The top stories of the year in Moorestown

As we come to the end of 2024, we look back at three stories that stood out this year in Moorestown.

Moorestown’s Ninja

Moorestown resident Josiah Pippel advanced to the national finals of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” season 15 in August 2023, after competing against Jamie Rahn in the semifinals.

Ninja, a sport that Pippel fell in love with when he was 7 years old, instilled perseverance in him, among other qualities. And from his perspective, Ninja teaches people to get back up when they fail.

“There’s no certainty that you’re going to win or complete a course ever,” he noted. “Everybody’s different, so it really just pushes you to get back up when you fail and not beat yourself about it, and learn from it and move on.”

Pippel was one of five of the show’s competitors to make it to stage four in season 14, and although he didn’t achieve total victory, he placed third in stage three, fourth in stage two and seventh in stage one. The following month, Pippel advanced to the second stage of the national finals, after completing an eight- obstacle course in stage one.

There’s always a certain level of nervousness for Pippel each season, until he gets to the starting line.

“If you’re not nervous, then you don’t care enough,” he pointed out. “A lot of the nerves for me come in the hours and days before competing, where you’re prepping to compete and thinking about the course and what you’re going to have to do. But as soon as I step up on the starting block it all fades away, and I just do what I need to do, get in the zone and just execute the obstacles.”

Fast forward to earlier this year when Pippel advanced to the national finals of the show’s season 16. Since his last run, he was busy training but with a twist.

“The biggest updates have been the fact that I’ve started to coach and take on more of a teaching role within Ninja,” he explained, “and so now I have the opportunity to apply those skills of, ‘Okay, this is how you prepare for competition, and this is how you train for these certain obstacles,’ and hand that down to the next generation.”

Pippel raced against Guang Cui in July’s semifinals and came out on top in the second round with a completed course time of 1:19.38. In September, he made his run on stage three finals of the show. The national finals continued in Las Vegas beginning Sept. 2, as the remaining Ninjas moved on to stages two and three for their chance to win the $1-million prize.

“You never know what they’re going to throw at you,” Pippel acknowledged of the competition. “Coming back every season and training in between … I’ve put in all this time and effort, and it’s a great way to really see all of that training and all those late nights pay off.”

‘It is the love we offer’

The Moorestown Service Club Council named Monique Begg its 2024 citizen of the year.

The award recognizes a township resident who – through voluntary community service – has significantly contributed to the quality of life in the township.

Begg is the founder of the Friends Enrichment Program (FEP), which has supported more than 1,000 scholarships and created special programs for more than 500 children. Her partnerships with the Moorestown parks and recreation department, the Perkins Center for the Arts, the township library and other regional organizations help fund financial assistance for needy children to participate in summer camps, music lessons, sports and other activities.

The organization has raised more than $400,000 in funds to date, and relationships with the more than 500 participants have continued well after students completed their programs. FEP was the recipient of the Community Service Award of the NAACP, Southern Burlington County, and Begg was the recipient of the Church Women Rights Award in 2006.

“I’m very, very lucky to live in Moorestown,” she said. “I’m lucky to have the son I have. I was lucky to have the husband I had … If I look at all the options of what happened in life, I think I got lucky.”

In February family, friends and neighbors celebrated Begg at a dinner arranged by the Moorestown Service Club Council at the community house.

“The one simple but powerful philosophy that guides my mother’s actions,” noted Deniel Begg, “is that love can change the world.”

Community House microbrewery

The Community House of Moorestown, Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) and King’s Road Brewing Company in Haddonfield announced plans to launch New Jersey’s first education-based microbrewery at the Community House in February.

The estate has served as a gathering place for events and activities since 1926, and a microbrewery – built in re-purposed space that used to house an indoor pool – is meant as an educational component to the organization’s mission and purpose.

“Establishing the state’s first educational microbrewery at a historic venue will create educational and career opportunities for students, economic growth for downtown and a new chapter for the storied history for a local Moorestown gem,” said college President Dr. Michael A. Cioce.

The interest in developing a relationship between the venue and Rowan centered around a mutual desire to create an educational pathway into the craft brewing industry while finding a new use for the pool space. The program will include classroom education and hands-on experience in launching and running a microbrewery just a few miles away from the Rowan campus in Mount Laurel.

Rowan received a grant from the state’s Higher Education Equipment Leasing Fund to secure necessary equipment. The college is creating an associate’s degree program in 2025, with a certificate program available this fall so students can begin to complete their general requirements before the brewery curriculum is approved.

“To be at the forefront of this idea – this really unique model – to have it happening right here in Moorestown in this beautiful place, we couldn’t ask for better,” noted Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie.