Friday is our opportunity to visit Colonial Williamsburg. Meticulously recreated using documentary evidence, historic research, original buildings, and modern analysis techniques, the historic area offers an immersive experience that brings the story of America’s revolutionary beginnings to life. We will meet people from Williamsburg’s Colonial past and discover historic stories and experiences, including some unique surprises during our time here. Even if you have visited Colonial Williamsburg before, there are many new things to see and learn. The rate we secured from the Woodlands Hotel includes 2 two-day passes for each room booked, so if you come early on Thursday, or decide to stay through Sunday, you are welcome to use your passes for any additional days in Colonial Williamsburg. Attendees will be able to select entertaining and educational exhibits, as well as wonderful lunch options on your own for Friday in Colonial Williamsburg.
As an 18th-century Colony of the British Empire, Colonial Williamsburg served as a port of call for ships from all corners of the world, and citizens and visitors may have found molasses, sugar, and rum from the West Indies; wines from Portugal, Spain, and France; coffee from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean; tea from Asia; lemons and limes from the Caribbean; and spices from all over the world. On Friday evening, we will dine at James Shield’s Tavern where the menu reflects these wonderful global influences.
Saturday morning we will board buses and travel the short distance to Yorktown and participate in the festivities celebrating the 243rd anniversary of America’s momentous 1781 Revolutionary War victory – the Battle of Yorktown. Our first stop will be Grace Episcopal Church for a Wreath-Laying Ceremony.
Ancestors Nicolas Martiau and George and Elizabeth Reade are buried here. A tour of the church will be followed by an opportunity to march behind a NSWFD banner in the Yorktown Day Parade. Participants will include drum & fife bands, representatives of other organizations – DAR and SAR - as well as local marching bands and musical groups. At the end of the parade, we will have a reserved seating area to hear the official Memorial Program. Following time at the incredible Yorktown Visitor’s Center, we will enter the recently opened American Revolution Museum at Yorktown where we will be immersed in interactive exhibits, dioramas, films and period artifacts that will help to tell the story of the American Revolution from its origins in the mid-1700’s to the early years of the new United States.
Saturday evening we will gather at the hotel for our final dinner and 70th Annual General meeting. Sunday morning, we will attend a service at Bruton Parish Church. Members of the Virginia House of Burgesses, while leading the fight for independence and creating a new government, worshiped at Bruton. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry attended when the legislature was in session. As emotions and rhetoric heated during the years before the American Revolution, Burgesses walked from the Capitol to Bruton to observe a Day of Prayer in support of their fellow patriots in Boston. We will hold our Annual Memorial Service and have a light lunch here at Bruton Parish Hall.
This year, for those who want to join in for our visit to Yorktown on Saturday only, we are offering a Saturday only fee structure. Both registration forms are enclosed with this letter. If you have any questions about the reunion or any Washington family matters, please feel free to contact me at the email address below. I hope you will join us to celebrate the 70th annual gathering of the Washington Family, and be prepared to learn things you did not already know, meet members you have not met before and, as always, rekindle friendships with cousins!
Blest be the ties that bind,
Barbara C. Short
President General NSWFD