July 20 Lafayette Day event scheduled for Thornbury Farm

Family day with a salute to the beginning of the Bicentennial celebraton honoring Lafayette, America's Guest

April 2nd, 2024

April 2, 2024

PRELUDE to the kickoff of the Lafayette Bicentennial Celebration

 Thornbury Farm hosts second Lafayette Celebration

as part of 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s being the nation’s guest and Chester County’s 250th celebration

A family outing takes place on Saturday, July 20, 2024 

         THORNBURY _ A historic family celebration with Revolutionary War artifacts, honored guests and a preview of a movie on the battle of Brandywine, Lafayette and the preservation of sacred land will take place at Thornbury Farm on Saturday, July 20.

“Last year’s Lafayette Day was a huge success as almost 200 people attended our first Lafayette event at Thornbury Farm,” said host Randell Spackman, farm owner, history enthusiast and member of the Board of the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission. “This year we have added additional events and activities for the whole family. This will be a day to be remembered!”

Thornbury Farm is located at 1256 Thornbury Road, West Chester. The event will take place from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. There is plenty of parking. Besides the historical aspects of the day, activities for children will take place, food trucks will provide refreshments and vendors will be on the property along with displays from non-profit organizations.

“This is perfect timing to kick-off the national Lafayette Bicentennial Celebration,” said Bruce Mowday, chair of the Lafayette Bicentennial Brandywine Committee. “The American Friends of Lafayette has devised a 13-month celebration to mark Lafayette’s return to the United States as our nation’s guest. The celebration begins on Friday, August 16, 2024, on the lower Manhattan shoreline where Lafayette will disembark to begin the bicentennial of the farewell tour. Two hundred years ago to the day, Lafayette landed at Castle Clinton. Following will be a parade in New York City where thousands of people are expected to participate. A flag raising at Evacuation Plaza will be the beginning point of the parade with the conclusion at City Hall where a famous portrait of Lafayette is housed.”

The celebration at Thornbury Farm will include information on the 13-month national celebration. Items pertaining to the celebration authorized by the American Friends of Lafayette will be available for purchase. Future events are being planned to commemorate Lafayette bicentennial visits to Chester on October 5, 2024, and to Chadds Ford and West Chester on July 26, 2025.

Lafayette was wounded during the battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, near the Thornbury Farm. The spilling of his blood marked the beginning of Lafayette becoming a national hero. Taking part in the July 20 event will be Craig Caba, curator of the J. Howard Wert collection. Caba will display items from the Wert collection relating to Lafayette and Revolutionary War medicine. Caba will also give a talk.  For a second year, Mowday will lead a heritage walk from the farm to the field where Lafayette was wounded.

Mary Armstrong of Space Cat Films will preview her movie on Brandywine, Lafayette and the necessity of preserving historic land.

“We are so lucky to have Craig and Mary participate in Lafayette Day,” Mowday said. “I’ve worked with both of them on exciting projects.”

Spackman and Mowday will both be featured in the Armstrong movie. Also, Spackman and Mowday are members of Chester County’s 250th committee planning the celebration of the anniversary of our nation’s founding.

Representatives from Chester and Delaware counties have indicated they will attend and a proclamation is expected to be read.

Members of the Latta family will be on hand to read the invocation their ancestor read at a dinner in West Chester honoring Lafayette. Besides Jim and Alison Latta, Guillaume Haccard will read the message in French.

Signings by local authors and artists producing work on Lafayette will be included. Mowday, Shay Allen and Karl J. Kuerner are expected to take part.

For more information on the July 20 Lafayette event, contact Mowday at mowday@mowday.com. For information on the Lafayette Bicentennial, see www.lafayette 200.org.