Join us a for special opportunity to visit Hillside Farm, and to learn about the Continental Army’s encampment there in June of 1778!

Red Barn Film Premiere at Hillside Farm Preserve

Wednesday, June 24, 2026 | 7:30–10:00 PM Outdoors on the Lawn at Betty Wold Johnson Hillside Farm Preserve

Bring your own lawn chair or blanket and join us for an evening under the stars featuring the premiere of a new short film about the land, history, and preservation of Hillside Farm Preserve.

Tickets: $60 per person Half-price tickets available for the “actors” featured during our Fall 2024 filming event at Hillside Farm Preserve.

On Wednesday, June 24, 2026, from 7:30 to 10:00 p.m., D&R Greenway Land Trust invites the community to a special event at the Betty Wold Johnson Hillside Farm Preserve for the Red Barn Film Premiere, an evening under the stars celebrating history, preservation, and the stories held within the land.

Guests will gather at the historic Betty Wold Johnson Hillside Farm Preserve in Hopewell, New Jersey, for the premiere of a new short film exploring the Revolutionary-era significance of the landscape, including the documented encampment of General George Washington and Continental Army troops at John Hart’s farm prior to the Battle of Monmouth. Today, those same farm fields are preserved as part of Hillside Farm Preserve, connecting visitors directly to the landscape where history unfolded nearly 250 years ago.

The film journeys through centuries of history, beginning with the Lenape people who first lived on and stewarded the land, and continuing through the Revolutionary War era to the preservation efforts that protect this landscape today.

The evening coincides with the anniversary of the June 24, 1778 solar eclipse witnessed by soldiers camped on these very fields as they prepared to march toward one of the largest battles of the American Revolution. Through interviews with historians, archaeologists, cultural interpreters, and Lenape voices, the film connects the preserved landscape to the people, events, and stories that shaped New Jersey’s history.

Guests will have the opportunity to experience the night sky with astrophotographer Taylor Blanchard, who will guide visitors in observing the stars and reflecting on the same sky seen above Hillside Farm during the encampment in 1778.

Refreshments include a variety of desserts, Bent Spoon ice cream, and colonial era libations.

Proceeds support D&R Greenway’s mission to preserve and care for land and inspire a conservation ethic, now and for the future.