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The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Cardinal News has embarked on a three-year project to tell the little-known stories of Virginia’s role in the march to independence. This project is supported, in part, by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission. Find all our stories from this project on the Cardinal 250 page.

It’s likely few people knew the western frontier of Virginia better than Thomas Lewis when the U.S. declared independence from Britain in 1776.

The amount of interaction he had with Native Americans before being appointed to negotiate the first formal U.S. treaty with them is unclear.

Lewis hailed from a family that settled in Augusta County in 1732, near what is now Staunton, and in 1746, while still in his 20s, he was appointed the first surveyor of Augusta County.

In Colonial Virginia, the fundamental job of a surveyor was to transfer land from the crown to private ownership, Ron Bailey wrote in the Colonial Williamsburg Journal.

Author Sarah Hughes wrote in her book, “Surveyors and Statesmen: Land Measuring in Colonial Virginia,” that “after 1740, as vast areas of western land were organized into counties, the colonial county surveyors of the region rose in power and prestige in an unprecedented way.”

While prestigious, the men appointed surveyors, including George Washington and Peter Jefferson — father of Thomas Jefferson — earned their money in the rugged occupation that required traversing some of the region’s most unforgiving terrain. Lewis worked with and corresponded with both men.

Of surveying with Peter Jefferson, Lewis wrote: “It was with the greatest Difficulty we Could get along-the mountains being prodigiously full of fallen Timber & Ivey as thick as it could grow, so interwoven that horse or man Could hardly force his way through it….

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Lenape Valley Foundation (LVF), a nonprofit provider of behavioral health services, held its Community Care Celebration awards dinner on Thursday, October 24 at The Warrington in Warrington, PA. The event raised more than $45,000 and recognized several individuals and organizations for their community advocacy.

Honorees included: Sharon Curran, retired LVF CEO, recipient of the Ed Knopf, M.D. Award; Barbara N. Lyons, Esq., a local philanthropist, community advocate and former LVF Board member, recipient of the Community Champion Award; the Bucks County Drug & Alcohol Commission, Inc., a nonprofit offering a comprehensive and balanced continuum of quality prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery services for Bucks County, recipient of the Health and Wellness Champion Award; and the Village Improvement Association (VIA), a nonprofit committed to enhancing the health and welfare of the central Bucks County community, recipient of the Stakeholder Champion Award.

More than 130 people attended the event including Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick and State Senator Frank Farry who provided proclamations recognizing the outstanding contributions of each of the awardees to the community.

In addition to the awards presentation, the event also featured a cocktail hour, musical entertainment, a wine pull fundraiser and dinner. Top sponsors included Gorski Engineering, Inc., Fulton Bank and Good Stuff Thrift.

Proceeds will support the opening of the Bright Path Center, a new behavioral health crisis center in Bucks County. The center, which will be located in Doylestown, will greatly improve the environment and quality of care for children, adults and families who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Anticipated to open in 2025 and the first of its kind in Pennsylvania, the new crisis center will bring together under one roof all the components of crisis services that are now fractured across our system: mental health, drug and alcohol, intellectual disabilities and more, in an environment designed to deescalate the…

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Fanfare is our curated weekly guide to classical music concerts in the Philadelphia area. Subscribe now to get Fanfare delivered to your inbox every Sunday. And if you have feedback or an upcoming event to share, let us know!

Spotlight: Lenape Chamber Ensemble — Friday, Upper Tinicum Lutheran Church, Upper Black Eddy; Sunday, Delaware Valley University, Doylestown

For 50 years in Bucks County, the Lenape Chamber Ensemble has presented music with a name honoring the indigenous Lenape people (coincidentally, it’s Native American Heritage Month). Listeners have two opportunities to join in the anniversary celebration with a hefty Baroque program, performed by musicians bearing impressive credentials. Lionel Party — formerly of the New York Philharmonic and the ensemble’s harpsichordist — curated the program, and his collaborators are Cyrus Beroukhim and Katie Hyun, violins; William Hakim, viola; Alberto Parrini, cello; and Motomi Igarashi, bass.

And while most of the composers on the menu are well-known — J.S. Bach, Couperin, Telemann, and Vivaldi — in between are two outliers. For almost 25 years, Jacques Aubert (1689-1753) was the first violinist of the Paris Opera, and his 1738 Chaconne for two violins, scarcely seven minutes long, is an elegant bit of 18th-century arcana. And though Pierre Gautier de Marseille, a contemporary of Lully, was mainly known for his operas, none of them has survived. In 1696 Gautier and his brother died during a sea storm, and his Suite in G Minor for Violins, Cello, and Harpsichord was published posthumously in 1707.

Nov. 15 at 8 p.m., Upper Tinicum Lutheran Church, 188 Upper Tinicum Church Road, Upper Black Eddy; Nov. 17 at 3 p.m., Life Sciences Building Auditorium, Delaware Valley University, 700 East Butler Avenue, Doylestown, purchase tickets.

Paul Lewis in Schubert’s Last Three Piano…

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The Camden Catholic Fighting Irish will square off against Pope John XXIII at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Camden Catholic is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.

Last Wednesday, in a tight game that could have gone either way, Camden Catholic made off with a 28-27 victory over Lenape.

Meanwhile, Pope John XXIII was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 40-28 hit to the loss column at the hands of St. Michael the Archangel.

Despite the defeat, Pope John XXIII had strong showings from Tylik Hill, who rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.3 yards per carry, and Prince Joshua, who picked up 108 receiving yards. Hill showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 53 yards.

Even if they lost, Pope John XXIII’s defensive line still kept up the pressure with three sacks. Alex Schreiber was especially locked on to St. Michael the Archangel’s QB and sacked him twice. Tyler Houser was another major factor on D, making 14 total tackles (1.0 for loss).

Camden Catholic’s win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-0. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 41.5 points per game. As for Pope John XXIII, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps

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