NOVEMBER 16 "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow!" at the Mary Jacobs Library

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Lives on Past Halloween!

DATE: Tuesday, November 16, 2010

TIME: 7:00PM

PLACE: Mary Jacobs Library

64 Washington Street, Rocky Hill

INFO: (908) 874-4820

woolleyfam@aol.com

www.vanharlingen.org

ADMISSION IS FREE!!!

Van Harlingen Historical Society of Montgomery Township, in honor of the township's early Dutch heritage, presents Ichabod Crane, Washington Irving, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Neill Hartley, of the American Historical Theatre, is a convincing Washington Irving, the father of the American short story, who brings the audience into Irving’s world of Ichabod Crane and the The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Neill Hartley is a mesmerizing Ichabod Crane; tall and slim like Ichabod, he narrates his tale and then then enters it himself, bringing an all new adaptation of this eccentric story. The interactive one-man interpretation of the headless horseman draws the audience directly into the schoolmaster's world in sleepy Tarry Town. It makes for a perfectly eerie entertaining event. The program, followed by discussion about Washington Irving who also wrote Rip Van Winkle, ends with a dramatic reading of the story's postscript.

This program is funded by the Horizons Speakers Bureau of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, as state partner for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Browse Events at this Location

The Mary Jacobs Library is located on Route 518 (Washington St) in Rocky Hill, one third of a mile from the intersection of Routes 206 and 518. From Somerville, go south on Route 206 about 12 miles and turn left onto Route 518. The library is on the left side of Washington St. From Princeton, go north on Route 206 and turn right onto Route 518. From New Brunswick, proceed south about 10 miles on Route 27 and bear right onto Route 518 shortly after Kendall Park. Drive about three miles to Rocky Hill and turn right at the library.

SEPTEMBER 12 'Oh Freedom!' African-American Soldiers in the Revolutionary War!

Treat yourself and your family to a special speaking engagement by dynamic historian and performer, Joe Becton, the opening of the "Oh, Freedom!" exhibit at the Van Horne House with a presentation on "African-American Soldiers & the Revolutionary War"!

DATE: Sunday, September 12, 2010
Exhibit runs from September 10 to November 10, 2010
TIME: Starts at 2PM
PLACE: The Van Horne House
941 Main Street, Bridgewater
RSVP: Reservations Not Required, but Appreciated
INFO: (732) 356-8856
info@heritagetrail.com

ADMISSION IS FREE!!! ($5.00 Donation Appreciated)

[From the Website]
"While the war is often characterized as fight between the colonist seeking independence from Great Brittan and a foreign king trying to maintain control over his subjects, the issues were far more complex. Initially, less than a third of the population supported the rebellion and about the same number strongly support the Crown. The balance were either pacifist favoring a peaceful solution or chose to remain neutral. The African-American community was no different.

Some New Jersey slaves escaped to the promise of freedom proclaimed by the British and served in loyalist military units. Others enlisted in local militias or in the Continental Army in exchange for the promise of liberty - a promise sometimes not kept. Free African Americans also chose sides as the Revolution in New Jersey turned into a civil war.

Joe Becton is a member of the Association for the Study of African American History and Life and of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He has published a number of articles on the War of 1812 and on Africans in the American Revolution. Joe Becton is the co-founder of the 3rd Regiment United States Colored Troops Civil War re-enactors and Vice President of the United States Colored Troops Monument Committee of Philadelphia."

READ ALL ABOUT IT! 1777 London Chronicle Reports on British Raids in the Millstone Valley!

The following images are from an authentic edition of the London Chronicle, dated "From SATURDAY, April 12, to TUESDAY, April 15, 1777" that was recently purchased on eBay by Jan ten Broeke. This exciting historical document will be preserved for posterity in the Kells Swan museum collection at the Washington Crossing State Park in in Titusville, NJ.

More detailed scans will be available shortly, but enjoy the exciting drama recounted in the article below!

See reference to the Somerset Court House.

See reference to Millstone River & Brunswick.

All photos appear courtesy of Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers.

May 16: CANAL AUTHORS EXTRAVAGANZA!

The D & R Canal Watch proudly invites you to meet authors of canal-related books and hear them read from their works and enjoy other entertainment throughout the day!

DATE: Saturday, May 16
TIME: 12:00PM to 3:00PM
PLACE: Griggstown Causeway
INFO: Linda Barth, (908) 722-7428 or (908) 204-0488

ADMISSION IS FREE!

Children's stories will be read throughout the day and Roy Justice will entertain you with songs and stories from the old time canallers' day. There will also be video presentations about the D & R Canal, including the delightful NJN production produced by Cliff Crawford and narrated by the beloved Jean Shepherd!

The exciting authors in attendance include:

• William McKelvey, The Delaware & Raritan Canal, Champlain to Chesapeake
• Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon, Moy Sans and Gravel
• Marie Murphy Duess, The Delaware Canal: From Stone Coal Highway to Historic Landmark
• Linda J. Barth, Bridgetender's Boy, The Delaware Raritan Canal
• Walter Choroszewski, Somerset County: A Celebration of Communities
• Jeanette Muser, Rocky Hill, Kingston and Griggstown
• Susann Carroll Agin, Max: A Griggstown Mystery/Un Mystere de Griggstown
• Jessie Havens, Somerset County: Three Centuries of Progress
• Poet Penelope Schott, Canal!

May 16: TALK "WHO KILLED THE LINDBERGH BABY?"

The Meadows Foundation is thrilled to invite you to hear popular New Jersey historian, Tom Ainsworth, exciting presentation about the "Crime of the Century", the 1932 kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's infant son from his home in rural Hopewell, NJ!

DATE: Saturday, May 16
TIME: 2:00PM
PLACE: Hageman Farm
209 South Middlebush Rd., Somerset
TKTS: $10.00 Per Person
RSVP: Reservations Recommended
CONTACT: (732) 560-1977

[From the Meadows Foundation Website]
"The body of the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is discovered in the Sourland Mountains. A national manhunt begins. Was this an “inside” job? How was the perpetrator apprehended? Why did it take so long? What effect did the media blitz have on the trial? Was the evidence manufactured? Did the right man die in the electric chair? Was the lone participant caught the only guilty party? Would modern forensic techniques have made a difference? Come explore the many theories and get the facts about the trial that gripped the nation!"

May 3: TALK "SLAVERY IN NJ DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION"

The Friends of the Abraham Staats House are thrilled to invite you to experience a powerful presentation by storyteller and reenactor, Frederic Lawrence Minus, on "Slavery in New Jersey During the American Revolution"!

DATE: Sunday, May 3
TIME: Lecture begins 2:00PM
House opens for tours 1:00PM
PLACE: The Abraham Staats House
17 Von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook
TKTS: $10/Adult, $5/Under 18
Admission includes house tour & lecture
RSVP: Reservations Strongly Recommended
CONTACT: (732) 469-3198
info@staatshouse.org

[From the Staats House website]
"A native of Delaware, Mr. Minus is a member of the Camp Olden Round Table and active Civil War Museum, where he helped establish a room dedicated to the United Colored Troops. He is also a member of the Sons of the Union Veterans-Anne Ross Post #1, 3rd Regiment USCT of Philadelphia and a founding member of the 6th USCT of Trenton and a Friend of the Revolutionary War Barracks in Trenton, where he serves as a storyteller and reenactor. As a reenactor, Fred has made hundreds of presentations in schools, churches, and community organizations, including Delaware State College, Boy Scout conferences, SUNY Maritime College of New York, the PECO Energy Conference, and the Pennsylvania Underground Railroad Conference. He was a featured speaker at the "Oh Freedom" exhibit at the State Museum in Trenton." This exciting lecture is the sixth and final installment of the enormously popular "Lecture Through Time" series presented at the historic Abraham Staats House (c.1740)!

This program is being hosted by Friends of the Abraham Staats House, Inc. The project has been funded, in part, by a grant from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission and Friends of Somerset County Culture & Heritage, Inc.

April 18: PRESENTATION "THE APPROACHING STORM"

The Friends of the Abraham Staats House are thrilled to invite you to historical interpreter Wayne Daniels presentation, "The Approaching Storm" in which he chronicles how New Jersey was inexorably drawn into the turbulence of the American Revolution! If you thought history was boring, fasten your seat belts and be ready to do a 360!

DATE: Saturday, April 18
TIME: 2PM
PLACE: The Abraham Staats House
17 Von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook
TKTS: $10/Adult, $5/Under 18
Admission includes house tour & lecture
RSVP: Reservations Strongly Recommended
Include: name, address, contact, number of seats
Email: info@staatshouse.org
Phone: (732) 469-3198

This exciting lecture is the third installment of the six-lecture "Lectures Through Time" series presented at the historic Abraham Staats House (c.1740) and coincides with the Staats House Living History Weekend!

[From the Abraham Staats House Website]
New Jersey came about through a remarkable series of unlikely events. Early Dutch and Quaker settlements became folded into the great “land grab” of the Proprietors who then divided and sold parcels to Scottish investors who never saw their land. And that was only the start for New Jersey, the land between.

Wayne Daniels has been a tireless researcher into the American War for Independence and the lives of common folk here in New Jersey for more than 40 years. Author, lecturer, historic preservationist, archaeologist, former museum director and board member, he is a founder of The Brigade of the American Revolution and is presently Senior Historical Interpreter at the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, and consultant to "The Tech Effect: Washington Crosses the Delaware," aired on The History Channel.

April 18 & 19: LIVING HISTORY WEEKEND--THE BATTLE OF BOUND BROOK!

The Friends of the Abraham Staats House are thrilled to invite you and your entire family to one of the most exciting events of the year, living history with the Battle of Bound Brook: Washington's Army at Middlebrook! This Crossroads Celebration will feature compelling speakers, powerful historical interpretors and reenactors, historic house tours, demonstrations, delicious food, and much, much more!

DATE: Saturday & Sunday, April 18 & 19
TIME: (See Schedule of Events Below)
PLACE: The Abraham Staats House
17 Von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook

The two-day program explores the American Revolutionary War during the time-frame of the Battle of Bound Brook and Middlebrook encampments, 1777 – 1779. Learn about and experience this important period in New Jersey’s and America’s history. Weekend activities include:

• 18th century Soldiers’ Encampment on the grounds of the Abraham Staats House! Come walk through camp and see what life was like for American and British troops during the time of the American Revolution.
• Historic house tours: The Abraham Staats House, with the original structure c.1740, was home to the Staats family for nearly 200 years and served as the headquarters for George Washington’s “Drillmaster” Baron von Steuben.

Lectures and presentations at the Abraham Staats House, throughout the weekend, include:

• Collector Earl Becker offers a talk and display of his collection of trade beads and wampum (Saturday, 1PM & Sunday, 11AM)
• Wayne Daniels, Senior Historical Interpreter at the Old Barracks, Trenton, presents “The Approaching Storm,” ~ chronicles New Jersey as it is drawn inexorably into the turbulence of the American Revolution. (Saturday, 2PM)
• Eminent historian H. Kels Swan presents information and a map of the first Middlebrook Encampment of 1777. (Sunday, 12:30PM)
• Noted historian and author Arthur S. Lefkowitz, a color slide presentation of 18th century artistry during the American Revolution (Sunday, 1PM)
• Gary DePaolo, New Jersey Militia, Heard’s Brigade, portrays a surgeon of the Colonial era. Learn about medical practices of the 18th century and view surgical instruments used during that time. (Sunday)
• Tom Harabin, President, Friends of Abraham Staats House, plays music of the Colonial Era (throughout the weekend.)

Share your personal photos of these events with the RMVE Blog!

• Please email any photos you are willing to have posted on the RMVE blog in .jpg format (no more than 200K each, please) to the blog's primary writer/editor/monitor, Jan ten Broeke, at tensart@gmail.com.
• Please include any identifying information with your submissions including site location, activities, and names of individuals prominent in the photo(s).
• While no compensation for your photos is available, you will be providing everyone who views them with lasting memories and joy, as well as helping your community document these significant activities for the benefit of many generations to come. In that spirit, we hope you will be generous--and judicious--in your photo submissions!

March 28: FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST AT THE NASSAU CLUB WITH SPECIAL SPEAKER JOE BECTON

Your friends at the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route in New Jersey Association (WR3-NJ) are thrilled to invite you to indulge in a full English breakfast at Princeton's famous Nassau Club and to enjoy a lively presentation by the highly entertaining speaker, Joe Becton on "Philadelphia Choosing Sides: Americans in the Revolution"!

DATE: Saturday, March 28
TIME: Breakfast at 9:30AM, Lecture at 10:15AM
PLACE: The Nassau Club, 6 Mercer Street, Princeton
TKTS: $25.00 Per Person, Jacket & Tie Required
RSVP: Reservations Required
Phone: (908) 930-6491
Mail, Send Checks Payable to:
W3R -NJ
PMB #1781
442 US Highway 202-206 N
Bedminster, NJ 07921

March 29: Special Reading by Hungarian Poet, Paul Sohar!

The Woodbridge Township Arts Council & Middlesex County College are pleased to feature noted Hungarian poet Paul Sohar reading his recent works at the Festival of Contemporary Immigrant Writing!

DATE: Sunday, March 29
TIME: 2:ooPM to 5:00PM
PLACE: Baron Arts Center
582 Rahway Avenue, Woodbridge
INFO: writingfest@twp.woodbridge.nj

ADMISSION IS FREE!!!

Paul Sohar is a native of Hungary who came to the US in the late 1950s. His writing has appeared in nearly 200 publications including seven books of translations, among them Dancing Embers (poems by Sándor Kányádi) and Maradok-I Remai (anthology of Transylvanian-Hungarian poets). His latest poetry volume is Homing Poems; his latest prose work is the novel True Tales of a Fictitious Spy.

March 27-29: FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY IMMIGRATION WRITING!

The Woodbridge Township Arts Council and Middlesex County College proudly invite you to join 22 award-winning writers as they convene in New Jersey’s oldest township to give new literary expression to one of the nation’s hottest social topics. . . Being and becoming an American!

DATES: Friday, Saturday & Sunday, March 27-29
TIME: Click HERE for Event Schedule
PLACE: Barron Arts Center (Friday & Sunday Events)
528 Rahway Avenue, Woodbridge
Middlesex Community College (Saturday Events)
Performance Arts Center
2600 Woodbridge Avenue, Edison
INFO: writingfest@twp.woodbridge.nj.us

ADMISSION IS FREE!!!

“My New Life, My New Poem”: Festival of Contemporary Immigration Writing features a veritable United Nations of poetry, fiction and essay authors gathering for a 3-day weekend of public readings, workshops, panel discussions, book signings and open mic events.

March 21: FLAPPERS! Scandal at Tulipwood!

Popular New Jersey raconteuse Trish Chambers returns to Tulipwood House for the Meadows Foundations exciting Fireside Chat Series with a new program for Women’s History Month!



DATE: Saturday, March 21
TIME: 2:00 to 4:00PM
PLACE: Tulipwood House
1165 Hamilton St., Somerset
TKTS: $10.00/Person
INFO: (732) 560-1977
info@themeadowsfoundation.org

Find out why women cut their hair! Raised their skirts! And went out on the town in the roaring ’20s! What was this first women’s lib movement really about? Then you'll have to learn where it all began! Join us as Trish Chambers takes us through a fun-filled sashay back through time!