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LAWRENCE: Col. Hand march rings in new year with bell replica

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The Liberty Bell rang clear and true Saturday morning outside the Municipal Building.
    Well, actually it was a dead ringer for the bell — a copy made in 1975, cast from the original mold for the 1751 Liberty Bell that makes its home in Philadelphia. The bells were cast by the Whitechapel Foundry in London, England.
    Township resident William Agress arranged for Eric and Virginia Pearson, who own the replica Liberty Bell, to bring it to Lawrence Township in conjunction with the annual Col. Edward Hand historic march re-enactment.
    The event re-enacts the delaying tactics of Col. Hand and his Pennsylvania riflemen on Jan. 2, 1777. The Americans delayed the advance of British and Hessian troops on their way from Princeton to retake Trenton from the Americans during the afternoon of Jan. 2 — hours before the Second Battle of Trenton took place.
    Mr. Pearson said the replica Liberty Bell was commissioned in 1975 by Edward J. Piszak, whose child was a high school classmate of his in Chestnut Hill, Pa. Mr. Piszak was the chairman of the Liberty Bell Foundation and a co-founder of Mrs. Paul’s Kitchens.
    Over the years, the replica Liberty Bell has been rung at historic events, according to placards on the trailer that the Pearsons use to haul the bell. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger rang the bell on Sept. 17, 1987 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.
    Mr. Piszak was a first-generation Polish-American, and he was a great patriot of two countries — the United States and Poland, Mr. Pearson said. But when Mr. Piszak died, his children had no plans for the bell and they put it up for auction in 2007. That’s when the Pearsons acquired it.
    Mr. Pearson said that since he and his wife purchased the bell, they have taken it out in public a few times. The Traveling Liberty Bell Foundation, which they founded, has taken the bell to Shanksville, Pa., where one of the jets involved in the 9/11 hijacking crashed.
    “We are just putting together a necklace of events,” Mr. Pearson said, adding that he hopes the traveling Liberty Bell can make another appearance in Lawrence at the next Col. Hand march.
    Inside the Municipal Building, Mr. Agress — who has portrayed Col. Hand for 27 years — welcomed the crowd and introduced the speakers for the short program that preceded the six-mile march to Trenton.
    John S. Watson, Jr., who is the deputy commissioner for natural resources in the state Department of Environmental Protection, told the audience that New Jersey has more American Revolutionary War historic sites per square mile than any other state.
    “George Washington spent more time in New Jersey and fought more battles (here),” said Mr. Watson, who lives on Reeder Avenue in Lawrence. “(We) are proud of the work we have been able to do to preserve open space. We have been able to preserve a lot of remarkable history. People can actually go out and actually touch history.”
    Cate Litvack, the executive director of the Crossroads of the American Revolution, agreed that New Jersey residents can experience so much of American history in the state. The group seeks to encourage tourism in the state.
    “To be able to reach out and touch history is a lot more interesting than reading about it,” said Ms. Litvack, who lives in Princeton Township.
    Before embarking on the annual march, Mr. Agress offered a brief history lesson about Col. Hand and his role in delaying the British and Hessian troops. Gen. Washington gave the assignment of delaying the troops to Gen. Furmoy, but the general — who had a “shallow military background” — abandoned his post.
    That’s when Col. Hand had to pick up the pieces, Mr. Agress said. The colonel and his troops held off a superior force of about 6,000 British and Hessian soldiers in a series of skirmishes — two that occurred in Lawrence and one that occurred in Trenton.
    When Mr. Agress finished his remarks, the group — led by Mr. Agress, in his Col. Hand uniform, and Mayor Pam Mount — embarked on the march, which follows the same path as the colonel and his band of riflemen.
    When the group reached the banks of the Shabakunk Creek, on the edge of Notre Dame High School’s campus, they were met by the Coryell’s Ferry Militia. The New Hope, Pa., re-enactors fired off a Revolutionary War-era replica cannon, to the delight of spectators.
    “That was awesome,” said 8-year-old Zeke D’Ascoli, one of several children who were allowed to fire the cannon with the help of the Coryell’s Ferry Militia re-enactors and some Township Council members.
    Then, the rag-tag group — missing a few marchers — resumed the trek to Trenton.