John Champe Chapter Commemorates 250th Anniversary of Lexington & Concord.

ALDI, Va.—On April 19, the Sgt. Maj. John Champe Chapter SAR sponsored the commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the opening battle of the Revolution at Lexington & Concord. The commemoration took place at Champe Farms near the village of Aldi in Loudoun County. Champe Farms, once home to the chapter’s namesake, John Champe, is the site of a memorial obelisk honoring Champe’s role as a spy for General George Washington.

The event included a brief commemoration of John Champe before transitioning to the remembrance of Lexington and Concord. Five SAR chapters—Sgt. Maj. John Champe, Col. James Wood II, George Mason, Col. Fielding Lewis, and Col. William Grayson—joined four DAR chapters—Elizabeth McIntosh Hammill, Ketoctin, Lanes Mill and Mary Hemings Bell—in the commemoration.

Two reenactors in the uniforms of His Majesty’s 65th Regiment of Foot added color and read part of the program to give a British soldier’s perspective of events on April 19, 1775. The British reenactors were Bernie Way who portrayed a Lieutenant and Lloyd Harting who portrayed a Sergeant.

As narration detailed the events of that day, nine militiamen at “Lexington” fired an opening shot, followed by a volley and individual musket rounds. The militia then moved to “Concord,” executing a second volley before firing additional rounds.

The ceremony closed with the reading of the names of the first eight patriots killed in the opening battle. After each name was read a bell was rung.

Photo 1: Musket Volley

Photo 2: SAR DAR & Brits. L-R Top row: Bernie Way, Lloyd Harting, Grace Mills, Jim Watts, Anita Bonner, David Welker, Jack Mills, Greg Hall, Andrew Mills, Ken Morris, Paula Schwoerer, Jacob Schwoerer; front row L-R: Mark Sink, Dale Corey, Sean Carrigan, Barry Schwoerer

Photo 3: Wreath Presentation. L-R: Mark Sink, Andrew Mills, Sean Carrigan, Paula Schwoerer, Anita Bonner, Nancy Watford, Ken Morris, Anne Ballenger