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THOSE WERE THE DAYS: Linotype, afternoon deadlines & no Twitter

Jul 03, 2010

By: Andria Carter

By PAUL MICKLE
Staff Writer
Today’s up-to-the-minute journalism reminds news veterans of the days of America’s afternoon newspapers, like Philadelphia’s Evening Bulletin, which put out four editions between noon and 6 p.m.
In the paper’s heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, stories in the first edition were updated with new information through the afternoon, just as articles today are continually revised in online versions of this and other newspapers.
The last press run came after the 4 p.m. closing of the stock market, and the Bulletin prided itself on getting the day’s stock closings into a final edition that would be distributed in time to be on dinner tables that evening.
In the days before the Internet, young people sometimes need to be reminded, readers had to rely on the printed word on paper. That required an army of reporters and typesetters to quickly revise stories with the tools and skills of the day — starting with hot lead.
My namesake father was a typesetter, or linotype operator, at the Bulletin for more than 30 years. On the occasion we kids saw him at work, he’d be sitting at a giant machine with a keyboard next to an ingot of lead melting into a vat of silvery, scalding liquid we were told not to touch.
Put on paper by old-fashioned typewriters, the news or advertising copy would be sent on air tubes from the reporters on the fourth floor to the composing room on the third — along with typeface and size instructions from editors and advertising reps.
(more…)

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Poem: ‘My Military Hero’

Jul 03, 2010

By: Andria Carter

My Military Hero
By Amanda Marie Richter
Sixth Grade

I have two, how can that be?
My dad and mom support the land and the free
My dad had 22 years of active duty you see
And enjoyed every second being all that he could be
He was a logistician for the Army State side
And kept up with the changes by a land slide
His selfless service to this great nation
Put him in harms way without jubilation
Our family was sad and missed him really bad
But duty called and the Iraqis were glad
My dad trained the Iraqi Army to be self-sufficient
While all along being so efficient
He makes me as proud as a child could see
It makes me want to be all that I can be
Now my mom, she’s really cool
I don’t know how she does it with all of us in school
She works full time for the VA and part time for Uncle Sam
And still manages to give us 100%, yes ma’am
She works as a reservist in a Major position
And takes care of all soldiers regardless of imposition
Mom’s not been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan
And we sure hope it is not in the plan
God is looking over my family and me
And the home of the brave for eternity
Mom and Dad are my heroes forever more
From the outside in, right to the core

Hamilton tween inspired by family’s military service

Jul 03, 2010

By: Andria Carter

By SULAIMAN ABDUR-RAHMAN
Staff Writer
HAMILTON — Amanda Marie Richter, a 12-year-old township resident, knows firsthand the sacrifice that U.S. military families make so that Americans can enjoy their freedom and celebrate the country’s independence.

When Amanda Marie was in first grade, her father, Staff Sgt. Paul Richter of the U.S. National Guard, received the call of duty to deploy to Iraq with the HHC 42nd Division Support Command.

That was back in 2004, and Paul Richter, 43, ended up serving most of 2005 in Saddam Hussein’s rugged hometown of Tikrit. Amanda Marie said the hardest part was the thought that her father may “get hurt” during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Richters at home in Hamilton — Amanda Marie and her three siblings and mom — had to pull together while the father was abroad in harm’s way. After completing his tour of duty, Paul Richter returned home and was greeted by has family and Macon Drive neighbors with a huge “welcome home” celebration, complete with a large banner that read “Daddy you’re our HERO.”

“When I came home, I was amazed,” Paul Richter said. “I don’t really consider myself as a hero. It’s something I signed up for.” Paul Richter retired in October 2009 after serving 22 years with the National Guard. But the Richter family could still be asked to continue with its sacrifice to make days like today — American Independence Day — possible.

“We’re a unique military family,” said the mother, Maj. PattyAnn Richter, 43, a reserve officer of the U.S. National Guard and full-time employee of the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “All the kids recognize what we do.”

Being a reserve officer, PattyAnn Richter could very well be asked to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. “She’s just waiting for me to retire so I don’t have a chance for deployment,” PattyAnn Richter said of Amanda Marie.

Growing up in a military family, having a mother and father who serve the country, Amanda Marie earlier this year wrote a poetic essay to articulate what her parents mean to her.

She ended up writing the poem “My Military Hero” — a narrative so gripping that it won first place in the Armed Services YMCA National Award essay contest for sixth-graders.
The Armed Services YMCA said it received hundreds of submissions nationwide in this year’s essay competition. “I didn’t think I was going to win,” Amanda Marie said . “I was surprised. As I said, I didn’t know I was gonna win.”

In May, National Military Appreciation Month, Amanda Marie accepted her award during a luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The award came with a $500 U.S. savings bond.

“I just wanted to write about my parents, because they do so much for me,” Amanda Marie said. “My dad served in Iraq so he can protect our country, so that makes me proud. And my mom, she helps the veterans.”

Amanda Marie is the youngest child in the military family of four children, National Guard parents, plus a 6-month-old pooch, Bella. Amanda Marie’s brother, Paulie, 17, said he’s going to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming an Army man. And one of her sisters, Amanda Lynn, 19, said she wants to serve the country, too.

“I didn’t think my sister wanted to join, but my brother has been saying for a few years he wanted to join,” Amanda Marie said. “It makes me proud, because if my brother and sister have children one day, maybe their children will want to go and spread the tradition.”

Paul Richter said he was the first member of his family to join the military. “I could always remember my father say, ‘Join the military. It will make you a man.’ That was something that clicked in my head,” Paul Richter said. “I think it gives you life experience and things that the private sector is looking for — your duty, your dedication. That’s what people are looking for nowadays.”

Retired from service, Paul Richter now works as a security official. His wife, PattyAnn, has been with the National Guard for 19 years and counting.

June 14 was Flag Day, and the Richters and other National Guard families spent that day with Gov. Chris Christie in Trenton to honor the occasion.

Amanda Marie attends the Villa Victoria private Catholic school in Ewing. Her award-winning essay tugs on the heartstrings as she expresses in writing how “Mom and Dad are my heroes forever more/ From the outside in, right to the core.”

But in person, Amanda Marie reveals herself as shy and humble to a fault. She didn’t want to talk on camera about her prestigious honor of winning the first-place Armed Services YMCA National Award for essay writing, but Amanda Marie for the past nine years has been performing in front of large crowds as a member of the Hamilton-based Talk of the Town Dance Studio.

“She is amazing,” PattyAnn Richter said of her essay award-winning daughter. “This kid really is amazing.”

Go to www.trentonian.com to watch a video of the Richter family speaking about Amanda Marie’s award-winning poem about her military parents as well as the family talking about the big “welcome home” celebration the neighborhood hosted for Staff Sgt. Paul Richter when he returned to Hamilton after serving most of 2005 in Iraq.

Crowdsourcing: A new way of communicating for newspapers

Jul 03, 2010

By: Andria Carter

 By JOE D’AQUILA
Staff Writer
“Crowdsourcing,” when it comes to guiding a newspaper toward the subjects it covers is really nothing new.
Newspapers have always been, at least to some extent, the product of a dialogue with its readers. They have to be. A paper that doesn’t pay attention to what its readership wants soon will have a readership that’s not paying attention to the paper.
What has changed to a certain degree though is the means of communication, and as technology continues to change, so will the dialogue.
In the spirit of this “Ben Franklin Project,” I attempted to “crowdsource” from The Trentonian’s readership some new directions for our content, and even some new means of content production.
Quite simply, I used the social networking Website Facebook, where I’ve amassed about 1,700 “friends,” who are mainly people living within the paper’s coverage area. Every day, for about a week, I asked them what is The Trentonian doing right and what is The Trentonian doing wrong? What aren’t we covering that you’d like to see more of?
Many of the answers provided passionate and pointed criticism of our product, but there were also many suggestions made for improvements.
Some of the results of this experiment can be found here in this edition and many more are still to come.
Suggestions ranged from the highly general, like people writing that we should cover more “positive” stories, to the highly specific, like some asking for a story on the proliferation of solar panels on area utility poles. This package attempts to provide answers to both.
While what makes a “positive” story can be a highly subjective determination, there are some entries here that fit the bill. We have a brief discussion of a new farmer’s market, which hopes to bring healthy eating alternatives to neighborhoods that may be lacking in those types of choices, as well as a story about a neglected pup from the overcrowded Trenton Animal Shelter that found a new home.
The farmer’s market story also plays in to columnist L.A. Parker’s “Ben Franklin” project on childhood obesity, while the dog adoption story ties to editor Joey Kulkin’s package on pit bulls. That dog story specifically, represents a more old-fashioned take on crowdsourcing, in that it all started when a reader saw the pooch’s picture in our paper, then reached out to make it part of their family, which then was turned into a story here. But it also has a new high-tech twist because one of the subjects interviewed for that story later came to our “media lab” to learn about becoming a “citizen journalist,” and now has a blog included in our “blog center.”
One generic topic readers suggested we cover more of is the art scene in the Trenton area, whether it’s in the visual arts or in music. Filling that request for this edition is a story on a project that fits perfectly with our “Ben Franklin” ideal – the Trenton Atelier project. This group of artists is looking to create an arts community out of found objects and free resources. Much like how The Trentonian is using free software found online to create this newspaper, the Trenton Atelier group is currently occupying a “free” building in the city. Check out the story here, and there’s sure to be more to come on them and the arts in general.
So there’s an introduction to what I’ve got here so far. But what about going forward?
A number of suggestions I received revolved around huge subjects that are certainly worthy of more attention. Chief among those concerns seemed to be schools and the state of education in our communities. We can do better in bringing news there, both “positive” and “negative,” and we will. Many asked to see more success stories to serve as shining examples of what’s possible, while at the same time, a deeper analysis of the causes of the failures is needed.
I’ve got some of those success stories in the works and I’ve got some ideas on how to get more coverage in general. Since it’s summertime, I plan to use this time, starting now, to get ready for the new school year, and by September, we’ll have a better plan of attack in place. I’ll be reaching out again, and often, to ask for the public’s help in this plan. I envision a time when our blog center includes at least one citizen journalist from every school in our coverage area, whether that author is a teacher or other school staffer, or a parent or student.
In any case, I hope you enjoy the content you may have helped direct, and invite further feedback to keep the dialogue going.
Talk to me at (609) 989-7800 ext. 297, jdaquila@trentonian.com, www.facebook.com/TrentonianJoe, and www.twitter.com/Joe_Daquila.

Fightin’ back: Parker beats cancer and saves Boehm jobs

Jul 03, 2010

By: Andria Carter

By JOAN GALLER
Staff Writer
Sharon Lee Parker is a lady with a mission — to live life to the hilt and to offer help wherever it’s needed.
Since she beat two forms of cancer in 2002 and bought the renowned Boehm Porcelain Co. in 2009 to keep the company and jobs from being shipped overseas, Parker has emerged as an indefatigable advocate for everything American in her dual role as Boehm’s president and chief executive officer.
Her operative word these days is “save,” as in companies, jobs, environment.
But wherever she goes and whatever she does, touting the dazzling porcelain birds, animals and flowers handcrafted in Boehm’s Trenton studio on Princess Diana Lane is her top priority as she crisscrosses the U.S. on personal and business trips.
Since taking over the company some 15 months ago with a private consortium for an undisclosed sum, Parker has expanded Boehm’s (pronounced “beam”) work force from four employees to 20 working today, and added to its creative line, notably wedding cake toppers, huge roses, smaller roses as bridal party gifts, and bride-and-groom figurines, painted to resemble the happy couple.
As her autobiography “Look Out Cancer, Here I Come!” reveals, Parker has a no-holds-barred attitude toward tackling life’s problems, big and small, including serving as a “cancer coach” on call 24/7 to anyone who needs advice or support.
On Friday, she talked to The Trentonian about her work from a hospital as she sat with a cancer patient awaiting treatment.
It was a continuation of the interview she began late Wednesday night after returning from a whirlwind tour of the South, where she toured beaches affected by the BP oil leak and attended America’s Junior Miss pageant in Mobile, Ala.
A speaker at a pre-pageant dinner, Parker told the cheering crowd “American girls can do anything!” She also presented Idaho’s Madison Leonard, the winner, a single peach-colored Boehm procelain day lily. Leonard also took home $51,000 in scholarships.
The lily was created to raise scholarship funds at the request of the program’s directors, and it is being sold by Boehm as a single flower or a cluster of four blooms.
Parker also discussed Save Our Wildlife, Boehm’s recent initiative to raise money to restore the habitats of birds and wildlife impacted by the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
“I’m making egrets, pelicans, terns, crabs, turtles, 17 pieces in all, for this Save Our Wildlife effort,” Parker said.
Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from Boehm’s sales will go directly to the organizations actually doing the rescue work.
While in Mobile, Parker hit the road and visited beaches in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida to see the damage.
“You look out and say, ‘God made this fabulous country, how could mankind screw this up?’ Birds, wildlife, even porpoises are soaking up the oil. It affects us all — wildlife, the food chain, people and jobs, the impact is just amazing.”
Mobile’s waters are not affected yet, she noted. “I really saw the oil, it’s a golden color. I brought some tar home in a bag.”
In 1963 ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer was crowned America’s Junior Miss, complete with rhinestone tiara.
But after 52 years, America’s Junior Miss Pageant changed its name last weekend to Distinguished Young Women of America to eliminate the beauty contest image and reflect its emphasis on scholarship, talent and personal achievement.
“They didn’t want it to look like a beauty pageant, even though all the girls were very lovely,” Parker said. “There’s a different set of standards today with a focus on scholarships, academic achievement, talent and ability.”
Parker also met New Jersey’s entry, Nina Montgomery of Ridgewood, who will attend Dartmouth College and plans a career in medicine.
“I looked at this as an opportunity for Boehm to participate in things that are important to our country, and education is right up there,” said this peripatetic mother of two adult children and grandmother of four.
Watching the girls perform in the talent segment of the program “made you smile,” Parker said. “If this is the kind of quality we can produce, it gives you hope for the future. It shows the U.S. and the world America’s youth, that we are producing some great people who are bright, intelligent with solid values, and some of them will be the leaders of tomorrow.”
Wildlife porcelain orders are already coming in, Parker noted, with prices ranging from $275 to $12,500. One store ordered 12 pelicans.
All Save Our Wildlife porcelain pieces can be viewed online and ordered from Boehm or from the three specialty stores that are partnering with Boehm in this fundraiser,  Adlers in New Orleans, Robert Moore Christmas Town in Mobile, and Wild Life Wonders in Seminole, Fla.
www.Boehmporcelain.com

On The Beat

Jul 02, 2010

By: Andria Carter

By Scott Frost

Metal Elvis
The Vegas strip showmen jailhouse rock-it with a big hunk ’o love of an Elvis impersonator singing the King’s classics over ’80s and ’90s hair metal. Metal Elvis — karate kicking into The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tonight — is the name of the band, not the singer. In fact the show also stars a Peter Criss copycat on drums and Slash wannabe on guitar. A video found on their website shows a live video clip of Elvis pointing and shuffling to Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher,” before smashing in some “Blue Suede Shoes.” They have ballads, too. “Love Me Tender” mixed with “Sweet Child of Mine” is also a concert staple. The show — a warm-up date for the group’s Atlantic City gig tomorrow night — starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $12 in advance, $15 at the door. All-ages.

The Great Explainer
The city rockers’ working-class rasps and melody-enriched punk-rock edge nicely fits in the new wave of Garden State bands right now defining the “Jersey sound.” With Hot Water Music and a library of classic fiction as its muse, the former Roskoes have officially hit their stride this summer with an EP, “The Way Things Swell,” produced by The Bouncing Souls’ Pete Steinkopf, scheduled to drop on July 13. They’re spending the week trying out new material on ready-to-rock crowds in New Brunswick, Philly and Brooklyn — with a hometown throw-down set for the Mill Hill Basement (300 S. Broad St., Trenton) tomorrow night. Show starts at 9. Florida’s Spanish Gamble (Paper + Plastick Records!), Scranton’s Fake Estate and local punk-rock playmakers Downbound City (The Frantic, Break Away) and Nick Harris & The American Drug (The Ruining, Checkers NJ) play, too. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus. 

Pocket Vinyl
The Rochester outfit can get straight-up gloomy with its piano-led chamber pop. “4 Legs Good, 2 Legs Better” — a sure riot starter at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tomorrow night — bites in a Ben Folds-scoring-a-vampire-musical-sort-of-way. Show starts at 9. The Reverend Christopher Eissing, The Wilson Family Forgery, The Smoking Jackets and Swift Robinson round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.

Drew’s Farm
The cover band plays McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) tomorrow night. Show starts at 9. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.

Ellis Paul
The Maine-born, Bob Dylan-inspired folk singer has won 14 Boston Music Awards over his 16-album career. In the late ’80s he was a regular of the Cambridge, Mass., coffeehouse scene where Shawn Colvin and Dar Williams made their start. He’s also friends with folk radical Vance Gilbert, who headlined The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) in March. Both explore the issues of race in their songwriting. Tomorrow night it’s Paul’s turn to headline the quaint local venue. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $18 at the door. All-ages.

Hot In the City
The North Jersey rockers helped We The Kings score some cash on the MTV game show “Silent Library” by keeping their cool as singer Travis Clark was forced to hold a tongue depressor way down his throat for 20 seconds. Yeah, bands this good will do anything for a buck. Even play snuggly pop-rock songs like “Right Back Down” about sweetening-up chicks with a sunset walk on the boardwalk with the agenda to bang them later. They’ll use their meat hooks to score at The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) tomorrow night. Show starts at 8. The Bad Notes, American Living and The Night Life play, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.

Torch the Throne
The Sayreville band’s “The Rise and Fall of Progress” EP slips in-between aggro styles — melting multi-layered melodic choruses that go acoustic from time to time, monstrous break-downs and shout-y vocal shoves they say are inspired by The Deftones and Glassjaw. For fans of Far and Fall Of Troy. The trio joins a host of punk and metal bands for Championships Sports Bar and Grill’s (931 Chambers St., Trenton) “Punk Rock BBQ” Saturday afternoon. Show starts at noon. Final Summation, The Forum Walters, The Disappointments, Stomping Ground, Factor X, Animal Train, FreeDoom, The Choices, Bildo & The Reacharounds, The Brain Farts, Robbin’ The Nak and Raised By Wolves round out the bill. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.

Daddy GreenJeans
Sonically storming synths, at-the-moment improvisations and trance-inducing guitar frolics make this jam-band one of the best around town to boogie down to. They’ll trip the light fantastic at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) Saturday night. Show starts at 9. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.

Spanish Gamble
The Floridians’ clap-along passion punk is a spirited mix of Avail and The Menzingers. They’ll open for New Brunswick’s Let Me Run — who recently released its “Broken Strings” EP and often cover Samiam — at The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) Saturday night. Show starts at 8. The Banquets and The Great Explainer play, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.  

An Evening With
The Long Islanders’ style-conscious teen-pop sounds like All Time Low. We think. Don’t listen to that crap. Don’t hang out at malls either. But do ride roller coasters at Six Flags and always hear this kind of music pumping out of the speakers when waiting in line for El Toro. So the foursome will fit right in at Six Flag’s Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage Saturday night, where they’re playing with Taking To Walls. Show starts at 6:30. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

moe.
Guitarist Al Schnier once described his Buffalo band as “an amalgamation of a wide variety of the history of rock, all regurgitated and recycled through the eyes, ears, hands, whatever of the guys in our band and all of that with a sense of adventure, a sense of humor, also a constant desire to push the envelope. All in this arena of taking chances, improvising live, and making things up on the spot.” Heady stuff, right? We just call it jam music. The band celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its moe.down festival in Upstate New York this September with Built To Spill and The Black Keys. A much-miniaturized version hits the beaches of Asbury Park Sunday night for its annual 4th of July bash at the Stone Pony Summerstage (Ocean Avenue). The Mike Montrey Band and Lemon Juice open. Show starts at 5. Tickets cost $30 in advance, $35 at the door. All-ages.

As I Am
The Columbia-based rockers open for the fireworks at Six Flag’s Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage Sunday night. Show starts at 6:30. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

The Trenton House Society
The city deejay crew’s electro blends of house and techno stay steady, steady pounding at The BT Bistro (3499 US 1, Princeton) every Wednesday night. Sets start at 9. Tony Handle mans the ones-and-twos, too. Free. 21-plus.

Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian and at www.trentonian.com every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, e-mail the On the Beat web line at djscott111@aol.com. And for links to music, videos and free downloads of the bands above — plus a review of Silversun Pickups’ show last Friday in Brooklyn and Passion Pit/Tokyo Police Club’s Philly freakout from Sunday — surf over to http://onthebeatphilly.blogspot.com.