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Eno Terra to Host Benefit for Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association This Sunday

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A Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association walking trail.

Farm tours, cheese and wine tastings, wood fire grilling and more are in store for attendees at the annual Taste of Place event this Sunday at Eno Terra in Kingston.

The outdoor event, hosted next to the Millstone River, raises money for the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, a nonprofit that has worked to preserve water and land in Central New Jersey for more than six decades.

One of the few certified green restaurants in New Jersey, Eno Terra is located  just feet away from the Kingston Lock, a waterway that supplies drinking water to more than 1.5 million New Jersey residents.

Eno Terra, which uses local, seasonal and artisanal foods, is part of the Princeton-based Terra Momo Restaurant Group, which is owned by brothers Raoul and Carlo Momo, who are dedicated supporters of sustainability efforts like those of the Watershed Association. Tickets for Taste of Place can be purchased online.

The Taste of Place fundraiser runs from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $49 for adults and $15 for children, with free admission for children under 5. All proceeds benefit the Watershed Association.

Filmmaker Jared Flesher, creator of the movie SOURLANDS will be in attendance, as will local farmers. Music will be provided by the Jugtown Mountain String Band, and plenty of activities for children will be offered, including pony rides. Children will also be able to experience what it is like to be an American shad overcoming dams through a fish passage obstacle course.

The Watershed Association has been studying whether migratory fish like the shad can be restored with the removal of two dams in the watershed: the Weston Causeway Dam in Franklin Township and Manville Borough, and the Blackwells Mills Dam in Franklin and Hillsborough townships.

Since the late 18th century, dams constructed along the Raritan and Millstone Rivers have blocked American shad and other fish from swimming up the rivers to reproduce. The Watershed Association is moving forward on the project to remove both dams. The project will open up 14 more miles of river for migratory fish and recreational users, and restore stream corridors and wetlands.

The Watershed Association is also constructing a new environmental center to increase educational programs and mobilize the community to take environmental action. The 930-acre reserve in Hopewell is home to the Honey Brook Organic Farm, more than 10 miles of hiking trails, an open-air classroom, and a butterfly house.

“Environmental protection is ultimately about preserve the essential bounty of the earth — clean water, fresh and delicious food, and open spaces,” said Anita Hanft of  the Watershed Association. “Taste of Place, right on the Millstone River, is a perfect celebration of the result of that diligence.”

Andrea Chu contributed to this report.

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Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.