I wanted to post a quick update on our friend and guest blogger Michael Kahn. Michael is the historian working tirelessly to have a monument erected commemorating the soldiers and officers of the First Rhode Island Regiment. Last week Michael received a generous donation from IBM and a bronze Good Citizenship Medal from his local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. Michael told me that the SAR also gave the award to another board trustee, Monica Doherity, for her contributions to this project. Monica is also the editor of the book “The Nasty Affair at Pines Bridge,” which is only available through the Yorktown Historical Society. Read Michael's Guest Post

In an email to me Michael added, “We just finished a working site plan that would give us an idea how many paving stones we would need to assist us with fund raising--specifically, personalized paving stones. Our town planner, John Tegeder, completed this task to assist us with obtaining the necessary permits to place the monument on New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection property. I have already enlisted the help of two groups of public school students that would assist in the maintenance of the monument/property as part of their community service requirements.”

This is a perfect example of how ordinary people can work together to preserve our extraordinary heritage for future generations. Most of our most notable monuments came from grass roots movements like this. I will keep you updated on this worthy endeavor as it progresses. Well done Michael!