Bordentown prepares for 325th birthday

Committee formed to oversee events

By: Vanessa S. Holt
   BORDENTOWN CITY — It’s not a terquasquicentennial — that would be 175 years. It’s not a quasquicentennial, which is 125 years. What would you call a 325th anniversary — a sesquicentennial and then some? Or perhaps just the 25th anniversary of the tricentennial?
   Call it what you wish, but Bordentown City is turning 325 next year and a committee has formed to oversee the events, which are expected to include a Revolutionary War re-enactment, a huge parade and a bevy of other activities.
   There’s no shortage of history to draw from in the mile-square city, settled in 1682 by Thomas Farnsworth, an English Quaker. The city’s main thoroughfare bears his name, but the town was named for Joseph Borden, who came along in 1717.
   "Borden’s Towne," located on the Delaware River and conveniently between Philadelphia and New York, became an important crossroads in the years that led up to the Revolutionary War. Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, lived here, as did Thomas Paine, who is honored with a statue at the end of Prince Street. Another famous resident, Napoleon’s brother — Joseph Bonaparte — the former king of Spain, lived on 200 acres off what is now Park Street in the early 1800s.
   On the weekend of June 9-10 next year, a Revolutionary War re-enactment will be held on the grounds of Divine Word Missionaries on Park Street. The city was the site of a skirmish during the Revolutionary War.
   "At the last (re-enactment) we had about 1,000 re-enactors and we hope to get about 1,500 for this one," said Larry Denney, the committee chairman. The Revolutionary War will set up camp on the grounds of Divine Word to re-enact the battle.
   Other activities next year include a concert that is still in the planning stages, to be sponsored by the Downtown Bordentown Association, and a costume dinner dance on Sept. 22 at a yet-to-be-determined location.
   The September 2007 events will be capped off by a huge parade, which is being organized by Steve McGowan, who runs the city’s annual Halloween parade.
   The fundraising goal this year, to get all of these activities going, is $50,000, Mr. Denney said. Most of that will go toward the cost of the parade and the re-enactment. In addition to a golf outing and sales of the commemorative blankets, a large auction also will be held later this year, run by city residents Jim and Maxine Brimmer.
   The first fundraiser this year is scheduled for Sept. 15 at Fountain Green Golf Course at Fort Dix, moved back from a May date to gather more participants.
   The committee plans to set up a booth at this weekend’s Street Fair, which will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. One of the main attractions at the committee booth will be pre-orders of a commemorative blanket, displaying the 325th anniversary logo (of the town clock), the city’s monuments to the former Bordentown Military Institute and Bordentown Female College, the veterans’ monuments and the Clara Barton Schoolhouse.
   The throws will be $50 and a sample will be on display at the booth.
   The Sept. 15 golf outing is open to everyone, at $100 per golfer, $150 for a hole sponsorship or $25 for booster membership.

   The next meeting of the 325th Anniversary Committee is 7 p.m. June 1 at the Friends Meetinghouse on Farnsworth Avenue.

   For more information on anniversary events, including the golf outing, and how to participate or help, contact Larry Denney, (609) 298-1892.