July
2002
DOWNTOWN
NEWS BITS
Gord
Fraser Sprints to First Union Classic Victory in Tough Conditions
Canadian Gord Fraser of the Mercury Cycling Team outfoxed and
out-sprinted a 35-man group to win the First Union Classic.
Fraser surprised the group with 600 meters to go by sprinting
out of the last turn, closing a 10-second gap on the two leaders,
Chris Horner of Prime Alliance and Navigators Professional Cycling
Team member Ciaran Power of Ireland, then passed them for the
win. Russian Oleg Grishkine of Navigators beat the group for second
finishing on the heels of Fraser, just inches ahead of third placed
Wesle Van Speybroeck of the Belgian Lotto Adecco team.
Cold and rainy conditions made the turns on the seven-mile racecourse
"like riding on a skating rink" according to Fraser.
Fraser rode a very aggressive race, constantly riding near the
front and present in many of the important moves of the race.
He said that winning in Trenton, "is an indescribable feeling
because it's the most important race in North America for sprinters."
Fraser credited Mercury teammate Brice Jones for pulling him into
position for the win. "If Brice wasn't there, I would not
have won."
Grishkine's second place had the bonus result of putting him in
the lead of the Pro Cycling Tour (PCT) Point Standings. Grishkine,
who was just behind Fraser going into the last turn admitted to
being surprised by Fraser's early move. "I though he was
waiting for Jones to take him closer to the line. I lost him in
the last turn."
The race was delayed for 50 minutes at the start due to a traffic
incident that caused a racecourse modification. Fraser credited
the race organizers with making good judgments on the handling
of the incident.
First Union Classic Top 10 Finishers: 1. Gord Fraser 1:45:48 2.
Oleg Grishkine; 3. Wesle Van Speybroeck 4. Ciaram Power 5. Tom
Boonen 6. Robbie Ventura 7. Chris Horner 8. Gorik Gardeyn 9. Marty
Nothstein 10. Soren Petersen
TDA
Launches Downtown Business Plan Competition
The
Trenton Downtown Association (TDA) has officially launched the
Downtown Trenton Business Plan Competition. Cash prizes of $3,000
will be available to contest winners in each of three categories:
Best Downtown Restaurant or Retail Plan, Best Downtown Office
Business Plan, and Best Plan for Aspiring Downtown Business.
"The
purpose of the competition is to promote downtown Trenton as an
exciting hub for small business development," according to
Matt Bergheiser, Executive Director of the Trenton Downtown Association.
"Furthermore, we'll try to use this as a foundation for accelerating
the planning and growth process among downtown companies, and
putting much needed working capital in the hands of local Trenton
business owners."
TDA's
competition guidelines state that winners must demonstrate through
their plans that their businesses can grow to be anchor firms
for downtown Trenton with regard to creating destinations for
a regional customer base, creating job opportunities in the city,
or creating positive economic opportunities for neighboring business
owners.
Companies
currently located within TDA's special services district or start-up
businesses seeking to locate within the district boundaries are
eligible for the competition. Plans will be accepted until September
30, with an announcement of the winners expected by November 1.
Downtown
Trenton Business Plan Competition sponsors include First Union
National Bank, The Vaughn Collaborative, Sun National Bank, The
Times, and Louis H. Linowitz and Company. Palo Alto Software has
donated copies of its award winning Business Plan Pro software
to be distributed free of charge to competition participants.
The
Trenton Downtown Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated
to developing a vibrant, competitive, and engaging downtown for
businesses, workers, and visitors. For more information about
TDA or for detailed Business Plan Competition guidelines, please
call (609) 393-8998.
Thunder
players selected to play at Major League All-Star Weekend
Current Trenton Thunder pitcher Sueng Song and former Thunder
pitcher Jorge De La Rosa have been named to the "World Team"
of the Major League Baseball Futures Game.
The fourth annual Futures Game will be played on Sunday, July
7 at Milwaukee's Miller Park. It pits the best young prospects
from the Unites States against those from the rest of the world.
Song, who is from Korea, and De La Rosa, from Mexico, will play
for the world team.
De
La Rosa is currently pitching for Sarasota, the Boston Red Sox
affiliate in the Single-A Florida State League. He appeared in
29 games for the Thunder in 2001.
The pair joins pitchers Sun Woo Kim and Tomo Ohka, first baseman
Luis Garcia and Manager DeMarlo Hale as members of the Thunder
to be selected to the MLB Futures Game.
Grants awarded to benefit Trenton's infants, toddlers and parents
Children's Futures has awarded nearly $2 million to six local
agencies, it was announced last month. Three of the organizations
awarded grants-Catholic Charities, Mercer Street Friends and St.
Francis Medical Center-will create parent-child development centers
that will serve as a hub for activities focused on improving birth
outcomes and strengthening parenting in Trenton.
Each neighborhood center will recruit women into prenatal care,
sponsor literacy activities and help families access health care.
Plans for a fourth site are underway.
In addition, grants to three other groups will help to engage
fathers in parenting, enhance child care and address mental health
and addiction issues.
The Union Industrial Home for Children has been awarded a $225,000
one-year grant to encourage and sustain positive involvement of
fathers in early childhood. A "Men's Collaborative"
will include community-based outreach to fathers, a one-on-one
mentoring program to engage fathers either at the birth of their
child or before they are born, and help fathers link to other
services and supports to help them become more involved in the
lives of their children.
Child Care Connection has been awarded a $400,000 one-year grant
to improve quality in child care centers and family child care
homes in Trenton. The focus will be on enhancing training and
education of child care providers, creating safe and healthy environments
and enhancing the educational experiences of young children.
The Greater Trenton Community Mental Health Center has been awarded
a $120,000 one year grant to address mental health and addiction
areas affecting children's health including parental depression
and substance abuse. Through this grant, a team of behavioral
health experts will become part of each parent and child center's
multi-disciplinary approach to prevention, education and intervention.
According to Rush Russell, president of Children's Futures, "Focused
on Trenton's youngest children, these grants create and support
an exciting new system to ensure that every child enters pre-school
healthy and ready to learn."
Funding for Children's Futures primarily comes from a $20 million
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant. The City of Trenton is contributing
another $700,000 annually for the next four years from a federal
HRSA Healthy Start Initiative grant to support this program.
Let
no one say we're above matchmaking
This
doesn't exactly qualify as news, but it is the most amusing bit
of reader mail that we have received here at the Trenton Downtowner
offices. Remember, this is reprinted exactly as it was received.
-Joe Emanski
I'm looking for a man I met and fell in love with 25 years ago
in 1977. He lived above an Italian restaurant in Chambersburg,
the Italian section of Trenton, NJ on Morris Avenue and Anderson
Street. (Lou Creccas?) His name is Michael B. I forget his last
name. He was a soldier in the local branch of the Mafia. I'm not
involved in law enforcement of any kind. I am just interested
in finding out if he is ok and hopefully speaking to him on the
phone. He's about 6'2'', brown eyes and hair, very attractive,
well built, in his 50s now. He was very popular with the ladies
and called them Cara Mia. I would appreciate any information you
can provide.
Michael B., please respond to editor@trentondowntowner.com and
we will be sure to forward your message.
