Trinity Sunday, Year C

http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/CPentecost/cTrinity.htm

America's Veterans and Troops Honored During Bensonhurst 'Liberty Weekend'

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Friends of Historic New Utrecht

New Utrecht Reformed Church

New Utrecht Liberty Pole Association

Eds: Photos from previous Liberty Weekend events are available. Please contact Robert Buonvino at 1-718-234-9268 for details.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

America's Veterans and Troops Honored During Bensonhurst 'Liberty Weekend'

BROOKLYN - America's veterans and troops, past and present, will be honored during Liberty Weekend Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and June 3, on the historic grounds of the New Utrecht Reformed Church in Bensonhurst.

Each year hundreds come to see a Civil War encampment on the church lawn, historical displays in the Parish House, tour the old New Utrecht Cemetery, hear an outdoor band concert, attend a Sunday morning worship service and see a parade.

The church is at 18^th Ave. and 84^th St. ("Liberty Pole Blvd."), near subway and bus lines. All events are free.

Re-enactors in full, authentic uniforms welcoming visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday will be from the famous 14^th Brooklyn Regiment, Co. H, along with Revolutionary War soldiers and Winslow Battery 'D'. A highlight will be Civil War-era cannon.

Friends of Historic New Utrecht has arranged for "Liberty Weekend" displays to be on view all day in the Parish House, where community events are centered while the nearby church building undergoes a $2 million restoration and repair. The Parish House itself has a long history, pre-dating the 1828 main church building.

At 11:30 a.m. Saturday, a cemetery tour will begin at 16^th Ave. and 85^th St. That's where the original New Utrecht Reformed Church was built. The church, within the Reformed Church in America (RCA), a mainline denomination, was founded in 1677. For persons interested in New York City history, the tour of the old Dutch cemetery with its weathered tombstones provides a unique examination of life in the early days of Brooklyn, before the borough was given the name it has today. The cemetery goes back to 1654.

Saturday night, the InterSchool Orchestra (ISO) Concert Band, conducted by Brian P. Worsdale, performs on the church lawn at 7:30 p.m. In case of rain, the free concert will be in the Parish House.

The "living history" encampment remains in place Sunday at 10 a.m. while another tour of the cemetery will be given at that time.

At 11 a.m., the Rev. Terry Troia, pastor of New Utrecht, conducts a worship service honoring the nation's veterans and troops, past and present. At 12:45 p.m. there will be a parade from the church to the cemetery to salute all American war veterans at the memorial to Revolutionary War Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull, who died of wounds nearby and is buried on Long Island.

At 1:45 p.m., the Liberty Weekend events conclude at a celebration of the 224^th anniversary of the New Utrecht "Liberty Pole" on the church front lawn. The New Utrecht Liberty Pole Association, whose president is church and community leader Rose Lood, was incorporated in 1908 to care for and preserve the pole "to foster, encourage and inspire patriotism, and to love, protect and honor the freedom and flag of our Republic for which our forefathers fought and gave up their lifeblood." Over 100 feet high, this is only the sixth Liberty Pole erected on the site since the first in 1783 by the Village of New Utrecht in celebration of the departure of the British.

Liberty Weekend is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development and the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation.

More information about the observances is available from the Friends of Historic New Utrecht at 1-718-256-7173 and at www.historicnewutrecht.org or by sending inquiries to mail@historicnewutrecht.org.

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bhpr especially for churches services donated. May-June '07

Day of Pentecost, Year C

http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/CEaster/cPentecost.htm

Seventh Sunday in Easter, Year C

http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/CEaster/cEaster7.htm

Ascension of the Lord, Year C

http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/CEaster/cAscension.htm

Brooklyn College Chamber Choir Gives Free Community Concert in Bensonhurst

Editors: The following caption may be used with the attached photo, taken Saturday, May 5.

In the Parish House of the New Utrecht Reformed Church, in Bensonhurst, the Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College Chamber Choir performed under the direction of Jonathan P. Babcock in the first of a series of free public concerts arranged by the Friends of Historic New Utrecht. Choral selections ranged from music that pre-dated the historic church's founding in 1677 to classical selections from the early 1500s, the works of Maurice Ravel, British folk songs and international love songs in a program entitled "Love Songs and Folk Tales." The concert series is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC department of Cultural Affairs, the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development and the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Men of Valor Honored at Church

Editors: The following caption may be used with the attached photo, taken Sunday, May 6.

At the New Utrecht Reformed Church, in Bensonhurst, "Men of Valor, Sons of Micah" are honored in a ceremony conducted by the Rev. Terry Troia, pastor. Left to right are: The Rev. Troia, honorees John J. Schembri, a longtime member of the church; the Honorable Arthur Schack, Kings County Supreme Court judge; and Robert E. Anderson, Esq., NURC attorney; and elder Susan Hanyen.

June 2-3: Liberty Weekend 2007

Events of Liberty Weekend 2007 (PDF)

Sixth Sunday in Easter, Year C

http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/CEaster/cEaster6.htm

Thrift Sale Nets Close to $2,300 for Brooklyn Landmark Restoration

High quality clothes and more, including costume jewelry, attracted large numbers to the thrift sale in the Parish House at the New Utrecht Reformed Church in Bensonhurst. In a matter of hours, the church made close to $2,300 to be used toward restoration of its main church building, a Brooklyn landmark dating back to 1828. (Photo by Vincent La Marca)

Free Concert May 12: Broadway Comes to Bensonhurst

Brian P. Worsdale (Photo by Visitation Academy)

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NEW UTRECHT REFORMED CHURCH

AND

FRIENDS OF HISTORIC NEW UTRECHT

Eds: Photo of conductor Brian P. Worsdale is attached.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: 1-718-234-9268

FREE COMMUNITY CONCERT SERIES: BROADWAY COMES TO BENSONHURST


BROOKLYN - Broadway comes to Bensonhurst Saturday, May 12, at 7:30 p.m. when performers from the Visitation Academy in Bay Ridge hit the stage at the New Utrecht Reformed Church Parish House for the second in a series of free concerts. The first concert, Saturday, May 5, was scheduled with a more classical tone, including music from the Renaissance, performed by the award-winning Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College Chamber Choir.

This time, 6th- and 7th-grade students will perform "100 Years of Broadway," songs from the early days of Tin Pan Alley to the modern Broadway musical.

The Visitation Academy students will be led by their music teacher, Mr. Brian P. Worsdale. Mr. Worsdale is best known to Bensonhurst audiences as the conductor of the InterSchool Orchestra Concert Band, which he founded in 1995. The ISO Band has made numerous appearances at New Utrecht, at the annual Liberty Weekend in June and other events sponsored by Friends of Historic New Utrecht. During the summer, Mr. Worsdale is Director of Music at the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts in Delaware County, New York.

The Friends of Historic New Utrecht Concert Series is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development and the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The Parish House is at 18th Ave. at 84th St., next to the New Utrecht Reformed Church main building which is undergoing a $2 million restoration and repair. Both the Parish House and main church building are know for their magnificent stained-glass windows. Architecturally, both also are historically significant structures in Brooklyn. The church itself, within the mainline Reformed Church in America (RCA), was founded in New Utrecht in 1677.

Admission to the concerts is free. Light refreshments are served. Parking is on the church grounds, near buses and the subway.

Reservations for the concerts and other information on the early history of Brooklyn can be obtained at (718) 256-7173. More information also is available at www.historicnewutrecht.org and www.newutrechtchurch.org.

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May 2007