5th Annual March to Yorktown Day

Westfield, NJ. The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route New Jersey (W3R-NJ) announces the 5th Annual March to Yorktown Day Commemoration & Encampment Festival in Westfield, NJ on Sunday, August 18, 2024 from 11:30 – 4:00 pm in Mindowaskin Park. The event is dedicated to the 1st Squadron, 102nd Cavalry Regiment from the Westfield Armory, currently serving in Syria.

The commemorative event will kick off at 11:30 at the Mountain Ave access area to Mindowaskin Park with historical interpreters mingling amongst the public and musicians playing patriotic fife and drum music. At 12:00 an opening ceremony will feature welcome remarks by Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle, NJ State Senator Jon Bramnick, the 102nd Cavalry Association, New Jersey State Society Daughters of the American Revolution State Regent, Diane Waugh Oliver, Westfield Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution Regent, Mary Anne Healy- Rodriquez, New Jersey Society Sons of the American Revolution, Robert Meyer, Sons of the Revolution in the State of New Jersey President, Kenneth McKeever, West Fields Chapter Sons of the American Revolution President, Jay Hershey, New Jersey State Society Children of the American Revolution President, Nathaniel Little and others. W3R-NJ state chair, Julie Diddell will talk about the importance of the Westfield community commemoration of when the French and Continental troops marched from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, VA (an almost 700 mile, nine state, land and water journey) in the summer of 1781 taking them through Westfield on August 29, 1781. The route is designated as the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail, administered by the National Park Service.

At 12:30, the community is invited to watch or join-in a symbolic march to Yorktown re- enactment procession into a Mindowaskin Park Encampment Festival, accompanied by the Generals Rochambeau, Washington and Major General Chastellux and General Lafayette, the New Jersey Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the New Jersey Fifes and Drums, the 2nd Regiment Light Dragoons with horses, the Miller-Cory Museum colonial living history group, NJ National Guard & Militia Museum, and New Jersey Militia Heard’s Brigade.

From 1:00 to 4:00, the festival will in Mindowaskin Park will have children’s’ games, musket firing, military drills on horseback, historical artifacts items and information provided by local history organizations such as the Forgotten Victory Trail Association, Miller-Cory House Museum, Princeton Battlefield Society, Union Township Historical Society, Chatham Township Historical Society, Westfield Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution and the Washington Association of New Jersey along with the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce will have informational tables set up and interact with the public to share information, sell history items and engage new members. An encampment with tents, cooking demonstrations, fife and drum music, musket firing and marching drills will occur during the festival. Food trucks will be available for food and drink purchases.

This event is made possible by support from the Mayor Shelley Brindle, the Town Council, the Town of Westfield, the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, The Westfield Inn, Chez Catherine, the West Fields Chapter SAR, the Westfield Chapter DAR, the Washington- Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association, New Jersey (W3R-NJ), the

National Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association (W3R-US) and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail which is administered by the National Parks Service.

Mayor Brindle recently announced that the Town of Westfield is conducting a contest for residents, businesses or organizations to submit a design idea for the Town’s cerebration of America250 in 2026. Designs submitted by September 15, 2024 will be considered. Visit:

https://www.westfieldnj.gov/america250?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2XoUAvG7cCEs36zoMdIg4Mdna4KbVA5zuqSLRPmcb5Ryd4WzNtn1HlDkw_aem_tqISl2lqiibItEbBB-HkMg

For more information on the 5th Annual March to Yorktown Day, email info@W3R-NJ.org Follow on Facebook @W3RNJ
and www.w3r-nj.org

Check out the flyer below for more information!