Every year since 2004, Patriots’ Week celebrates the history-changing events that took place on the streets and surrounding fields of downtown Trenton in 1776.

This year’s activities begin as usual the day after Washington’s Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware and continue through the end of the year. Then the scene moves to Princeton (see story in next week’s Town Topics).

Billed as the region’s “largest celebration of the life and times of the Revolutionary War,” Patriots’ Week 2014 will feature more than 30 activities for adults and children. The event is produced by the Trenton Downtown Association (TDA) in collaboration with The Rockhopper Creative, The 1719 William Trent House, First Presbyterian Church, Trenton Friends Meeting House, Wyndham Garden Hotel, Masonic Temple, Trenton Battlefield Tours, and the Old Barracks Museum, which has been staging Battle of Trenton re-enactments for more than 20 years.

The program has grown to include cultural events that focus on the role of women and African Americans.

This year, in addition to the popular re-enactments of the First and Second Battles of Trenton, musical performances, lectures, and historic site tours, actor Noah Lewis will portray the African American soldier and wagoneer Ned Hector.

According to Mr. Lewis’s website (www.nedhector.com), Edward “Ned” Hector (c. 1744-1834) was a freeman, a teamster, and an artilleryman with Colonel Proctor’s Regiment. He fought at Germantown and Brandywine, where his courage during the army’s retreat was noted. After the war, he lived with his family in a log cabin in Conshohocken, where Hector Street was named in his memory in 1850.

Mr. Lewis is the author of Edward ‘Ned’ Hector–Revolutionary War Hero and is currently working on a biography of the soldier, whose story he discovered while researching his own ancestors’ connections with the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. Mr. Lewis will share the American patriot’s story on Friday, December 26, at 4 p.m. at the Masonic Temple Library.

“Patriots’ Week is an opportunity to remind people of Trenton’s important contribution to our national heritage and world history” said TDA Executive Director Christian Martin. “The festival pays homage to our past and presents an opportunity to highlight some of the rich cultural treasures that are still here today.”

Kick-Off Events

The Fifes and Drums of the Old Barracks Museum kick off the events on December 26 at 10 a.m. at the Wyndham Garden Hotel on West Lafayette Street where a free celebratory Colonial brunch with historians, re-enactors, elected officials and community leaders is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson and Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson will welcome visitors.

A panel discussion on “Being George Washington” follows at noon, with at least five Washingtons expected to take part. After that, flag history expert Roger S. Williams will discuss “Flags of the Revolution” at 1 p.m. and Stacy Roth will present “Over Here, Molly Pitcher” at 2 p.m. in the Masonic Temple Library at 100 Barrack Street. Ms. Roth’s dramatic presentation highlights the lives of women during the American Revolution. “Molly reminisces about the days when she accompanied her husband through summer battles to winter encampments from Valley Forge to Monmouth to Morristown,” said Ms. Roth.

A highlight will be the Colonial Ball at the Wyndham Garden Hotel on Friday, from 7 to 10 p.m. Described as something of a “Revolutionary War Prom, the event draws people come from all over who invariably wear period clothing and long dresses for the occasion. Tickets are $17.76 in advance, $25 at the door; $20 for Old Barracks Members. There is a cash bar. For more information, call (609) 396-1776.

Historical re-enactments are scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 27, with the First Battle of Trenton at 11 a.m. Visitors can follow the battle from the first cannon shot fired on Warren Street to the final skirmish in Mill Hill Park. At 3 p.m., The Second Battle of Trenton re-enactment will start at the First Presbyterian church, 120 East State Street with the Continental Army withdrawing to the Assunpink Creek Bridge at Mill Hill Park. And just as on January 7, 1777, three attempts will be made to take the bridge.

Sandwiched between the two battles, at 1 p.m., author and historian Larry Kidder will relate the history of the story of the men of the First Hunterdon militia regiment and their families, in the crucial month of December 1776, and how they helped ensure that the Continentals got to the right place at the right time to surprise and defeat the Hessians in Trenton. The talk, titled, “The Local Militia and the Battles at Trenton,” which is based on research for a book, will take place in the Masonic Temple Library.

“The Battles of Trenton and the events that took place here literally turned the tide of the Revolutionary War,” said Event Director Joseph Kuzemka. “We’ve made it a point to recreate that era with both interactive and educational events that will be sure to satisfy even the most staunch of history buffs.”

Other Highlights

Ongoing events include planetarium shows at the New Jersey State Museum Planetarium on 205 West State Street, which will present the sky as it was when George Washington crossed the Delaware. Among the many tours on offer will be the New Jersey State House at 125 W. State Street, including a special “Hidden Treasures of the State House” on Monday, December 29, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., which offers a behind the scenes peek at one of the nation’s oldest continuously operating capitol buildings. Visitors will be taken from the basement to the attic. For more information, call (609) 847-3150.

Other highlights include Scrabble at Classics Books, 4 West Lafayette Street, the popular Revolutionary Pub Crawl (taking in Checkers at 14 South Warren Street, Settimo Cielo at 17 East Front Street, Mill Hill Saloon at 200 South Broad Street), dinner with George and Martha Washington at the Trenton Social at 449 South Broad Street and film screenings such as Ten Crucial Days: The Road to Liberty with a lecture by David Emerson, the star of the movie, and The Crossing, starring Jeff Daniels.

Musical performances include “A Delightful Recreation” by The Practitioners of Musick on December 26 at 3 p.m. in the Trenton Friends Meeting House at 142 East Hanover Street, where there will also be a program of Shape Note Singing.

Most of the events are free, but tickets are required for the Colonial Ball, and food events, such as tea at the restored 1719 William Trent House at 15 Market Street, Trenton’s oldest building and a National Historic Landmark.

William Trent House

The New Year will be celebrated in Scottish fashion at the Trent House with a traditional Hogmanay, Saturday, December 27, at 12:30 p.m. Bagpiper Patty Downey will celebrate Trent’s Scottish heritage with a program of winter and Scottish music, also performed by members of the Capital Singers of Trenton. No reservations are needed for the event, hosted by Trenton Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson; there will be complimentary refreshments.

On Sunday, December 28, at 2 p.m., Susan McLellan Plaisted of Heart to Hearth Cookery, will offer a Colonial Tea and explore the etiquette and meaning of tea in colonial times. The tearoom will be set with linens and the famous pink china that was custom-made for the Trent House. Ms. Plaisted will demonstrate the accoutrements and visitors will sample three types of tea and homemade gourmet desserts, authentic to the period. Period dress is welcome but not required. Tickets are $18, $15 for supporters and reservations are required, pre-payment appreciated. Seating is limited For reservations, call (609) 989-0087 or trenthouseassociation@verizon.net. For more information, visit: www.williamtrenthouse.org.

Space is limited for many activities, so call beforehand. For a full schedule of Patriots Week events, program descriptions, and to purchase tickets, visit: patriotsweek.com.