April has been an active month for W3R-US and its Victory Town partners, with a series of special events, site visits, and community celebrations across New Jersey.
On the afternoon of April 10, members of the W3R-US Board and local elected officials from Victory Towns received a private tour of the Berthier Maps at Princeton University’s Firestone Library. These maps document the march to Yorktown and stand as one of the most important primary source records of that campaign. The group was guided by Gabriel Swift, Librarian for Early American Collections. Victory Town representatives from Manville, Rocky Hill, Franklin, and Montgomery attended the tour.
Also on April 10, the W3R-US Board visited Manville, the first Victory Town to obtain its Victory Town marker, which is expected to be installed soon. During the visit, photos were taken of the marker in front of Borough Hall with Mayor Richard Onderko, marking an important milestone for the community’s place along the Trail.
Later that evening, W3R-US held a Victory Town Soiree hosted by Passaic County at the Dey Mansion in Wayne, where George Washington first met and dined with the Marquis de Chastellux, the third-ranking officer in the French army. The event was attended by Victory Town representatives from Trenton, Scotch Plains, Hanover, Lawrence, Clifton, Franklin, and Montgomery. Washington and Rochambeau reenactors were also in attendance, and guests enjoyed donated wine from Unionville’s Washington Collection. Unionville is donating partial proceeds from its Victory White, which features an image of the victory at Yorktown on its label.
The month’s activities continued on April 18, when the Victory Town of Summit, New Jersey, hosted a community event called Revolutionary Trail Day. At the event, a letter by W3R Trail Historian Dr. Robert Selig was read aloud by W3R New Jersey Committee representative Tom D’Amico, who wore a Revolutionary War-era uniform and presented a framed copy of Dr. Selig’s letter. A photo of D’Amico with Mayor Elizabeth Fagan commemorates the occasion, with additional images shared on the City of Summit’s Facebook page.
In May, Flounder Brewing in Hillsborough, another Victory Town, will be releasing its Victory Town Ale through a collaboration with W3R. More news on that partnership is expected soon.
Together, these events reflect the growing momentum of the Victory Town initiative and the strong partnerships forming between W3R-US and communities along the Trail.
