On Wednesday, Aug 21, the Retired Men’s Association speaker will be Greenwich’s Bill Drake whose talk is titled, “General Lafayette Visits Greenwich.”
Typically the RMA talks are held at First Presbyterian Church, Mr. Drake will speak at Christ Church Greenwich at 254 East Putnam Avenue.
The program will also be shown on Zoom: https://bit.ly/30IBj21
Mr. Drake’s talk will start promptly at 11:00am.
Bill Drake
Two hundred years ago this month a famous historical figure visited Greenwich. The French Marquis de Lafayette came to our country in 1777 as a 20-year-old to volunteer to fight on behalf of George Washington’s revolutionary army.
Nearly a half century later, President Monroe invited Lafayette to return to tour the new United States.
Mr. Drake will talk about Lafayette and his tour in 1824.
Lafayette was shown a great deal of love and respect and was given a warm welcome when he passed through Greenwich in August of that year.
He was greeted with a 13-gun salute – one for each of the original colonies – and was surprised to encounter some of his old comrades from the war.
Bill Drake is a lifetime resident of Greenwich. With his family, he has lived in Riverside since 1989. After attending Greenwich schools, he attended Phillips Academy in Massachusetts. In 1977, he earned a B.A. from St. Lawrence University in Economics (highest honors) and French (honors). He also received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1981.
From 1988 to his retirement in 2017, Mr. Drake was a principal with American Bailey Corporation, involved in the acquisition and development of businesses in the foundry, energy, and technology sectors. He has been Chairman, Chief Executive Officer or director of several of the American Bailey affiliate companies.
Mr. Drake served a member of Greenwich’s Board of Estimate and Taxation from 2013 to 2023, as Clerk of the Board and member of several key committees. He was a member of the Representative Town Meeting from District 5 (Riverside) from 2006 to 2013, and Chairman of the RTM Budget Overview Committee from 2010 to 2013.
Drake’s wife Anne retired as an English teacher at Greenwich High School after
14 years. The Drakes have two adult children who attended Riverside and Eastern Middle Schools.
The Greenwich Retired Men’s Association offers a free program every Wednesday that is open to the public, both men and women; no reservations are required. Their social break starts at 10:40 am followed promptly by the speaker at 11:00 am. Programs are normally at the First Presbyterian Church, 1 West Putnam Ave in Greenwich. For additional information see www.greenwichrma.org.