Moorestown resident Mary Louise Bianco at The New Leaf Tea Room & Gift Shoppe in Riverton on Nov. 17. Bianco’s nonprofit, Mannerly Traditions, will host a party for George Washington’s 294th birthday and America’s 250th anniversary at the Community House on Sunday, Feb. 22.
A nonprofit founded by Moorestown resident Mary Louise Bianco is inviting the community to celebrate George Washington’s 294th birthday and America’s 250th anniversary at the Community House of Moorestown on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m.
“What better way to teach the children manners than from the father of our country?” quipped Bianco, who founded Mannerly Traditions. “ … George, throughout his life, credited his devout mother for his moral upbringing, who led him to manhood in the absence of a father.”
Washington was born to Mary Ball and Augustine Washington on Feb. 22, 1732. His father died when he was 11, and his older brothers inherited most of Augustine’s estate, including Little Hunting Creek Plantation – later called Mount Vernon – according to the Miller Center, a nonpartisan institution at the University of Virginia.
Despite raising six children on her own, Mary was able to educate and give them promising social opportunities. Washington and his mother had significant similarities, according to the museum George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Virginia. Both were vigilant in protecting their property and dependents.
“This is really an unsung woman,” Bianco explained of Mary, who also died when her son was young. “George was raised to be faithful; prudent; considerate; polite; courageous; respectful; and kind, and always have good manners.”
The birthday bash will include entertainment and characters in costume, including Martha Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Betsy Ross and Thomas Jefferson. Bianco will evoke Colonial times to portray Washington’s mother. She will be joined by young Washington, played by Ivan Dean Dennisov, a student at The Juilliard School in New York and a Moorestown High School senior.
The two will discuss the early years before Washington became president, and Dennisov will entertain with patriotic songs and other features. A buffet lunch will be served along with birthday cake. The Historical Society of Moorestown will also have a mini museum on display.
“The Mannerly Traditions team is thrilled to present this once-in-a lifetime event, and the fact that it’s being held on Washington’s birthday is the cherry on top,” Bianco noted. “George Washington is a man of firsts: Not only was he the first president of the United States, he was also the first person in America to write a book on manners when he was a young teenager.”
That work was called “George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.”
Mannerly Traditions teaches manners and etiquette to children and adults and specializes in educating individuals with neurodiversity and other disabilities. Two years ago, the Burlington County Commissioners approved the distribution of a record-high $78,861 in local history grants to 12 nonprofits and towns to assist with their operations and historic preservation projects.
Mannerly Traditions got $6,000 to support its creation of a manners/etiquette curriculum based on Washington’s book. The grants were awarded as part of the New Jersey Historical Commission’s County History Partnership Program to assist existing and emerging local history organizations and other nonprofits.
To attend the celebration, RSVP by Sunday, Feb. 8. For tickets, visit www.mannerlytraditions.com.
