May 31-June 1: Liberty Weekend

Join us on Saturday and Sunday, May 31 and June 1 for Liberty Weekend 2008, an annual event organized on the New Utrecht Church campus by Friends of Historic New Utrecht in association with the New Utrecht Liberty Pole Association. This year, we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Liberty Pole Association, formed in 1908 to carry forward the tradition of the New Utrecht Liberty Pole. The first Pole was erected in 1783 at the end of the Revolutionary War at the junction of New Utrecht village’s Main Street (now 84th Street) and Old New Utrecht Road (now 18th Avenue). Today’s Pole, the sixth, raised by the Association in 1946, continues a patriotic institution maintained by local residents for the past 225 years.

Saturday events (from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on the Church campus at 18th Avenue and 84th Street) will feature a living history Civil War Encampment by members of the 14th Brooklyn Regiment, Company H, including exhibits of Civil War equipment and furnishings and discussions of the solders’ experiences. Also on hand will be Winslow’s Battery “D” and its Civil War cannon. There will be special activities for children. Historical displays will be set up in the Parish House, including the first public view of signage from the State’s Revolutionary War Heritage Trail which mark with color pictures, text and maps significant points in the Battle of Brooklyn in August 1776. The signs will be erected this summer on the Church site and at the Colonial-era New Utrecht Cemetery.

The Cemetery (entrance on 85th Street off 16th Avenue) will be open to the public on Saturday at 11:30 AM and Sunday at 10:00 AM for tours conducted by local historian, David Elligers.

Saturday evening at 7:30 PM, the InterSchool Orchestra Symphonic Band, under the direction of Brian Worsdale, will play an outdoor concert on the Church grounds. Bring your own chair or blanket. In the event of rain, the Concert will take place in the Parish House.

Sunday’s main event will be a Parade starting 12:45 PM at the Church grounds and proceeding to the New Utrecht Cemetery for ceremonies in front of the Gen. Woodhull memorial honoring America’s Veterans. The marchers will then return for closing ceremonies at the Liberty Pole. Come join in; this is a community event.