Category: Programs & Events

These posts feature lifestyles, events, welfare programs, perks and assistance, governmental goals, etc.

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Mercer 4-H Fair exhibitions to take place at Howell Farms in July

Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes encourages residents to showcase their creative talents and skills by entering a project to exhibit at this year’s Mercer County 4-H Fair, planned for July 29 and 30 at Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell Township.

PHOTOS: A newborn donkey and a wagon ride at the Mercer County 4-H Fair. Children’s activities, hay rides, animal shows, music, farm tours, pony rides, magic shows, archery and exhibits will take place throughout the fair on July 29 and 30. (Photos by Chad Ripberger)

Any project created this past year can be entered in the fair, including arts and crafts, photography, gardening, clothing, baking, woodworking and more. There are many “Open Division” categories for public entries (youth and adult) – you do not need to be a 4-H member to exhibit.

The 104th annual Mercer County 4-H Fair will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 29, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 30. Admission and parking are free. Children’s activities, hay rides, animal shows, music, farm tours, pony rides, magic shows, archery and exhibits will take place throughout the fair. Plenty of food and drink, including homemade ice cream, will also be available.

The opening ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. on July 29 in the Show Tent. A country dance with a string band and a caller is scheduled for 6 p.m. on July 29.

4-H, a youth development program operated by Rutgers Cooperative Extension, provides research-based, hands-on learning experiences for youth in Mercer County. For more information about 4-H or entering projects in the fair, please contact Altaira Bejgrowicz at Mercer County 4-H at (609) 989-6830 or bejgrowicz@njaes.rutgers.edu.

Click here for details about exhibiting at the fair as well as a complete schedule. Projects will be received from the general public for entry in the fair on Thursday, July 27, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Howell Farm. In addition to judging by experts, fairgoers will vote on their favorite exhibits in each category on Saturday, July 29, and those receiving the most votes will be recognized on Sunday, July 30.

Howell Farm is owned by the County of Mercer and operated by the Mercer County Park Commission. It is located on Valley Road, just off Route 29, seven miles north of Washington Crossing. The GPS address is 70 Woodens Lane, Hopewell Township, NJ 08530.

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County Exec, Literacy Committee invite children to virtual story time during June

It’s never too early to help children develop a love of books, and during this month of June children have been participating in virtual reading sessions.

For more than a decade, the Mercer County Workforce Development Board  Literacy Committee, in conjunction with Child Care Connection, has been hosting “Early Mercer Reads,” where members of the Mercer County community foster a love of books by reading aloud as a guest at a participating child care center.

During the global pandemic, when it became impossible to read aloud in person, the WDB pivoted and instead had their guest readers video-record themselves reading their favorite children’s book, which was then shared virtually at child care centers.

“The goal of Early Mercer Reads, now in it’s 14th year, has always been to encourage children to read on a daily basis and instill in them a lifelong love of books,” said Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes.

“Despite the pandemic, the Literacy Committee found a creative work-around, and I applaud and thank the members and all the volunteers who devote their time and effort to this important cause.”

Over the years, more than 137 child care centers have participated in Early Mercer Reads and more than 15,000 children have been read to. View the videos by going to https://flip.com/cbbfb861 and entering the password EarlyMR%2023

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AM Best to host briefing on the medical stop-loss market

OLDWICK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — AM Best will host a webinar discussing the recent trends and developments in the growing stop-loss market on July 13, 2023, at 2 p.m. (EDT).

Medical stop-loss insurance premium has grown substantially in the past several years, as employer groups look for more efficient solutions for health care coverage. The one-hour briefing, titled, “AM Best’s Briefing – Stop-Loss Market: Seeing Growth Potential While Facing New Challenges and Risks,” will cover the following topics:

  • Drivers of stop-loss growth;
  • Rising volume of high-cost claims;
  • Impacts of new gene and cell therapies;
  • Medical and prescription drug cost-containment strategies; and
  • AM Best’s view of the stop-loss market.

 

The panel will consist of the following senior AM Best analytical staff and industry leaders:

  • Stephanie Whalen, president, Union Labor Life Insurance Company;
  • Andy Folsom, vice president, Companion Life;
  • Sally Rosen, senior director, AM Best; and
  • Doniella Pliss, director, AM Best.

 

Attendees can submit questions during registration or by emailing conferenceinformation@ambest.com. The event will be streamed in video and audio formats, and playback will be available shortly after the event.

 

To find out more about the briefing or to register, please visit https://www3.ambest.com/conferences/events/eventregister.aspx?event_id=CME922.

 

Additionally, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=331037 to see AM Best’s recent report on the stop-loss insurance market segment.

 

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

Christopher Sharkey
Associate Director, Public Relations
+1 908 882 2310
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Al Slavin
Senior Public Relations Specialist
+1 908 882 2318

al.slavin@ambest.com

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Business Culture Environment Lifestyle Programs & Events Science

New Jersey Resources hosts inaugural Shareholder Appreciation Day and presents the New Jersey Resources Innovation Award

Christopher Chen named inaugural recipient

 

WALL, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR) today hosted its inaugural Shareholder Appreciation Day. This event provided existing shareholders with the opportunity to meet senior management and to interact with leaders across the company’s various business units.

Steve Westhoven, President and CEO of New Jersey Resources said, “Today’s Shareholder Appreciation Day is an opportunity for us to say thank you to our shareholders for their investment and confidence in New Jersey Resources. At every level of our company, we are committed to rewarding that trust.”

 

At the event, Mr. Westhoven presented the company’s first-ever New Jersey Resources Innovation Award to Christopher Chen, Manager of Business Development at New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG), the principal subsidiary of NJR. In his role for the company, Mr. Chen led the development of the first Green Hydrogen Blending Facility in New Jersey and on the East Coast. This cutting-edge pilot project blends carbon-free hydrogen into NJNG’s distribution network to help decarbonize the energy it delivers to customers.

 

“We created the New Jersey Resources Innovation Award to recognize those who personify a commitment to developing transformative solutions that benefit our company, customers and the communities we serve,” said Mr. Westhoven.

 

“We are pleased to present our first ever Innovation Award to Chris Chen. Chris and his team conceptualized, designed and successfully built our hydrogen facility during a pandemic. Since its launch, it has been actively delivering green hydrogen into our customers’ homes. It Is people like Chris that reflect and embody the way New Jersey Resources is leading through innovation.”

 

About New Jersey Resources:

New Jersey Resources (NYSE: NJR) is a Fortune 1000 company that, through its subsidiaries, provides safe and reliable natural gas and clean energy services, including transportation, distribution, asset management and home services. NJR is composed of five primary businesses:

  • New Jersey Natural Gas, NJR’s principal subsidiary,operates and maintains over 7,700 miles of natural gas transportation and distribution infrastructure to serve over 570,000 customers in New Jersey’s Monmouth, Ocean and parts of Morris, Middlesex, Sussex and Burlington counties.
  • Clean Energy Ventures invests in, owns and operates solar projects with a total capacity of approximately 440 megawatts, providing residential and commercial customers with low-carbon solutions.
  • Energy Services manages a diversified portfolio of natural gas transportation and storage assets and provides physical natural gas services and customized energy solutions to its customers across North America.
  • Storage and Transportation serves customers from local distributors and producers to electric generators and wholesale marketers through its ownership of Leaf River and the Adelphia Gateway Pipeline, as well as our 50% equity ownership in the Steckman Ridge natural gas storage facility.
  • Home Services provides service contracts as well as heating, central air conditioning, water heaters, standby generators, solar and other indoor and outdoor comfort products to residential homes throughout New Jersey.

 

NJR and its over 1,300 employees are committed to helping customers save energy and money by promoting conservation and encouraging efficiency through Conserve to Preserve® and initiatives such as The SAVEGREEN Project® and The Sunlight Advantage®.

For more information about NJR:

www.njresources.com.

Follow us on Twitter @NJNaturalGas.

“Like” us on facebook.com/NewJerseyNaturalGas.

Contacts

Media:
Mike Kinney

732-938-1031

mkinney@njresoruces.com

Investors:
Adam Prior

732-938-1145

aprior@njresources.com

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Mercer County Senior Art Show registration under way for annual event

Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes, along with the Office on Aging and Division of Culture and Heritage, is pleased to present the 2023 Mercer County Senior Art Show from July 28 through Aug. 15 at The Conference Center at Mercer at Mercer County Community College.

Any Mercer County resident age 60 or older may submit one entry that has been completed in the past three years. Artwork must be the original work of the applicant and must not have been previously entered into the County show. The categories included in the 2023 Mercer County Senior Art Show are acrylic, craft, digital art, mixed media, oil, pastel, photography, print, sculpture, watercolor, and works on paper (drawing).

First-place winners automatically advance to the State’s New Jersey Senior Citizen Art Show in the fall. One professional and one non-professional first-place winner are accepted into the State show in each of the above categories.

Registration through the Office on Aging begins June 1 at 9 a.m. and ends July 17 at 11:59 p.m. Artwork should be delivered to The Conference Center at Mercer on July 24 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Hours for viewing the exhibit at the conference center are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. In-person viewing at The Conference Center at Mercer begins Friday, July 28, and the online viewing begins Tuesday, Aug. 1, on the Office on Aging’s web page.

For more information on the art show, including guidelines or a registration form, please contact Karina Turek from the Office on Aging at kturek@mercercounty.org or 609-989-6661.

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Art & Life Culture Lifestyle Perspectives Programs & Events

THE GAAGA, a new site specific phantasmagoria shows at Beat Brew Hall in Harvard Sq.

NEEDHAM, Mass. –– Arlekin Players Theatre & (zero-G) Virtual Theater Lab, an award-winning, artist-driven theater company helmed by Ukrainian-born artistic director Igor Golyak,  announces on May 30 the U.S. Premiere of THE GAAGA, a new site specific phantasmagoria written and directed by celebrated Ukrainian playwright and director Sasha Denisova.

THE GAAGA is presented at the abandoned Beat Brew Hall restaurant in Harvard Square, converted into a bomb shelter. The production is co-directed by Igor Golyak who is designing the virtual elements which will stream worldwide. The in-person performances run June 2-18; the virtual June 8-18.

Developed through first-person interviews with refugees and officials, and inspired by world events, THE GAAGA is a darkly funny, haunting and fantastical trip through the consequences of war. Set in a bomb shelter, a Ukrainian girl dreams Vladimir Putin and his cronies into a courtroom and tries them for crimes of war. The playwright and director, Sasha Denisova, a widely celebrated theater maker from Ukraine, fled Moscow in the first days of war and has been living as a refugee in Poland, where she interviewed refugees, officials and studies publicly available materials to create THE GAAGA. She directed the world premiere in February, 2023 at Theatre Polski, the oldest theater in Poland. “In the first days of the war, I fled from Moscow, where the police came for me. Russia bombed Kyiv and my mother, Olga Denisova, who was born under the bombing of Kyiv on July 7, 1941. She refuses to leave and awaits victory in her home. During these months, I thought about what would give hope to me and those who fled the war. A trial of Putin and his government was the biggest expectation. A new “The Hague” – The Gaaga,” says Denisova.

In the months after the war broke out, Igor Golyak and Sara Stackhouse of Arlekin spoke with the displaced Denisova several times on Zoom while they were working on The Orchard in New York. Golyak, who was born in Kyiv, explains, “I have long been influenced by Sasha’s brilliant productions, her explosion of ideas, their scope and spectacle, and the way her plays turn tragedy into comedy, exposing our humanity. When we talked about her idea for The Gaaga, we immediately commissioned her to write it and invited her to come to Boston to create it with the Arlekin company.” Arlekin’s production marks the US premiere for THE GAAGA, and the team made the decision not to set it in a theater, but instead in a converted restaurant – Harvard Square’s Beat Brew Hall – which closed during the pandemic.

Transforming the venue into a makeshift bomb shelter has been the work of environmental designer Irina Kruzhilina, collaborating closely with Denisova and an international design team that includes composers Jacek Jędrasik & Shimon Zyms (Poland), streaming video designer Eric Dunlap (Berlin), Boston-based lighting designer Kevin Fulton, costume designer David R. Gammons, sound designer Brendan Patrick Doyle, with Arlekin company members Irina Vilenchik designing props and Anna Furman overseeing hair and makeup. The project is co-directed by Igor Golyak who is designing and technically directing the virtual production. The producer is Sara Stackhouse.

THE GAAGA is experienced through the eyes of a Ukrainian teen who has lost her entire family in the war, situated in a bomb shelter. Taisiia Fedorenko is a 17 year old Ukrainian refugee who has been in the US, without her family, since the beginning of the war; she is playing the role of The Girl. She is joined by 17 other cast members, including Boston favorites Anne Gottlieb, Dev Luthra, Robert Pemberton and Robert Walsh, Arlekin company members Boris Berdnikov, Irina Bordian, Jenya Brodskaia, Darya Denisova, Polina Dubovikova, Julia Shikh, Misha Tyutyunik and Irina Vilenchik, Ukrainian actor Ilia Volok, with Jeremy Beazlie, Daniel Boudreau, Michael Saenz, and Garrett Sands.

The project is part of Arlekin’s #Artists4Ukraine Initiative, which has included multimedia site-specific staged readings of JUST TELL NO ONE, directed by Golyak, presented at Lincoln Center in March and hosted at Huntington Theatre Boston in April. Launched within days of the start of the war in Ukraine, #Artists4Ukraine has raised significant funds for Ukrainian humanitarian organizations and for the Center for International Theatre Development’s Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings project. In summer 2022, Igor Golyak traveled with actress Jessica Hecht, her Campfire Project, and IsraAID to lead artistic workshops with refugee women and children living in Moldova. Arlekin Players is a theater of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, committed to lifting up the talented playwrights and theater-makers of Ukraine and amplifying their voices during this time of war.

Details At-A-Glance

Arlekin Players Theatre and (zero-G) Virtual Theater Lab present

A site-specific phantasmagoria | US Premiere

Written and Directed by Sasha Denisova

Co-Directed by Igor Golyak

Produced by Sara Stackhouse

Environmental Design by Irina Kruzhilina

Lighting Design by Kevin Fulton

Costume Design by David R. Gammons

Music Composed by Jacek Jędrasik & Shimon Zyms

Sound Design by Brendan Patrick Doyle

Streaming Video Design by Eric Dunlap

Virtual Design & Technical Direction by Igor Golyak

Properties by Irina Vilenchik with Julia Shikh

Hair & Makeup by Anna Furman

Translation by Polina Dubovikova and Theresa Lang

Production Stage Manager, Kyra Bowie

Assistant Stage Manager, Natasha Kushnarova

Production Manager, Sara Stackhouse

Technical Director, Justin Lahue

Scenic Associate, Thijs Beuming

Wardrobe Supervisor, Alla Trachtenberg

Wardrobe Assistant, Natasha Mitlina

Cameras Operator, Denis Denisov

Maestro Interactive Platform Design, ArtCat

Networking Support, Seth Graham

Production Assistant, Emma Resek

General Manager, Mark W. Soucy

House Manager, Marianna Golyak

In Person | BEAT BREW HALL, 13 Brattle St, Harvard Square JUNE 2-18

Virtually Online | Streaming Worldwide JUNE 8-18

June 2 – Preview, 8:00pm In Person Only

June 3 – Preview, 8:00pm In Person Only

June 4 – Preview, 2:00pm In Person Only

June 5 – Press Opening, 7:30pm In Person Only

June 8 – Performance 7:30pm In Person & Virtual

June 9 – Performance 8:00pm In Person & Virtual

June 10 – Performances 3:00pm & 8:00pm In Person & Virtual

June 11 – Performance 2:00pm In Person & Virtual

June 15 – Performance 7:30pm In Person & Virtual

June 16 – Performance 8:00 In Person & Virtual

June 17 – Performances 3:00pm & 8:00pm In Person & Virtual

June 18 – Performance 2:00pm In Person & Virtual

Tickets & Info: www.arlekinplayers.com

Arlekin Players Theatre was founded by Artistic Director Igor Golyak in 2009 and has since toured to New York, Chicago, and Hartford, as well as to international festivals in Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, and Monaco. Most recently Arlekin produced The Orchard featuring Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov, both Off-Broadway and in Boston. Arlekin received world-wide acclaim, including two New York Times Critic’s Picks, for their groundbreaking virtual theater projects during the pandemic, including of State vs Natasha Banina and chekhovOS /an experimental game/ featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov as Anton Chekhov. Arlekin has received multiple awards for its work including four 2020 Elliot Norton Awards from the Boston Theater Critics Association for recent productions of The Stone and The Seagull. Arlekin takes strong pride in their emphasis on self-identity; they are a company of immigrants performing works that play on the ideas of cross-culture, home, and traditions, challenging the idea of nationality, and finding common themes that unite us all. In 2020, Arlekin launched its Zero Gravity (zero-G) Virtual Theater Lab to explore new theater possibilities for a new time. The company makes its home in Needham, MA. For more information, visit www.arlekinplayers.com

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Expanded Rt. 130 Connection bus service recently takes effect

More local residents will be able to reach more job sites beginning Monday, June 12, under an expanded Route 130 Connection bus service provided by Mercer County and the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association, County Executive Brian M. Hughes announced.

 

Mercer County has designated $710,000 from its American Rescue Plan Act allocation to fund this two-year expansion of the Route 130 Connection, which provides bus service between the Trenton Transit Center and the N.J. Turnpike Exit 8A warehouse area in Monroe and South Brunswick, with stops in Hamilton, East Windsor and Hightstown, and at Mercer County Community College’s West Windsor campus. The fare is $1 each way per passenger. The Route 130 Connection is funded primarily through an annual NJ Transit grant and Mercer County funds, and administered by the Greater Mercer TMA.

Mr. Hughes noted that many new entry-level jobs are located in suburban areas, and that low-income individuals may have difficulty accessing these jobs.

 

“We’re pleased to be able to connect more people to employment opportunities by adding bus stops to the Route 130 Connection and providing additional service times to accommodate more people, such as those working evening or late-night shifts,” he said.

“I thank the Greater Mercer TMA for its support of this initiative and the important work it does every day to improve mobility for our residents and assist our business community.”

“Removing barriers to employment is critical,” said Cheryl Kastrenakes, Executive Director of the Greater Mercer TMA.

“One barrier is the lack of transportation to jobs at suburban sites and warehouse locations. Mercer County has been helping to address this transportation barrier with the Route 130 Connection bus and has stepped up again to meet a growing need for more service with this latest expansion. We applaud the County for making transportation access a priority.”

This expansion will serve the existing warehouse bus route, while adding stops at UPS, Wakefern and those employers located on Hightstown-Cranbury Station Road and Station Road, such as Wayfair and Amazon Cranbury.  The drive time is expected to take a maximum of one hour from the Trenton Transit Center to Wakefern in Monroe at the end of the route, but could take less time based on the number of stops on that particular run and time of day.

For more information on the Route 130 Connection, as well as other county and community bus services, visit https://gmtma.org/mercer-county-bus-service/

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Mercer County ADRC opens applications for senior farmers’ market nutrition program

Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes announced that starting June 1, the Mercer County Office on Aging/Aging & Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) will accept applications for the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

This program provides funding for the purchase of fresh, nutritious, unprepared foods like fruits, vegetables and herbs to low-income older adults.

“With foods provided from authorized farmers, the program not only helps increase the nutritional health of our communities, but also increases the demand for locally grown produce and boosts the income of farmers who produce and sell locally grown products,” Mr. Hughes said.

To qualify for this program, you must be able to verify that:

• You are 60 years of age or older
• You live in Mercer County
• Your income does not exceed $26,973 per year ($2,248 a month) if you are a single person or $36,482 per year ($3,041 a month) if you are a couple

Those eligible will receive $50 to spend for use at participating vendors at area farmers markets. Instead of paper vouchers that were distributed in previous years, older adults will now be assigned a QR code that will be easily accessible from their smartphones. Simply show the code (on a digital device or printed on paper from the Office on Aging/Aging & Disability Resource Connection) to the farm market vendor, who will scan it – that’s how easy the new QR codes are to use.

Funds will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. When you receive your QR code, you also will get a listing of participating markets and vendors. If you are taking a trip to a market, make sure to call ahead, as market days may change due to weather and produce availability.

If you, a family member or friend could benefit from this program, please call the Office on Aging/Aging & Disability Resource Connection at 609-989-6661. For more information, or to apply, you may also email adrc@mercercounty.org, or kturek@mercercounty.org.

The Mercer County Office on Aging/Aging & Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) is the federally designated agency responsible for the assessment, development, and funding distribution of programs/services for those 60 years of age or older in Mercer County.

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AJGA unveils renamed Liberty National ACE Grant following donation by Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation

12-year agreement announced ahead of inaugural Mizuho Americas Open hosted by Michelle Wie West at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ

Donation is latest milestone in Fireman family’s continued support for junior golf initiatives totaling more than $12 million

 

 

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — The American Junior Golf Association today announced its Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant has been formally rebranded as the Liberty National ACE Grant as part of a 12-year agreement between the organization and the prestigious Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ.

 

The renaming follows a donation to the AJGA by the Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, which has made a comprehensive effort to support transformational change in communities across the country in its mission to grow and make the sport more accessible, totaling more than $12 million in contributions to youth golf initiatives over many years.

The ACE Grant provides financial assistance to young men and women who aspire to earn a college golf scholarship through competitive golf. It was founded in 2003 by the AJGA to help provide opportunities to players who have the skills but not the means to play a national junior golf schedule. Since its inception, the program has reimbursed over $6 million to junior golfers who have gone on to earn over $15 million in college scholarships.

 

This rebrand will provide the AJGA the resources to create additional opportunities for junior golfers, growing the game and making it even more impactful for years to come.

 

The announcement comes the week of the inaugural Mizuho Americas Open, hosted by golf icon Michelle Wie West, adding the LPGA Tour to the list of world-class tournaments which have taken place at Liberty National. The club will concurrently host an AJGA Invitational which will provide the opportunity for 24 female junior golfers on the American Junior Golf Association Tour to compete for an individual title in front of the iconic Manhattan skyline adjacent to the course. Following the conclusion of the tournament, the inaugural Liberty National ACE Grant Cup fundraising event will take place at the course on Monday, June 5.

 

“We are extremely proud and honored to support future generations of golfers through the AJGA and this reimagined Liberty National ACE Grant,” said Paul Fireman, former CEO of Reebok and co-founder of Liberty National Golf Club.

 

“The impact of the ACE Grant cannot be understated, as some of golf’s biggest stars were able to achieve their dreams because of the program, and we look forward to its evolution and upward trajectory beginning with this week’s Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National,” said Dan Fireman, co-Founder and President, Liberty National Golf Club.

 

“We are honored to partner with the Fireman family to create the Liberty National ACE Grant which provides financial aid to juniors who have the talent to compete at a national level, but not the financial resources,” AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin said. “The Fireman family continues to be a leading benefactor in their support of golf at every level. We couldn’t be more thrilled to become part of the giving legacy of the Fireman family.”

 

“Like so many of the sport’s biggest stars, the ACE Grant has empowered me to pursue my dreams of becoming a professional player,” said Rose Zhang, the most decorated player in amateur women’s golf history who will be making her professional debut at the Mizuho Americas Open. “The AJGA and Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation have done so much to support generations of young golfers and I’m excited to see the impact the Liberty National ACE Grant will have in the future, as well as the inaugural Liberty National ACE Grant Cup event on June 5.”

 

The Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation brings entrepreneurial vision and resources to support transformational change in communities where the family lives and works. Among the number of key partnerships the organization has includes Liberty Science Center, SciTech Scity, One Family, Inc., Team Walker, The Hurley Family Foundation, Team Impact and Ron Burton Training Village.

 

About American Junior Golf Association

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf.

 

The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls, ages 12-19) of more than 7,900 members from 50 states and 51 foreign countries. Through initiatives like the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant, a financial assistance program, and Leadership Links, a service-oriented platform that teaches juniors charitable-giving skills, the AJGA fosters the growth of golf’s next generation.

 

TaylorMade and adidas are the AJGA’s National Sponsors, supporting the AJGA for more than 25 years. TaylorMade has served as the Official Ball of the AJGA since 2016. adidas has been the Official Apparel and Footwear of the AJGA since 2017. Rolex, in its fourth decade of AJGA sponsorship, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.

 

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 1,000 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Jessica Korda, Nelly Korda, Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson.

 

About Liberty National Golf Club

One of the world’s most iconic golf locales, Liberty National Golf Club is located along the Hudson River in Jersey City, NJ, with striking views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Manhattan skyline. Liberty National fittingly opened on July 4, 2006, and is guided by the vision and leadership of former Reebok Founder, Chairman & CEO Paul Fireman and his son Dan Fireman, managing partner of Fireman Capital Partners. Designed by US Open Champion Tom Kite and esteemed golf course mastermind Bob Cupp, Liberty National is kept in tournament ready playing condition. Liberty National hosted The Presidents Cup in 2017 as well as multiple PGA TOUR FedExCup Playoff events.

 

For more information about Liberty National Golf Club, visit www.libertynationalgc.com

Contacts

Matthew_Jordan@dkcnews.com

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Why business leaders should focus on the culture of connection

With graduation and wedding season beginning to pick up, knowing how to give a memorable and meaningful toast is essential. Deciding which stories to tell, knowing your audience, and honoring those whose big day it is are all pieces to a great speech.

 

Crafting a notable toast is not an easy task for even the most seasoned storytellers, which is something that storytelling expert Karen Eber knows well.

 

“Toasts are the moments in wedding and graduation celebrations that make your heart swell and a lump form in your throat. But how do you give a heartfelt and memorable toast that honors those being celebrated? It’s tempting to ask ChatGPT or AI to write one for you to read word-for-word—especially if you aren’t comfortable speaking in front of others. But they would be monologues lacking the secret ingredient that gives everyone the warm fuzzies: stories.”

 

 

About Karen Eber:

Karen Eber is a global leadership consultant and keynote speaker. Her talk on TED.com: How your brain responds to stories – and why they’re crucial for leaders, has almost 2 million views. As the CEO and Chief Storyteller of Eber Leadership Group, Karen helps companies reimagine and evolve how they build leaders and teams, transform culture, and tell stories.

 

Karen works with Fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Facebook, Kraft, Heinz, Kate Spade, and Big 4 Consulting Companies. She guest lectures at universities including the London School of Business and MIT and has inspired many through her articles published in Fast Company, CLO Magazine, and Training Industry Magazine.

 

With 20 years of experience, Karen has previously been a Head of Culture, Chief Learning Officer, and head of Leadership Development at General Electric and Deloitte. She is a four-time American Training and Development winner and lives in Atlanta, Ga.

 

— Rachel Fischer (She/Her), Publicity Coordinator, Smith Publicity, Inc.

rachel.fischer@SmithPublicity.com