Haddonfield Today 134_2023Sep22_Parking

haddonfield • today
The mobile-friendly community calendar for Haddonfield NJ • September 22 to October 13, 2023 • #134
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The Last Word
Page 31

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#134 • SEPTEMBER 22 TO OCTOBER 13, 2023
The Last Words
haddonfield.today | 31
Sign the petition to
restore free parking in
Haddonfield on Saturdays!
By David Hunter, publisher
The Borough commissioners’ decision to charge shoppers to park in Haddonfield
on Saturdays is the dumbest move by elected officials in NJ since Governor Jim Florio
imposed a tax on toilet paper in 1990. (It cost him a second term, four years later.)
Haddonfield has many things that set it apart. Free parking on Saturdays was one.
We can live with having to pay for parking until 8pm on weekdays. But give us a
break on Saturdays ... please! SIGN THE PETITION at https://chng.it/54CZ4j8NDy n.
HMHS alums present
inaugural theater award
By Lauree Padgett, HMHS ’80
The JDS Legacy Group – an organization formed by Memorial High School alumni
who seek to “pay forward” the lasting impact their high school theater director Jack
D. Shaw had on their lives – raised more than $25,000 to create an endowed fund
supporting young theater artists in perpetuity.
The inaugural scholarship was awarded to HMHS senior Joseph Keegan at the end
of this past school year.
A scholarship selection committee, comprised of JDS Legacy Group members and
current HMHS administrators, awarded a $1,000 cash prize to Joseph for further study
in the theater arts. Joseph has just begun classes as a musical theater major at the
Sands College of Performing Arts at Pace University in New York.
“Joseph has demonstrated such
a
deep connection and commitment to theater
throughout his HMHS years,” says Bill Rauch
’80, inaugural artistic director of the Perelman
Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC), opening this
month at the World Trade Center. “He embodies
the values and ethics Jack Shaw instilled –
kindness, care, commitment. His thoughtful essay
and his joyful supplemental materials made a clear
case for his receipt of this award. We wish him the
best of luck as he moves forward in his theatrical
endeavors, wherever his path leads.”
Matt DiDonato [pictured with Joseph Keegan], a physics teacher at HMHS, who
served as the school’s theater director for ten years, had this to say about the
scholarship’s first recipient: “Joseph has been a dedicated member of the theater
program at the high school, and his enthusiasm for the work we do is inspiring. He
grew so much in his four years, and I am excited to see what he does next.”
The scholarship recipient was visibly excited to hear his name announced at
the Thespian Awards in May. “I am just thrilled and very appreciative,” Joseph
acknowledges. “I have committed so much of my time and energy to honing my skills,
soaking up every experience I possibly could onstage and off. Acting, singing, dancing,
painting sets – I wanted to contribute in every possible way. I feel like I found myself
in the sense of belonging, pursuit of excellence, and just sheer fun theater that HMHS
generated. The Drama Club has given me an incredible wealth of gifts, and to win this
scholarship just feels like the icing on an absolutely fabulous cake.”
The JDS Legacy Scholarship will be awarded each spring. Application information is
available on the JDS Legacy website – jdslegacy.org – or by contacting the high school’s
guidance department.