Courtesy photo
Free Outdoor performance – July 22
Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums
On Saturday, July 22nd at 11:00 a.m. on the great lawn of the Westfield Town Hall, in Westfield, NJ, the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums (MCV) based in the Boston, MA area, will perform a free outdoor public performance before continuing their travels with another short performance in Somerville, New Jersey later in the afternoon and then ending their trip in Philadelphia, PA to perform at the Museum of the American Revolution.
“The MCV Fifes & Drums are visiting Westfield because Mayor Brindle, the Town Council and the Town of Westfield have recognized the Town’s role in the Revolutionary War and in the incredible the march to Yorktown, VA. so the National Park Service decided to sponsor the colonial fifes and drums marching group’s performance in the spirit of celebrating the Town’s patriotic enthusiasm in the run up to America 250, the Semiquincentennial which will be celebrated in 2026,” according to Julie Diddell, Chair for W3R-NJ.
The public is encouraged to bring a lawn chair or a blanket to sit on for the performance which will last about 45 minutes.
The Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail, is the route that French and Continental armies marched along on the way to conduct the siege of Yorktown, VA causing the British to capitulate in the final campaign of the Revolutionary War. President Obama signed legislation in 2009 designating the 700-mile trail corridor across land and water, a national historic trail, a unit of the National Park Service.
Because a Continental column led by General Benjamin Lincoln, passed through Westfield on August 29, 1781, as they marched to Yorktown, VA, Mayor Shelley Brindle, proclaimed that every August 29th will be celebrated as “March to Yorktown Day” in Westfield.
Background
The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route New Jersey (W3R-NJ) a not-for profit 501c3 organization and the state group for the National Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association (W3R-US). W3R-NJ’s mission it is to conduct the annual March to Yorktown Day commemoration events in Westfield every August and to work with history sites and historical societies in several other towns in New Jersey to commemorate their role in the march on the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail.
