Agenda for Aaron Burr's 250th BURRthday Celebration
At The Hermitage
Entertainment by:
IN GOOD COMPANY
AN 18TH CENTURY HISTORIC DANCE TROUPE
335 North Franklin Turnpike
Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423
201-445-8311
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006
4 pm Initial Gathering with Wine and Cheese Mixer
4:15pm Tour Hermitage. See room where
Aaron and Theodosia were married.
5:00pm-6:00pm Vintage Dancing by eight members of
In Good Company
Wear comfortable shoes so you can join in after initial demonstrations!
6:00pm Light Buffet dinner
6:30 Program hosted by MC Peter Tavino
Introduction by President General Stuart Johnson
with 10 minute message on State of the Aaron Burr Association
Introduction of The Hermitage Museum members by Dr. Henry Bishoff
with five minute message on 2006 events
Introduction of Weehawken Historical Commission members
Lauren Sherman, Edward Fleckenstein and Willie de Montreux.
6:50pm Discussion led by Antonio Burr:
* Effort to name a street in Manhattan after Aaron Burr
* Contact with North Carolina Senator Richard Burr
7:00pm Discussion of Alan Clark's new book Code of Dishonor
* Review comments by Lyman Coddington as read by Bob Cavaliere
Five minute slide show Tour of ABA web site
* by webmaster Peter Tavino
Plans for Blennerhassett Island Reenactment and Annual Meeting
* by Stuart Johnson and Helena Lawrence.
7:20 Reading of the account of Aaron Burr's BURRth:
Dr. Henry Bishoff and Lauren Sherman
Chapter 3 James Parton, The Life and Times of Aaron Burr
7:45pm Happy BURRthday Toast by Peter Tavino
Sing and blow out candles.
Serve cake and coffee.
8:00pm Safe Journeys Home Cost is $20 for ABA members.
$10 for Hermitage and Weehawken members.
(No charge for guests who do not partake of wine and cheese.)
(No charge for dance troupe members and press.)
Toast not read:
BURRthday toast: 250 years.
Twelve score and ten years.
One fourth of a millennium.
A very long time indeed.
It was 20 years before our great United States was conceived when Aaron Burr was born, and tonight we gather to celebrate that date February 6, 1756.
Who among us will be remembered in 250 years?
Who has been remembered at 250 years in the past?
Only a handful of titans.
Christopher Columbus, Isaac Newton, George Washington, John Marshall.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was remembered for his 250th birthday only a few weeks ago.
Sadly, in America, other than saints, there are few women or non European decedents who are thus recognized.
Then you have Benjamin Franklin recognized for 300 years, and soon Amsterdam will celebrate 400 years since the birth of Rembrandt in 1606.
Only those who have left their imprint on future generations are accorded the great honor of a 250th year party.
So what puts Aaron Burr in this elite category?
It was his forward thinking that politics must be the domain of everyone, and not just the ruling aristocracy.
His legacy remains.
Early Americans who did not own enough property to vote became empowered collective ownership partners under Aaron's legal guidance.
Women's education was moved to the forefront by Mary Wollstonecraft's greatest advocate in the states.
New York was introduced to the notion that slavery should be completely abolished immediately by lone crusader Assemblyman Aaron Burr in 1785.
The list of Colonel Burr's accomplishments goes on:
* Valiant teenage hero in the Revolutionary War.
* Successful attorney, businessman, senator.
* Loving husband, father and grandfather.
* Presidential campaigner extraordinaire.
* Eminent third vice president.
* Cause of the Judicial branch remaining independent of the Executive and Legislative branches.
* Leader of the Pioneers who settled the west.
As in all political arenas, he had his powerful opponents and an unchecked media. He was saddened by the deaths of all of his beloved family members.
But he triumphed for 80 years with a dignity we admire today, and he left a legacy that challenges us to promote social justice for everyone.
We must remember that our world consists of all sorts of people who deserve representation, and not just the wealthy and powerful.
So we raise a toast as Aaron Burr Association founder Samuel Engel Burr did some fifty years ago, with sword drawn to slice the cake.
To the memory of Colonel Aaron Burr.
Happy Birthday Aaron.
We still love you.
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