Civil War Presentation, Warren Bonfire Coming Up This Week

Two very special events are coming up in Warren Township this week, including a public Civil War Community night, and the return of the 6th annual bonfire on Saturday.

The public is invited to Watchung Hills High School to attend free of charge at 6 p.m. on Monday a presentation at which two prominent Lincoln scholars will present differing viewpoints and debate the proposal: “Lincoln — Tyrant or Savior?”

Those who attend also can enjoy food common to the era and view an 80-foot panorama with Civil War displays.

The special event, to begin promptly at 6 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at the regional high school at 108 Stirling Road in Warren, recognizes the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pa.

One of the speakers will be Dr. Louis Masur, Distinguished Professor at American Studies and History at Rutgers University’s School of Arts & Sciences, who recently has published “Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union,” which was awarded the prize for the best book from the Abraham Lincoln Institute and the North Jersey Civil War Roundtable. 

Taking an opposing viewpoint will be Dr. William Carrigan, Professor and Chair of the History Department at Rowan University, where he teaches courses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, American Western History, U.S. Labor History, and Historical Methods. His  research interests include race and ethnicity in 19th Century America, the history of U.S. Southwest borderlands and the study of violence. He is the author of  “The Making of a Lynching Culture:  Violence and Vigilantism in Central Texas, 1836-1916,” which won the Richard Wentworth Prize in 2005.

The audience will be given the opportunity to challenge or comment upon speakers’ viewpoints.

Bonfire this Saturday, rain date is Jan. 25

In what has become a winter event growing larger every year, Warren Township has scheduled its 6th annual Yuletide Bonfire Winter Festival to be held on on Saturday, Jan. 18, at a location behind the municipal complex at 46 Mountain Blvd. Rain date is the following Saturday, Jan. 25.

The event — with fireworks set to debut for this year — is scheduled for 6 to about 9 p.m. Only heavy snow would cancel, said Linda Palumbo, administrative assistant for the Warren Township recreation department.

She said it was estimated that up to a thousand people attended the popular community event over the course of the evening last year. 

The Warren Fire Department will light the bonfire. Garden State Fireworks is scheduled to begin the fireworks at about 8:45 p.m., Palumbo said.

Admission is free, and free hot chocolate, snacks and donuts have been donated, she said.

More information also is on the township website and in an earlier story on Patch.