School children who participate in the march are eligible to receive a commemorative patch.
By:Lea Kahn Staff Writer
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts earn patches when they complete a project and so will children who take part in the 44th annual Col. Edward Hand march, from Lawrence to Trenton.
A special patch will be awarded to children who complete the six-mile-long march, which is set for Saturday, Jan. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Municipal Building, according to history buff and local Girl Scout leader Alison Roth.
The march memorializes Col. Hand and his band of Pennsylvania riflemen, who delayed the advance of British and Hessian troops in Lawrence on their way from Princeton to retake Trenton from the Americans during the afternoon of Jan. 2, 1777 hours before the Second Battle of Trenton took place.
Led by Col. Hand portrayed by Pagoda Court resident William Agress and Mayor-to-be Michael Powers and Township Council, the march ends at the Douglass House on the corner of Front and Montgomery streets in Trenton. This is where Gen. George Washington held a council of war and plotted the Battle of Princeton.
Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and members of the public are invited to take part in the march. Lawrence Township-owned vans will take the marchers back to the Municipal Building from the Douglass House.
The colorful red, white and blue patch, which features an outline of the State of New Jersey in green, is one of four designs that were presented to Lawrence Intermediate School Alice Keffer’s 5th-grade class Dec. 8. The class voted for the winning design.
"I know children love patches," said Ms. Roth. She said she thought that if the children knew they would be awarded a patch, they would be more likely to participate in the march.
Ms. Roth received a $500 grant from the Lawrence Township Community Foundation to pay for the patch, which was designed by Massachusetts artist Philip Lehans.
A native of Billerica, Mass., Ms. Roth said she participated in a similar historic march when she was a teenager. The march, which commemorated the Minutemen’s role in the American Revolutionary War, started in Acton and ended in Concord.
"It stayed with me forever," Ms. Roth said of the Massachusetts march.
Mr. Agress, who has portrayed Col. Hand for the past 24 years, said the march will follow a short program by Township Historian Robert Immordino. He will highlight some of the past marches which mayor made the quickest march, for example.
Audience members also can answer a 25-question quiz about Col. Hand, Mr. Agress said. There are two bonus questions. The prize is a visit to Col. Hand’s house in Pennsylvania, he said.
Following the program, the marchers will begin the six-mile trek to Trenton. They will stop at the sites of two skirmishes that occurred in Lawrence. A third skirmish between the Americans and the British occurred in Trenton, near the site of today’s Capital Health Systems at Fuld Hospital.
The first skirmish between the Americans and the British occurred on the banks of Five-Mile-Run, also known as the Little Shabakunk Creek.
The second skirmish took place along the banks of the Shabakunk Creek, at the site of Notre Dame High School. As they have in years past, historic re-enactor Robert Gerenser and the Coryell’s Ferry Militia will load and shoot a replica Revolutionary War-era cannon.
The marchers will continue their trek, ending at the historic Douglass House. They will enjoy refreshments, before being ferried back to the Municipal Building in township vans.
The rain date for the march is 10 a.m., Jan. 8.