THE COMMON SENSE SOCIETY
www.commonsensesociety.org
**The Common Sense Society of Fort Lee met on June 12th and elected a slate of officers.
James Viola, Commander of the Fort Lee VFW, was elected Chairman. Tom Meyers of the Fort Lee Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs was elected Vice Chair. Elected to the Board of Trustees were Margaret Hart and Kay Nest of the Fort Lee Historical Society and Professor Harvey Kaye of the University of Wisconsin who is author of " Thomas Paine and the Promise of America". Associate members include Professor Lee H. Igel of New York University and historian / author Thomas Fleming of Manhattan.
The Common Sense society commissioned sculptor David Frech of Beacon, New York to create this statue, only the sixth statue of Tom Paine in the world and the fourth in this nation. The Common Sense Society spoke before the Fort Lee Mayor and Council in executive session on July 19th and the Mayor and Council agreed to fund the down payment of $50,000 for this statue. The remaining payments of $79,000 will be met through fundraising efforts of the Common Sense Society.
The statue will be unveiled in 2009 in Monument Park, commemorating the death of Thomas Paine in 1809. The statue will be placed in the eastern section of the park facing the 1908 statue of two Revolutionary War soldiers. The Tom Paine statue will depict Paine at work on one of the most influential documents in world history, "The American Crisis." This document, published in December 1776, was written by Paine as a first hand account of the months he spent in Fort Lee in 1776 as an aide to General Nathanael Greene. He was with Greene and General George Washington and the American Army as they evacuated Fort Lee on November 20th, 1776, and retreated across New Jersey. General Washington ordered his officers to read "The American Crisis" to his troops prior to the Crossing of the Delaware .
The Common Sense Society of Fort Lee will work closely with the Thomas Paine National Historical Association and Museum of New Rochelle. The statue of Paine in Fort Lee will be only the sixth statue of Paine in the world and the fourth in the United States. We have secured famed historian /author Thomas Fleming to unveil the statue in November 2008.
Please check this website for event information. We are accepting donations and we seek 1,776 winter soldiers who can donate $100 each to make this statue a reality. We will accept all donations of any amounts and checks can be made out to:
Thomas Paine / VFW Account - send checks to the Fort Lee Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, 309 Main Street, Fort Lee, NJ 07024 Attention: Tom Meyers.
Schedule of Events:
THOMAS PAINE STATUE FUNDRAISER
CLAMBAKE ON THE HUDSON
Join us Sunday, August 24 from Noon to sunset for a clambake at the Alpine Boat Basin Dance Pavilion along the Hudson River at the Palisade Interstate Park (Exit 2 off the Palisade Interstate PArkway - follow signs to Alpine Boat Basin on River).
Music will be provided by Thaddeus MacGregor and there will be dancing in the pavilion. Food will include hotdogs, hamburgers, soda, water, lemonade, clams.
Ticket Prices:
Adults - $25
Children under 12 - FREE
All proceeds will go to the funding of a statue to Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Paine in Fort Lee's Monument Park.
Call (201) 693-2763 for ticket information or visit www.commonsensesociety.org.
Email us at: tmeyers@fortleenj.org
Visit us at: www.fortleenj.org |
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Fort Lee Office of
Cultural and Heritage Affairs
309 Main Street
Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024
(201) 592-3663 |
