Events during 2010  The events are in regular calendar order Some past events have photo-reports. Future events have schedule and contact information. Jump to the next scheduled event.

2010 Jan 27: Boston MA: Lecture on Lafayette Alan R. Hoffman spoke at the New England Historical and Genealogical Society on Lafayette: Symbol of Franco-American Friendship Alan is chair of the W3R-MA, which is developing a trail to follow the path of Lafayette from Boston MA to Morristown NJ as he brought news to General Washington about the assignment of General Rochambeau to lead a the French Expeditionary Force to the United States in 1780.

2010 Feb 08: Paris, France: Celebration of NHT Designation   Under the high patronage of Roland du Luart, Vice President of the French Senate, the French Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the W3R-France held a gala dinner at the French Senate to celebrate the designation (by the United States Congress) of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route as a National Historic Trail. Presentations: "The French Navy in the American War for Independence", by Admiral Lanxade, former Chief of Staff for the French Armed Forces "Securing National Historic Trail Designation for the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route", by General Forray, former Grand Chancellor for the French Legion of Honor     Photos courtesy of Andree King] On display were a copy of the U.S. legislation, maps of the trail, and a brochure on the career of U.S. General Louis Duportail, a French engineering officer who was given leave from his military service in France from 1777 to 1783 so that he could join and aid the Continental Army, in which he was assigned to be Chief Engineer. Andree King (a Director of the W3R-US) represented the W3R-US at this event.

2010 Feb 12: Princeton NJ: Regional Planning Work Session   The W3R-US is hosting three regional planning work sessions with two primary objectives: to identify the purpose and significance of the W3R-NHT, fundamental resources and values and planning challenges for state and local organizations and resource sites (parks, museums, etc.) to gain consensus on a strategic direction for the W3R-US, NPS, and other partners; and to identify priority actions that the partners could work on collectively. The work sessions are led by Joe DiBello, the National Park Service (NPS) Superintendant for the W3R-NHT, and Julie Bell, NPS staff consultant on program planning. The sessions are held from 10 AM to 3 PM (with lunch provided). The three regions are (1) NY-NJ-PA, (2) MA-RI-CT, and (3) DE-MD-DC-VA. Results will be presented to participants and to the Annual W3R-US meeting in April, where they will serve as a foundation for more detailed program planning for 2010-15. There will be a final summary document. The first work session -- for invited participants from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania -- was held in Princeton NJ on February 12.

Half of the participants at Princeton

The other half of the participants at Princeton

Julie and Joe arrange and post the responses.

2010 Feb 25: Rehoboth Beach DE: 2010 Delaware Trail Summit UNFORTUNATELY THIS EVENT HAD TO BE CANCELLED       DUE TO A MAJOR WINTER STORM The W3R-DE is a proud cosponsor of the Delaware Trail Summit, which will be held from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM in the Atlantic Sands Hotel, 101 North Boardwalk, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 (302-227-2511). This conference will offer a variety of educational sessions and a keynote speaker, all focusing on matters and issues that affect delivery of trail networks. The Trails Summit provides an opportunity for land planners, trail administrators and managers, trail advocacy groups, trail builders and other trail enthusiasts to network and advocate for trails in their community as well as learn what we have collectively achieved in the past decade, and to learn about new opportunities, issues, trends and techniques. Cost: $25.00

2010 March 12: Warwick RI: Regional Planning Work Session   This was the second work session for participants from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. (See description under Feb 12: Princeton above.) Discussions among participants facilitated joint efforts to develop the W3R.

2010 March 21: Philadelphia PA: The Revolutionary River The Revolutionary River is a 47-minute film that presents -- through dramatizations and interviews with experts -- the Schuylkill River region’s fascinating history from Native American times through the American, Industrial and Environmental Revolutions, and as a valuable resource today. The Philadelphia Museum of Art celebrated the film's premiere with a unique meet-the-producer dessert reception at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center. The film was produced for public television by Telemark Films, on behalf of the Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area, in partnership with the William Penn Foundation, the National Park Service, and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. It is the first in a six-part series, “Our National Heritage,” that will explore six different National Heritage Areas. For more information about the film visit the Schuylkill River Heritage Area website. Newspaper article

2010 March 26: Washington DC: Regional Planning Work Session   This will be the third work session --- for invited participants from Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia --- (see description under Feb 12: Princeton above). Joe DiBello kept the group focused on its task of developing strong themes.

March 30, 2010, was the First Anniversary of the

Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route

as a National Historic Trail. Huzzah! Huzzah!

2010 April 10-11: Poughkeepsie NY: W3R-US Annual Meeting   Members gathered at the Hudson River Valley Institute (at Marist College in Poughkeepsie NY) for the Seventh Annual Meeting of the W3R-US. Throughout the day there were displays from W3R nationalk and state groups. The business meeting included state and committee reports, amendments to Bylaws, elections, and awards. Networking: members chatted with one another and with Dr. Selig (at right) The afternoon was devoted to a national workshop for setting priorities on programs for development of the W3R-NHT. and a talk by Dr. Robert Selig on "The Path Less Travelled By -- the use of historic maps, documents, and common sense to identify the routes taken by the allied forces in 1781." At the installation dinner 1931 commemorative alliance medallions were given to W3R historian Dr. Robert Selig and W3R illustrator Charles R. Wagner for their valuable and extensive contributions to the understanding and appreciation of the U.S.-French alliance and the presence of the French Expeditionary Force in the United States during 1780-1783. The highlight of the evening came when donor Dr. Frank T. Bumpus unveiled a new painting by W3R illustrator Charles R. Wagner showing part of the French army being ferried across the Hudson River at Verplanck's Point. During dessert we viewed portions of the new video The Revolutionary River (see notes under March 21 above). Dr. Frank T. Bumpus and Charles Wagner unveil the new painting

2010 April 17-18: Tour of Charleville and Mezieres [SAR France] [an activity of the France Society, SAR] #1. The Charleville arsenal manufactured many of the 25,000 muskets and other arms sent to the U.S. in 1776 contributing the success of the campaign against Burgoyne (at Saratoga) in 1777. #2. The Military Engineeers Academy in Mezieres trained many of the French Military Engineers who served in the (U.S.) Continental Army during the American Revolution, including --- General Louis Du Portail, who was dispatched by the French King to America with three other engineers on January 1777, even before La Fayette (without the King's permission) sailed for the U.S. Du Portail designed the fortifications at Valley Forge, created an led the Corps of Engineers for the Continental Army, was a strategic advisor to General Washington, commanded the allied engineering forces at Yorktown, and wrote plans for a future (U.S.) Military Academy which was later organized (at West Point) by his former assistant Rochefontaine. --- Lt. Col. Francois de Fleury, who served with distinction at Stony Point and at Yorktown. --- and many others.

2010-04-22: W3R-DE Meeting at the Pencader Heritage Museum   Members of the W3R-DE met in the Pencader Heritage Area (PHA) Museum, elected a new chair (William Conley) and vice chair (Veronica Eid), reviewed the ten-year history of the W3R-DE with founding member and outgoing chair Ralph Nelson, and discussed prospective projects for the coming year. William Conley with the W3R-DE's kiosk, located in the PHA museum

2010-05-12 to 14: San Antonio TX -- Workshop on Cultural and Heritage Tourism: Trails as Destinations, sponsered by the Partnership for the National Trails System.

2010-06-05: National Trail Day National Trails Day® brochure [PDF] On June 5, 2010, American Hiking Society and outdoor enthusiasts across the country celebrated the 18th annual National Trails Day® (NTD), a long-standing celebration of America's magnificent trail system. Events included trail maintenance, hiking, paddling, biking, horseback riding, bird watching, running and trail celebrations. This date marks the 229th anniversary of the start of the march of the French Expeditionary Force and the Rhode Island Continental Regiment from Newport RI to join the main Continental Army encamped near Dobbs Ferry NY.

2010-06-12: Newark DE -- Annual Flag Retirement Ceremony.   This was organized by the Pencader Heritage Museum, which houses a fine collection of Revolutionary War material from Delaware and hosts the only W3R video kiosk along on the entire route. The museum (with no admission fee) is open on the first and third Saturday of each month. Several Delaware historical groups participated in this year's ceremony, which honored the 196 Delaware servicemen who died in combat since 1960. Former W3R-US chair Kim Brdick represented the W3R-DE and read ten of the names. Participation in such events increases public awareness of the W3R-NHT. W23R-DE chair Bill Conley led the planning sessions for the event.

2010-06-18: Cranston RI - The Sixth Annual Rochambeau Strawberry Biscuit Tea   was hosted by the Cranston Historical Society at the Joy Homestead. This celebrates the anniversary (229th this year) of the French army's march through Cranston on the way to join the Continental Army north of New York City (and later on to Yorktown VA). Ron Sullman as a Lt.Col. of the Varnum Regiment -- he looks like General Washington, Tom Worthington as General Rochambeau, and Larry McDonald as a soldier in the French Bourbonnais Regiment. [photo courtesy of Lydia Rapoza] Rhode Island proclaims June 18, 2010, as Rochambeau "March to Victory" Day Whereas, on June 18, 1781, General Rohambeau broke camp at Providence and began his march to Connecticut to eventually join up with General George Wahiington and defeat the British at Yotktown; and Whereas, it took four days for 6,000 French troops to march through Rhode Island, passing through Cranston, Scituate, and Coventry; and Whereas, the road that marched on is part of the Joy Homestead property, circa 1774, located on Scuituate Avenue in Cranston; and Whereas, the Cranston Historical Society has been celebrating the date of this march for the past six years with the Rochambeau Strawberry Biscuit Tea, and this year will be joined in celebrating the "March to Victory" by French re-enactors, Le Regiment Bourbonnais, and the Varnum Continentals of East Greenwich; and Whereas, to recognize the Joy Homestead's inclusion as part of the national "Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route"; NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD L. CARCIERI, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM June 18, 2010 as Rochambeau "March to Victory" Day In recognition whereof, I have hereby set my hand and caused the seal of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to be hereunto affixed this 18th day of June 2010

2010-07-04: New Castle DE - The W3R-DE participated in the national  Let Freedom Ring ceremony in honor of the U.S. and French courage and sacrifices that made the Declaration of Independence a success and permitted the creation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States. As each of the original thirteen colony's names was read, a youth pulled the bell-rope to toll a large bell. The Major Robert Kirkwood Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution provided a color guard dressed in frontiersman uniforms. [photos by Kim Burdick, W3R-DE]

The Next Scheduled Event should be just below this. Jump to the start of the year for notes on past events.

2010-08-01: Dobbs Ferry NY -- Fifth Annual Road To Freedom Walk and celebration on Sunday, August 1, at 1 PM. The main elements of the Continental Army under General Washington began their march to Yorktown Virginia from Dobbs Ferry on August 19, 1781.

2010-09-04: Marcus Hook PA - Encampment, Speech, and Ice Cream Social In September 1781 the allied Continental and French armies marched through Marcus Hook on the way to the siege and victory in Yorktown VA. Visit the camp of the 6th Maryland Regiment, hear General Washington (protrayed by Carl Closs)'s reminisce about his visits to Marcus Hook, honor a local patriot at St. Martin's cemetery, and meet new friends over ice cream during this Second Annual W3R-NHT Celebration and Ice Cream Social. All free! For details read the invitation [PDF]

2010-09-11: Pencader DE - Honoring Germanic soldiers of the Revolution The W3R-DE will participate in a cermony welcoming the German Ambassador to the Cooch's Bridge Revolutionary War Battlefield in Delaware for the dedication of a marker. Germanic soldiers from Deux Ponts, France (now Zweibrucken, Germany) and other areas near France were part of the French Expeditionary Force (FEF) in the U.S. in 1780-83. In September 1781 the FEF marched through Pencader on the way to the siege and victory in Yorktown VA. Details (time and place) will be posted here later.

2010-09-13: WETA-TV Documentary on Lafayette  Lafayette: The Lost Hero will premiere nationally on PBS stations on Monday, September 13, 2010 at 10 PM Eastern Time (Check local listings.) Part adventure, part romance, part historical journey, the documentary chronicles the life and legend of Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette — an intriguing, neglected, and controversial figure from both the American and French Revolutions. "Lafayette’s life and quest to bring democracy and liberty to America and France is shared in the film, in part, as recorded in the extensive letters and memoirs of Lafayette; his wife, Adrienne de Noailles; and his close friend, George Washington. And his journeys through America — both in combat and post-war victory — are detailed with an engaging narrative. The end result is a biographical film that is both richly entertaining and informative, with lush dramatizations, evocative footage and animations that give cultural background as well as insights on his life’s meaning to us today." from a promotional note by Kate Kelly, National Publicity Manager, WETA, who can provide copies of the documentary on DVD. Contact her at kkelly@weta.org. NOTE: W3R-FR member Jacqus de Trentinian appears in several interviews in this documentary.

2010-10-16: Yorktown VA - W3R-US Fall Board Meeting The Board of Directors of the W3R-US will meet several days before Yorktown Day, and some will stay to participate in the Yorktown Day festivities on October 19. Details to be posted later.

2010-10-19: Yorktown VA - Yorktown Day - 229th Anniversary The Yorktown Day festivities are many and varied. Details are typically not available until very close to the 19th, but there are dinners on the 18th, and a parade, special open houses, and ceremonies on the 19th. Cruises aboard several colonial-era replica ships are available before, during , and after the 19th, and there are many historic tourism activities and sites in nearby Williamsburg VA and Jamestown VA. We'll post a link to the Website for these events when it is available.