluke coming in from off of Cape May," he said.
The menu at The Brother's Moon changes about four or five times a year. "We change it to keep it exciting for us and for the customers," explained the Chef. He feels that the change helps prevent him, his cooking staff and patrons from growing uninterested. "I think people get tired of eating the same thing," he said.
"People say we're unique because we serve upscale food, but we're in a very casual environment." he also commented. He explained that people seem to feel comfortable coming to eat in both casual and dress attire. "That's how we always wanted the place to be based."
The one-hundred seat restaurant is also vegetarian friendly and caters to specific needs of customers. "We're open to any dietary restrictions and are very capable of cooking in that fashion," Mooney said. With a vegetarian neighbor, Mooney sympathizes with limited diets and recognizes that, in some cases, this means a limited quality in restaurant food available to people in this situation. "There's not a lot of effort put into it and we like to put effort into it," he said. "It may not be the same proteins, but it can still be really good quality."
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| A waitress replaces a dish behind the front counter which features a variety of baked goods. |
These ideals were established when the restaurant was founded in March of 2001 through a partnership between Mooney, his wife and his brother. This partnership is how the restaurant earned its name, but Mooney and his wife eventually bought out his brother's share in the business. "He was my financial backer and he lives in Germany, so he was never really involved here," Mooney commented. His wife, Beth Ann Judge, owns and operates her own designer jewelry studio, also in Hopewell, and is responsible for the decoration of the restaurant. Her paintings are featured on the walls for which she executed the color scheme, in addition to other creative work throughout the building.
Mooney and his brother grew up in East Brunswick. From here Mooney's father would commute to New York where he worked as an actor on the soap opera All My Children while his mother was a voice professor at Rutgers University, where she was in charge of the Opera program. "This is the culinary arts, but I've been in the arts my whole life," he said.
"My folks are very good cooks and very adventurous with their tastes," he attributed this to fostering his first interest in cooking. "My father would bring home all sorts of wonderful things from New York. We had salamis or different breads, so I think I developed a good palette early on." Also contributing to a love of fresh foods, one of Mooney's first jobs was at a farmer's market among different jobs as a dishwasher.
To further his knowledge and passion for preparing food, Mooney turned to the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). For those in his field he says there are two choices, either find an apprenticeship with a chef, or go to school. "The CIA really opens up your eyes to what's out there in the culinary fields," he described as one of the benefits of his education.
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| Mooney is also proud of the restaurant's welcoming decor, |
Ten years ago, after his education and working in several restaurants in major cities across the country, Mooney was considering opening his own place. At that time the building they currently occupy went up for sale; it had been a general store for over a hundred years. "Probably a hundred and fourteen years now," he estimates. But this historic characteristic didn't come without work. "We took about five months to open the place after we had bought it," he said, "We had to sure up some of the flooring, we had to rebuild a lot of the walls... reinsulating the whole place, bringing in water lines and new electric."
Mooney also feels that, in addition to offering a comfortable place for people to dine, his restaurant acts has an "information center". He went on to describe an art showing featured in his restaurant recently, which served a local Capital Health facility that is moving into the area, and a New Year's Eve dinner and show combination offered for one price in conjunction with the Off-Broadstreet Theatre.
The Brother's Moon is open Tuesday through Sunday, serving lunch and dinner at various times, with take-out. The restaurant also caters up to 350 people. For more information visit www.brothersmoon.com or call 609-333-1330.
Christmas crossing a success
By: TOM SMITH for BUCKLOCALNEWS.COM
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Reenactors portray George Washington's famous Delaware River crossing
Christmas Day, 2010. |
Every year the reenactment takes place to pay homage to General George Washington and the 2,400 Continental troops who surprised the Hessians in Trenton by crossing the Delaware on Christmas night, 1776 and marching nine miles in harsh weather conditions.
The event has become a family tradition for many in and out of the area. "I thought it was great. I was impressed that they made those boats over." Said Mary Jo Pristera who attended the event for the first time this year with her husband Al Pristera.
Alex and Samanntha Haeberle of Newbern, North Carolina, posed with their grandfather, Robert Haeberle for a picture with General Washington after the crossing took place. While staying with their grandfather in Milford, New Jersey, the Haeberle's decided to attend the crossing for the fifth time.
"It's something that they really like to do every year," says John Godzieba, who portrays General Washington, in reference to the spectators, "and generations of families come back year after year."
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George Washington, played by John Godzieba of Bristol, Pa.,
looks across the river as fellow reenactor William Myres looks on. |
"I was nervous last year, this year is a little bit more comfortable, because now you understand the mechanics of how the event works, what we need to do to make it appear as period appropriate as possible," Godzieba says. "We do it for the people."
Godzieba is also President of the Friends of Washington Crossing Park. This is the organization that banded together with the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC) to rescue the park that preserves the place where Washington crossed earlier this year, in July, after Pa state budget cuts threatened the operation of the park.
The Christmas crossing involved close to a hundred other military reenactors.
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Godzieba greets New Jersey spectators after crossing the Delaware.
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"We're very passionate about preserving the history of the American Revolution," said Godzieba when asked what the importance of the event was, "but for a lot of the people who come here it's also their family tradition."
"To not have that as a family tradition for them would really be sad, so we try to preserve that for them."
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