Bordentown City Tree Lighting  •    Saturday, November 28th 5-6 pm
Intersection of Farnsworth & Crosswicks St. Featuring Santa, carolers, drum & fife corps. Refreshments. Sponsored by Fullmind.

Palmer Square Annual Tree Lighting Spectacular  • November 27th Join us for the Tree Lighting Spectacular on Friday, November 23 from 4:45 pm to 6 pm. The event will feature musical performances. The 65-foot Norwegian spruce, located on the Green, will be adorned with over 32,000 lights and will be lit with the help of Santa Claus.

Riverfront Promenade in Burlington  •  Friday, December 4th 7-9 pm Free Parking & Admission. Bathed in hundreds of thousands of sparkling white lights; live street musicians and carolers; storytellers in period costume; trolley or horse & carriage rides; awards for best-decorated store window.

Drumthwacket Annual Holiday Open Houses  •  December 2, 9, 16th 11:00 am to 2:00 p.m.  Visit Drumthwacket when the House is decorated in seasonal splendor by New Jersey’s premiere Garden Clubs. The clubs decorate Drumthwacket in a friendly competition for the winning room as judged by officials from the Garden Club of New Jersey. Visitors also vote for the People’s Choice Award!

Morven Museum & Garden • December 2, 2009 through January 10,2010 The former New Jersey Governor’s mansion located at 55 Stockton Street in Princeton, will hold its annual Festival of Trees called “A Tribute to 1783”, when the museum will be adorned with trees that complement the colonial theme of Morven’s current exhibit, Picturing Princeton 1783: The Nation’s Capital.  Contact: Kathy Harth Weeks (609) 333-1451

Hamilton Township Tree Lighting  •  Dec. 4th  & 5th Kuser Mansion Victorian Christmas  Call 890-3630 for more information

Christmas @ Rockefeller Center  •  December 2nd Tree lit through Approximately January 6th, 2008. 5:30-11:30 pm

Holiday Tree of Lights – RWJ Hamilton  •  December 4th Outside Main entrance to RWJ Hamilton • 6 pm  You are cordially invited to join us as we officially light our tree and celebrate friends and family. There will be music and entertainment.  Refreshments will be served in the main lobby. If you would like to reserve lights on the Tree for the 2007 Holiday season at $5 Honor Roll, $10 Silver Honor Roll, $20 Gold Honor Roll, please contact the Foundation at (609) 584-6581. Hosted by the Auxiliary of RWJ Hamilton. Proceeds will benefit the Auxiliary.

Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony – Sponsored by West Windsor Twp.  •  Sunday, December 6th 7 pm 7:00 pm at the Ron Rogers Arboretum (at the corner of Clarksville Road and Route 571).  Entertainment includes music, singing and a spectacular fireworks display.

Dickens Festival, Medford, NJ Tree Lighting  •   Sat., Dec. 5th For details call 609-654-5544

Holidays in the Village  •  Sunday, December 6th 3-5 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Lawrenceville Main Street, Weeden Park. For details call 609-219-9300

43rd Annual Mill Hill Holiday House Tour  •  Saturday December 5, 2009 12-5pm Tour begins at Artworks, 19 Everett Alley at South Stockton Street, Trenton, NJ 08611. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day-of the tour,  609-218-6682.  Event Website: http://www.trentonmillhill.org/events-house.ht

Trenton Tree Lighting Ceremony 319 E. State Street, 5pm, Music, carolers, hot chocolate, hot apple cider, cookies and Santa will be there. 609-777-1770

Priya Desai, MD, MBA

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world and the second leading cause of blindness in the United States.  It is a disease of the optic nerve, the structure that connects the eye to the brain.  Damage to the optic nerve causes blind spots in the vision that usually go unnoticed until the optic nerve is significantly damaged.  Blindness results when the entire nerve is destroyed.A major risk factor for glaucoma is elevated eye pressure.  This is thought to occur from an imbalance between the production and drainage of the clear liquid (called aqueous humor) inside the front portion of the eye. Since the eye is a closed structure, when the drainage of the aqueous humor is less than its rate of production, the pressure in the eye increases causing permanent damage to the optic nerve.

The risk factors for glaucoma are:

• Family history of glaucoma
• Older age
• Elevated eye pressure
• Past eye injury
• Diabetes
• Migraine headaches
• African or Hispanic ancestry

The initial treatment for glaucoma includes eye drops and/or laser.  These treatments lower the eye pressure by either decreasing the production of aqueous humor or by increasing its drainage. Glaucoma surgery is reserved for cases when medications and laser are no longer effective. Glaucoma is a chronic disease which must be monitored throughout a patient’s lifetime.

Vision loss from glaucoma is irreversible because the optic nerve does not regenerate.  As a result, early detection and treatment by your ophthalmologist (Eye M.D.) are crucial to prevent permanent vision loss.  A glaucoma screening that only checks the eye pressure is not sufficient.  A comprehensive eye examination is necessary to diagnose glaucoma.  If you or someone you know has risk factors for glaucoma, please schedule an appointment now.

The retreat house is a beautiful rambling old Victorian, one block from the beach. The accommodations are shared room and bath. All meals are included and there will be free time for the beach.

Date:  Friday, June 12th through Sunday, June 14th.

Place:  Cape May Point, New Jersey.

Cost: $350.00. For more information and details please contact me at 215-235-7722 or keohara@aol.com.