Richard Chase, of Lempster, left, talks on the phone with his doctor as New Hampshire Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard members, from back left, Dr. Barry Lewis, Douglas Woods, and Brush Bradley, escort the Marquis de Lafayette, played by Michael Halbert, in top-hat, to a welcoming event in Claremont, N.H.'s Opera House Square, on Friday, June 27, 2025. The event was part of a 24-state farewell tour organized by the American Friends of Lafayette to mark the bicentennial of the Revolutionary War General's return to the United States at the invitation of then-President James Monroe. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News — James M. Petterson

U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander carries a pocket U.S. Constitution while attending the Claremont, N.H., stop on the Lafayette Farewell Tour on June 27, 2025. In her remarks to the crowd, Goodlander said that Lafayette's 1824-1825 tour of the United States came at an uncertain time for the country, and likened it to uncertainty in the present. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Alan Hoffman, president of the American Friends of Lafayette, right, speaks during the Claremont, N.H., welcome to the Revolutionary War general, the Marquis de Lafayette, played by Michael Halbert, second from right, on Friday, June 27, 2025. During the event marking 200 years since the French Revolutionary War general returned to tour the United States, Claremont Middle School student Elliel Menjivar was honored for winning the Lafayette Creative Writing Contest put on by the city's historical society. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.