Friends of Cooch’s Bridge named 2024 Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Service Award honorees
The Friends of Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site have been recognized for their dedication to historic preservation and volunteerism as one of the 2024 Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Service Award honorees.
This dedicated group of individuals includes a board of 14 members and 25 active volunteers, along with over 250 Founding Friends, whose collective efforts resulted in over 827 hours of volunteer service in 2023, according to the nomination from the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs’ (HCA) Historic Sites Team Manager Daniel Citron.
“The Friends of Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site have had an outsized impact on the site in just a few years,” Citron wrote in the nomination, noting that the group’s fundraising, organizing and programming has helped enhance the site’s community engagement, rehabilitation and repair and accessibility. In just a few years, the group has helped raise upwards of $1 million to benefit the historic site.
“The friends have also made it a priority to ensure that a more inclusive approach is being taken to research and program development, matching HCA’s strategic plan,” he noted. “To that end, the Friends have been a valuable partner during the development and review of the Interpretive Framework plan for the Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site. This plan will set the stage for the important formative years of the site’s early development.”
Owned by the State of Delaware and administered by the division, the Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site currently has multiple components, including the Cooch Homestead and Cooch-Dayett Mill complex. The homestead, which includes a 10-acre parcel with the historic home and outbuildings, was the focal point for the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge, the only Revolutionary War battle fought on Delaware soil.
The Friends were one of five groups recognized for volunteer service this year. For the full list of honorees, visit volunteer.delaware.gov/governors-outstanding-service-awards.
“The Friends of Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site is deeply honored to have been selected for this recognition, and especially appreciative of HCA’s Dan Citron for the nomination,” said Vince Watchorn, the group’s president. “It is truly a privileged opportunity to advocate for a site that tells such an important set of Delaware stories. We appreciate HCA’s leadership and look forward to seeing the Division open a museum that has an audience of hundreds ready to support it.”
