Cherry Hill Sun

Author: atwiford

  • ‘A lifelong dream’

    Photos by Abigail Twiford/The Sun Several of Debbie Lynch’s watercolor works on display on one of the tables in the conference center.

    The lower level of the Cherry Hill Public Library features an art gallery. The walls are lined with works of art that are switched out on a monthly basis, each new exhibit displaying the works of a different local artist.

    For the month of August, the gallery features the works of Debbie Lynch, whose works feature a heavy emphasis on nature, color and animals. 

    After spending five years teaching science and 17 years as an elementary art teacher, Lynch retired, now spending her time working on her art, having always wanted to have the opportunity to display her work. 

    “It’s always been my dream to work on my paintings and to have the opportunity to exhibit them,” Lynch said. “Yeah, so this is a lifelong dream being fulfilled.”

    As a Cherry Hill library patron, Lynch would often visit the gallery, which is what gave her the idea to ask about potentially getting her own work displayed there. After asking about it and giving some examples of her work a year and a half ago, August 2025 was her month to display.

    “I’ve been over the moon since,” she said.  

    Lynch’s artist reception at the library, titled “Exhibit Number One, My Journey’s Just Begun,” was held on Aug. 16, where she met with friends, fans and viewers.

    The walls of the hallways were adorned with Lynch’s acrylic paintings, while half of the conference center was set aside to display her watercolor works, painted vases, and painted coasters. 

    Her style of painting – with its use of color and the way shapes and textures are utilized and painted – are reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt, two of her inspirations, along with Canadian artist Alex Demers, who also often features animals as her primary subjects.

    One of Debbie Lynch’s paintings featuring a horse titled “Starry Night Stallion.”

    “I love color … sometimes I just go off the grid and just kind of go abstract and crazy, I just love to play with color,” said Lynch. 

    Her paintings largely feature forests, cats, horses and sometimes fantastical elements like fairies and dragons. 

    “I wanted to show a variety of what I can do,” said Lynch. 

    Some of the pieces also feature hidden images, like “The Cat, the Moon and Friends,” which shows a cat sitting in a tree illuminated by the moon, with the shapes of several black cats hidden among the tree’s roots. 

    The acrylic painting “The Cat, the Moon and Friends” hanging on the wall of the library’s art gallery.

    “This one sold as soon as I painted it,” said Lynch, referring to the work. “But I said, I need to hang onto it for my show.”

    Cats and dogs are some of her favorite subjects. She has two black cats and a lab mix. Horses are another favorite subject of Lynch, and are featured in a number of her pieces as well.

    Her watercolor works were set on a table in the conference center, with visitors sifting through the different works to look at the range of subjects Lynch took on, with some viewers purchasing pieces as well. 

    Besides her love of animals, her passion for gardening is also present in much of her art, with several paintings displaying a variety of plants, trees and flowers. Each of the painted vases on display had flowers painted on them.

    Another piece on display was a painted stool that bore a note telling spectators to ask about the work.

    While it looks like a stool now, it started its life as a plant stand in the 1960s, once having three tiers, though over time it became just a one level stool-shaped structure. Lynch inherited the stool from her mother last March.

    Several of Lynch’s works on display, including the painted stool.

    “She used to just put her feet on it and I thought, ‘I can do something with this … ’ So I filled in the hole with a little bit of work, and I hand painted it, and now it’s a decorative footstool. It was once a 1960s plant stand, and it’s been reborn,” said Lynch.

    While this was her first art display, Lynch hopes to have more in the future. She is already in talks with other local art displays and galleries.

  • ‘A lifelong dream’

    Photos by Abigail Twiford/The Sun Several of Debbie Lynch’s watercolor works on display on one of the tables in the conference center.

    The lower level of the Cherry Hill Public Library features an art gallery. The walls are lined with works of art that are switched out on a monthly basis, each new exhibit displaying the works of a different local artist.

    For the month of August, the gallery features the works of Debbie Lynch, whose works feature a heavy emphasis on nature, color and animals. 

    After spending five years teaching science and 17 years as an elementary art teacher, Lynch retired, now spending her time working on her art, having always wanted to have the opportunity to display her work. 

    “It’s always been my dream to work on my paintings and to have the opportunity to exhibit them,” Lynch said. “Yeah, so this is a lifelong dream being fulfilled.”

    As a Cherry Hill library patron, Lynch would often visit the gallery, which is what gave her the idea to ask about potentially getting her own work displayed there. After asking about it and giving some examples of her work a year and a half ago, August 2025 was her month to display.

    “I’ve been over the moon since,” she said.  

    Lynch’s artist reception at the library, titled “Exhibit Number One, My Journey’s Just Begun,” was held on Aug. 16, where she met with friends, fans and viewers.

    The walls of the hallways were adorned with Lynch’s acrylic paintings, while half of the conference center was set aside to display her watercolor works, painted vases, and painted coasters. 

    Her style of painting – with its use of color and the way shapes and textures are utilized and painted – are reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt, two of her inspirations, along with Canadian artist Alex Demers, who also often features animals as her primary subjects.

    One of Debbie Lynch’s paintings featuring a horse titled “Starry Night Stallion.”

    “I love color … sometimes I just go off the grid and just kind of go abstract and crazy, I just love to play with color,” said Lynch. 

    Her paintings largely feature forests, cats, horses and sometimes fantastical elements like fairies and dragons. 

    “I wanted to show a variety of what I can do,” said Lynch. 

    Some of the pieces also feature hidden images, like “The Cat, the Moon and Friends,” which shows a cat sitting in a tree illuminated by the moon, with the shapes of several black cats hidden among the tree’s roots. 

    The acrylic painting “The Cat, the Moon and Friends” hanging on the wall of the library’s art gallery.

    “This one sold as soon as I painted it,” said Lynch, referring to the work. “But I said, I need to hang onto it for my show.”

    Cats and dogs are some of her favorite subjects. She has two black cats and a lab mix. Horses are another favorite subject of Lynch, and are featured in a number of her pieces as well.

    Her watercolor works were set on a table in the conference center, with visitors sifting through the different works to look at the range of subjects Lynch took on, with some viewers purchasing pieces as well. 

    Besides her love of animals, her passion for gardening is also present in much of her art, with several paintings displaying a variety of plants, trees and flowers. Each of the painted vases on display had flowers painted on them.

    Another piece on display was a painted stool that bore a note telling spectators to ask about the work.

    While it looks like a stool now, it started its life as a plant stand in the 1960s, once having three tiers, though over time it became just a one level stool-shaped structure. Lynch inherited the stool from her mother last March.

    Several of Lynch’s works on display, including the painted stool.

    “She used to just put her feet on it and I thought, ‘I can do something with this … ’ So I filled in the hole with a little bit of work, and I hand painted it, and now it’s a decorative footstool. It was once a 1960s plant stand, and it’s been reborn,” said Lynch.

    While this was her first art display, Lynch hopes to have more in the future. She is already in talks with other local art displays and galleries.

  • Pop-up park story times wrap up for the summer

    Abigail Twiford/The Sun
    Youth Services librarian Katie Helf (left) reads one of the books to the audience as Adult and Youth Services librarian Kristin Redmond leads the kids in accompanying activities.

    Story times are a staple for young children at libraries around the country, giving kids an early introduction to reading.

    The Cherry Hill Public Library holds story times on a regular basis, though some of them are done with a twist.

    In the summer months, the library holds a series of story times in some of the township’s parks, alternating week to week between the Barclay Farmstead and Croft Farms called Pop Up Story Times.

    The seasonal story times are the result of a partnership between the library and the township’s Parks and Recreation department, a collaboration that has been ongoing since the pop up story times first started in 2016. 

    This year, they were held every week on Friday mornings from June 27 to Aug. 15 to overlap with summer reading. The theme, Color Our World, heavily inspired the story selection each week.

    Each week featured a different theme based around the idea of different forms of art, including painting and music. Microphones were used to make sure everyone could hear, no matter how far they were from the two speakers.

    Story times not only included reading and showing illustrations from the chosen materials, they also featured activities throughout the event to keep the children engaged.

    Youth Services librarian Katie Helf and Adult and Youth Services librarian Kristin Redmond began each meeting by leading the gathered children and their caretakers in song, often using nursery rhymes or variations of them to get them further invested before beginning the readings.

    The park-based story times were originally created as a way of raising more awareness of the library and the number of different programs it holds among residents of the township.

    “We moved around to different parks, trying to engage people in the different neighborhood parks,” Redmond explained. ” … If they happen to be here playing on the playground, they would say, ‘Let’s listen to this story time’ to hopefully engage them and get them to come to the library.”

    Each week, the story times saw a turnout of around 100 people, with the final week seeing 130 people come out.

    “We’re grateful for everybody who comes out and supports the program,” Helf said. 

    The final week, held on Aug. 15, had the theme of music and sounds.

    To go along with this theme, they read “Music is in Everything” by Ziggy Marley and “This Musical Magical Night” by Rhonda Gowler Greene and James Rey Sanchez. They also sang songs between the stories. 

    Children were encouraged to join in on the sounds showed and call out the different colors that appeared.

    Cara Dunn was one of the Cherry Hill residents who brought her children out for the story times, meeting up with a group of cousins and friends.

    “We’ve been here every time they’ve had it in Barclay farms this summer,” Dunn said. “We enjoy that it’s good for all ages, and the kids can roam and have snacks.”

    Each story time session wrapped with a final song as children and their parents sang along.

  • Pop-up park story times wrap up for the summer

    Abigail Twiford/The Sun
    Youth Services librarian Katie Helf (left) reads one of the books to the audience as Adult and Youth Services librarian Kristin Redmond leads the kids in accompanying activities.

    Story times are a staple for young children at libraries around the country, giving kids an early introduction to reading.

    The Cherry Hill Public Library holds story times on a regular basis, though some of them are done with a twist.

    In the summer months, the library holds a series of story times in some of the township’s parks, alternating week to week between the Barclay Farmstead and Croft Farms called Pop Up Story Times.

    The seasonal story times are the result of a partnership between the library and the township’s Parks and Recreation department, a collaboration that has been ongoing since the pop up story times first started in 2016. 

    This year, they were held every week on Friday mornings from June 27 to Aug. 15 to overlap with summer reading. The theme, Color Our World, heavily inspired the story selection each week.

    Each week featured a different theme based around the idea of different forms of art, including painting and music. Microphones were used to make sure everyone could hear, no matter how far they were from the two speakers.

    Story times not only included reading and showing illustrations from the chosen materials, they also featured activities throughout the event to keep the children engaged.

    Youth Services librarian Katie Helf and Adult and Youth Services librarian Kristin Redmond began each meeting by leading the gathered children and their caretakers in song, often using nursery rhymes or variations of them to get them further invested before beginning the readings.

    The park-based story times were originally created as a way of raising more awareness of the library and the number of different programs it holds among residents of the township.

    “We moved around to different parks, trying to engage people in the different neighborhood parks,” Redmond explained. ” … If they happen to be here playing on the playground, they would say, ‘Let’s listen to this story time’ to hopefully engage them and get them to come to the library.”

    Each week, the story times saw a turnout of around 100 people, with the final week seeing 130 people come out.

    “We’re grateful for everybody who comes out and supports the program,” Helf said. 

    The final week, held on Aug. 15, had the theme of music and sounds.

    To go along with this theme, they read “Music is in Everything” by Ziggy Marley and “This Musical Magical Night” by Rhonda Gowler Greene and James Rey Sanchez. They also sang songs between the stories. 

    Children were encouraged to join in on the sounds showed and call out the different colors that appeared.

    Cara Dunn was one of the Cherry Hill residents who brought her children out for the story times, meeting up with a group of cousins and friends.

    “We’ve been here every time they’ve had it in Barclay farms this summer,” Dunn said. “We enjoy that it’s good for all ages, and the kids can roam and have snacks.”

    Each story time session wrapped with a final song as children and their parents sang along.

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  • Council supports proposed ‘Green Amendment’

    Courtesy of the Cherry Hill Township Facebook page.

    Cherry Hill became the latest municipality to support the proposed “Green Amendment” to the state’s constitution.

    “Council and I are also pleased to support the proposed green amendment to the New Jersey constitution, which will provide our residents additional constitutional rights to clean water, air and a healthy environment,” Mayor David Fleisher said during a council meeting on Aug. 19.

    This support on the municipal level will encourage the state legislature to take action on the pending legislation regarding the amendment, which will then put the proposed amendment on the ballot to be decided by New Jersey voters.

    In response to the news, several members of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, as well as other local and statewide organizations focused on ecological health like the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, came out to express their gratitude for the support.

    “Thank you for passing resolutions for the green amendment,” said Steven Elliot, who works as water use specialist for Pinelands Preservation Alliance and the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. “It’s an important step, and you’re taking on a leadership role. It’s really about starting a conversation and placing the values of pure air, clean water and healthy environments at the same level as our right of free speech.”

    Councilwoman Sangeeta Doshi commented on her own appreciation for the township’s support of the proposed green amendment.

    “It’s about clean energy and clean air, and I think everybody wants clean air for their children and families,” she said.

    In other news, the council made a move to approve on first reading a township zoning ordinance to establish a new residential inclusionary mixed use overlay zone.

    This would allow for an amendment to the existing zoning ordinance to create a new zone at 2100 to 2110 Route 38, which will allow for mixed use development including a minimum of 20% affordable housing units to meet the township’s obligations.

    Another decision from the meeting involved an ordinance amendment that will modify fees associated with certain required documents, as well as amending certain licensing provisions associated with massage parlors and other massage providers.

    During the public comment period, township resident Susan Wolf raised concerns about zoning violations in her neighborhood, alleging that some of the houses in her area were being rented out as multiple apartments despite being zoned as single family residences.

    “People are buying them to rent them out … One became an Airbnb, which I didn’t even know was allowed, and then they changed to the apartments, four apartments within one house … I’m really concerned … it seems to me like it’s happening more and more,” she said.

    Wolf also raised concerns about the use of pesticides around the community, specifically around the health and environmental impacts associated with the sprays, as well as speeding in the area.

    Fleisher thanked Wolf for bringing her concerns to the council, promising to look into them and giving reassurances that the police would address the issue of speeding and that the zoning violations would be investigated through the proper channels.

    Remote callers during the meeting expressed concern over the removal of trees in the township and asking about when they would be replaced, thanked the council for holding the National Night Out at Cherry Hill High School East and called in to relay their gratitude for the public works department’s removal of overgrown foliage.

    The next township council meeting will be held on Sept. 8 in the N. John Amato Council Chambers and via Zoom.

  • Council supports proposed ‘Green Amendment’

    Courtesy of the Cherry Hill Township Facebook page.

    Cherry Hill became the latest municipality to support the proposed “Green Amendment” to the state’s constitution.

    “Council and I are also pleased to support the proposed green amendment to the New Jersey constitution, which will provide our residents additional constitutional rights to clean water, air and a healthy environment,” Mayor David Fleisher said during a council meeting on Aug. 19.

    This support on the municipal level will encourage the state legislature to take action on the pending legislation regarding the amendment, which will then put the proposed amendment on the ballot to be decided by New Jersey voters.

    In response to the news, several members of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, as well as other local and statewide organizations focused on ecological health like the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, came out to express their gratitude for the support.

    “Thank you for passing resolutions for the green amendment,” said Steven Elliot, who works as water use specialist for Pinelands Preservation Alliance and the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. “It’s an important step, and you’re taking on a leadership role. It’s really about starting a conversation and placing the values of pure air, clean water and healthy environments at the same level as our right of free speech.”

    Councilwoman Sangeeta Doshi commented on her own appreciation for the township’s support of the proposed green amendment.

    “It’s about clean energy and clean air, and I think everybody wants clean air for their children and families,” she said.

    In other news, the council made a move to approve on first reading a township zoning ordinance to establish a new residential inclusionary mixed use overlay zone.

    This would allow for an amendment to the existing zoning ordinance to create a new zone at 2100 to 2110 Route 38, which will allow for mixed use development including a minimum of 20% affordable housing units to meet the township’s obligations.

    Another decision from the meeting involved an ordinance amendment that will modify fees associated with certain required documents, as well as amending certain licensing provisions associated with massage parlors and other massage providers.

    During the public comment period, township resident Susan Wolf raised concerns about zoning violations in her neighborhood, alleging that some of the houses in her area were being rented out as multiple apartments despite being zoned as single family residences.

    “People are buying them to rent them out … One became an Airbnb, which I didn’t even know was allowed, and then they changed to the apartments, four apartments within one house … I’m really concerned … it seems to me like it’s happening more and more,” she said.

    Wolf also raised concerns about the use of pesticides around the community, specifically around the health and environmental impacts associated with the sprays, as well as speeding in the area.

    Fleisher thanked Wolf for bringing her concerns to the council, promising to look into them and giving reassurances that the police would address the issue of speeding and that the zoning violations would be investigated through the proper channels.

    Remote callers during the meeting expressed concern over the removal of trees in the township and asking about when they would be replaced, thanked the council for holding the National Night Out at Cherry Hill High School East and called in to relay their gratitude for the public works department’s removal of overgrown foliage.

    The next township council meeting will be held on Sept. 8 in the N. John Amato Council Chambers and via Zoom.

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  • Fire department gets funds for new facility

    Abigail Twiford/The Sun
    The current training setup in the back of the township fire complex, including the foundation where the new training facility will be constructed.

    Township and New Jersey officials announced on Aug. 1 that the Cherry Hill Fire Department will get $2 million in state funding for a new training facility.

    The facility will be built with the intention of supporting multi-disciplinary training, including live fire and other scenario-based training. It will serve not only the township fire and police departments, but also other fire departments and partner agencies in the region.

    Those include the Pennsauken, Collingswood and Voorhees fire departments, Westmont Fire Company No. 1, the Camden County Zone 5 Critical Incident Tactical Team and New Jersey State Police Teams Unit-South. 

    The new facility will be a permanent structure to replace the temporary building that was used for live fire training. Once it became clear that modular structure was no longer fit for necessary training, the fire department approached the state about funding a building with permanent capacity.

    “We have to rebuild,” said Fire Chief Wade Houlihan. “So that’s what this was, this was a rebuild. Once we started planning it, we got in a position of saying this is the direction we want to go, that’s when we pitched it …

    “This is what we need to be doing to support our regional operation and our regional training that we do,” he added. “And the state was like, ‘This is a clean hit for us. This is an easy hit. This is stuff we like to support.’” 

    Funding for the project was also advocated for by several members of the state Assembly, including Majority Leader Louis Greenwald, Assemblywoman Melinda Kane and Deputy Majority Whip James Beach.

    The first step in building the new training center was the demolition of the previous facility by the department. That left behind only a footprint that will be used as part of the new structure’s foundation.

    The first diagrams and renderings of the new building have already been created, though nothing has been finalized. Several plans are being considered and the designs will take into account the needs of both the township’s police and fire departments and its partner agencies.

    Houlihan noted that being on the ground level of the project has its advantages. 

    “The good news is that at ground level, we have the ability to say, ‘What does this funding get us?”’ he explained. “And it puts us in such a solid, good position, much better than if we were to just go with our tax base and go with our budget.” 

    The fire department hopes to get a minimum of 20 years and up to 40 years out of the new structure; the old one lasted about 10 years.

    “The lifespan of that type of modular building is about 10 to 15 years,” Assistant Fire Chief Brett DeLuca pointed out, “so we pretty much exhausted that. The building that we had previous to that was close to 40 years old, so that’s what we’re trying to replicate here.” 

    In the short term – while the facility is still in the planning phase – the fire department is using a collection of cargo containers that can be arranged into simulation buildings for scenario trainings when needed, though they can only be used on a temporary basis. 

    “It’s the center of the training academy,” Houlihan said of the building project. “It’s going to be the center point, and that’s crucial. To have a solid, workable centerpiece that we can get behind is going to be great for us.”