Monday Morning 5/19/2025:

11:00am  at Public Landing by the American Queen Paddle Wheel and Lafayette Historic Marker

Itinerary:

• MC Cameron Shadersky welcomes attendees and explains the reason for the celebration (assembly near the historic marker)
  • SCPA Children’s Choir sings “My Country Tis' of Thee” (teacher Cynthia Heister)
  • Lafayette (portrayed by Michael Halbert, sponsored by AFL) and William Henry Harrison (portrayed by Jeff Hillgrove,  sponsored by Harrison-Symmes Foundation) are escorted up the stairs from the riverfront by Cincinnati Committee co-chair Monica Mohlenkamp and several committee members
• Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard, commanded by Ohio State SAR Commander Bob Hill to receive Lafayette, accompanied by William Henry Harrison at the Public Landing by the Paddle Wheel (landing at the top of the steps near the historic marker)
• American & French National Anthems sung by soloist Carter Allen, Sycamore High School
• Cameron introduces Lafayette
• Vice Mayor, Jan-Michele Kearney to receive the Marquis de Lafayette & present the Mayoral Proclamation
• Marquis de Lafayette to receive proclamation and welcome
• William Henry Harrison welcomes Lafayette to Cincinnati after all these years
• Greetings from: 
  • Susan Leininger, State Regent, Ohio Society Daughters of the American Revolution
  • SAR Representative, Sons of the American Revolution
  • Mindy Rosen, Chair of Events, Alliance Francaise de Cincinnati
  • Cameron Shandersky, Past Master of Cincinnati-Lafayette Lodge No. 483, Free & Accepted Masons of Ohio
• Robert Kelly, VP of The American Friends of Lafayette, provides remarks and thanks to Vice Mayor Kearney, Lafayette and attendees
• Drawing among children/youth 5 – 18 in attendance for a children’s book about Lafayette (children/youth may also receive an AFL patch)
• MC Cameron Shandersky thanks all and concludes the event

Monday Evening 5/19/2025:
6:00pm    Doors open at Cincinnati Masonic Center for Dinner and Ball. View a small "museum" of Lafayette artifacts.
6:30pm    Happy Hour, Seating & Pettifors in Grand Ballroom
7:00pm    Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard, commanded by Bob Bowers, escorts Lafayette & dignitaries
7:05pm    Lafayette welcomes everyone
7:10pm    Welcome by Lafayette-Cincinnati Bi-centennial Co-Chairs:
                Monica Mohlenkamp, Regent, Cincinnati Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution
                Cameron Shandersky, Past Master of Cincinnati-Lafayette Lodge No. 483 Free & Accepted Masons of Ohio
                Mindy Rosen, Chair of Events, Alliance Francaise de Cincinnati
                Robert Kelly, VP of The American Friends of Lafayette
                Susan Leininger, State Regent, Ohio Society Daughters of the American Revolution
                Scott Freeman, President of Cincinnati Chapter Sons of the American Revolution
7:15pm    Dinner begins
7:30pm    Keynote Speaker - Julien Icher, President & Founder of The Lafayette Trail, Inc.
8:10pm    Special Dessert - Lafayette's favorite
8:20pm    Cincinnati Co-chairs recognize dignitaries, thank participating organizations, Julien,
                Lafayette interpreter & corporate sponsors
8:30pm    Dinner ends. Introduce Dance Mistress Jeanette Watts (historic dance instructor), and invite guests to get a drink and work their way upstairs to the
                hallway next to the Auditorium
8:45pm    Concert by Maestro Laurence Bonhaus and the Cincinnati Civic Orchestra
9:00pm    Grand March led by Lafayette & Organization Dignitaries
9:15pm    Jeanette Watts invites guests to the floor for Regency period ballroom dancing instruction
10:30pm  Concert & Dancing ends

Tuesday  5/20/25:
10:30am  Tribute to Lafayette & Fanny Wright at Spring Grove Cemetery in the Rose Garden Gazebo

• Alliance Francaise de Cincinnati welcomes guests
  • Susan Leininger, State Regent, Ohio Society Daughters of the American Revolution
  • Robert Kelly, VP of The American Friends of Lafayette introduction of interpreters
  • Lafayette & Fanny Wright interpreters reading letters they wrote to each other
  • Trista Yeager, Eleanor Rust (Fanny Wright podcasters)
  • Julien Icher, President, The Lafayette Trail, Inc.

11:45am   Walk to Fanny Wright's gravesite (17 mins)

Organization websites:

The Lafayette Trail
American Friends of Lafayette
Cincinnati Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Cincinnati Civic Orchestra
Clough Valley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Cincinnati Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution
Alliance Francaise de Cincinnati
Cincinnati-Lafayette Lodge No. 483, Free & Accepted Masons of Ohio


 

Dinner & Ball are a black tie event. Period Dress (ca. 1825) is admired but not required. 

EVENT DETAILS:

May 19, 2025 @ 11:00 am
Welcome Lafayette at Riverfront Landing Historic Marker
Riverfront Public Landing by the American Queen Paddle Wheel sculpture.

Welcome Lafayette at the same place he was received in 1825!

The Cincinnati Riverfront has been developed into a lovely walkway of public parks. We will welcome Lafayette on the walkway plaza next to the American Queen Paddle Wheel sculpture, where the Historic Marker of his visit has been placed by The Lafayette Trail and Pomeroy Foundation. Speakers will include the Vice Mayor of Cincinnati presenting a Proclamation declaring May 19th as “Marquis de Lafayette Day” and Robert Kelly, Vice President, The American Friends of Lafayette. Join members of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and Cincinnati-Lafayette Lodge No. 483 in wearing period attire (admired but not required). The SAR Color Guard will provide a salute to honor Lafayette.

Open to all, free of charge.

May 19, 2025 @ 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Lafayette Celebration Dinner and Ball, Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati Masonic Center 317 East Fifth Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202

Enjoy delicious French cuisine and Ballroom Dancing (with an instructor) in the beautiful, historic Cincinnati Masonic Center building in downtown Cincinnati. Lafayette’s visit to Cincinnati included Lafayette Masonic Lodge No.81, and a festive dinner and ball in his honor. We are fortunate to be able to celebrate the bi-centennial anniversary by holding a dinner and ball in the Masonic Center Grand Ballroom and Auditorium!
The evening will include displays of Lafayette artifacts and information in the Founders Hall, a welcoming address from Lafayette, and celebration. Leaders from local and national organizations including Free & Accepted Masons, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), Alliance Francaise de Cincinnati, and American Friends of Lafayette (AFL). The keynote speaker will be Julien Icher, President and Founder of The Lafayette Trail, Inc.

The evening will begin with happy hour and petits fours, and dinner will include several delicious options (including vegetarian) and Lafayette’s favorite dessert. Music for the ball is provided by Maestro Laurence Bonhaus and the Cincinnati Civic Orchestra, and Dance Mistress Jeanette Watts (historic dance instructor) will guide us in a Grand March and provide dance instruction throughout the ball. It will be a grand time for celebration!

This will be a ticketed public event. 

May 20, 2025 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Tribute to Lafayette and Fanny Wright, sponsored by Alliance Francaise de Cincinnati, OH 
Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum, 4521 Spring Grove Ave.  Cincinnati, Ohio 45232

Join us for a tribute to Frances “Fanny” Wright, a thought leader of her time but sometimes forgotten figure who was a close friend of Lafayette and influenced his belief in equality between men and women. Fanny was an independent lecturer, writer, freethinker, feminist, and social reformer who shared Lafayette’s commitment to the abolition of slavery. She was born in Scotland in 1795, was invited by Lafayette to join him on his Farewell Tour of America, became a US citizen in 1825, and died in Cincinnati in 1852 where she is laid to rest in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Tristra Yeager and Eleanor Rust, Co-producers of the Frances Wright podcast, Julien Icher, President and founder of The Lafayette Trail, Inc., Robert Kelly, Vice President, The American Friends of Lafayette (AFL), a Lafayette interpreter, and a Fanny Wright interpreter will speak in the Rose Garden gazebo.  Following their presentations, we will visit Fanny’s grave to lay flowers and read the inscriptions on her monument. 

Open to all, free of charge.