Celebratory Events to Mark 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Pelham
The final events in the year-long Pelham250 celebration will take place in the week leading up to the October 18th semiquincentennial anniversary of the Battle of Pelham. The historic tall ship, the Lynx will arrive at the New Rochelle marina on October 14 with a Tavern Night at Kenny’s on the Water. The ship will be open for visits Saturday, October 17 from 10am to 4pm. That evening the Junior League of Pelham and the Pelham Civic Association are holding a festive gala, “Stars, Stripes, and a Revolutionary Night: A Salute to the Spirit of Pelham” at the New York Athletic Club, Travers Island, with a 25.0 minute fireworks display over the harbor that can also be viewed from Shore Road and Glenn Island.
Be ready to wake up early on Sunday, October 18 when British red coats will arrive on landing craft at Orchard Beach and be stopped by American patriots in a reenactment of the Battle of Pelham. In the afternoon, Pelham Town Historian will lead a walking tour starting at Prospect Hill School, which will include what was the north end of the battlefield.
Details on these and other events can be found at PelhamTownHistorian.com/Pelham250.
Pelham’s year-long celebration commenced with an exhibit at the Town of Pelham Public Library, “The Pells in the Revolution: A Family Divided by War” and a display of a cannon ball fired during the Battle of Pelham, which can be seen through the end of the year. Other events included the planting of a Baldwin Apple Tree by the students of Prospect Hill at the Battle of Pelham monument, the Manor Club’s “America: 250 Years in Word and Song,” the Pelham Preservation & Garden Society annual fundraiser at the historic Philip Pell House (which was graciously opened for tours by owners Rhonda Kost and Alfred Spector), the Bartow-Pell “Light Up the Night: A Star-Spangled Celebration,” an Independence Day 2.50 Mile Run sponsored by the American Legion, Pelham Post 50 and the Pelham Civic Association, and a talk at the Pelham Picture House by Patrick O’Donnell, author of The Indispensables, about the role of John Glover and his regiment known as the Marblehead Mariners in the course of America’s War for Independence.