KENT – Putnam County will be celebrating Juneteenth today with a ceremony at the Putnam Veterans Memorial Park in Kent hosted by the community group C.A.F.E. (Community Alliance for Empowerment).
Festivities include a play reading by playwright Goldee Green and company, ancestral drumming and a dancing performance by Kofi and Sankofa Drum and Dance Ensemble.
Juneteenth Day organizer Linda Paris noted “Our goal is to educate and stimulate the minds of everyone. Let the truth and freedom ring.”
The event takes place from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Meanwhile in Putnam Valley, the unveiling of an historical marker at the first and only all-black cemetery in Putnam County is planned.
The Larksburg Cemetery holds significant historical importance as it was established by Sumner Lark and taken over by Bishop Robert Lawson in connection with a summer colony of African Americans in 1927.
The Barger Street Colony was founded on 121 acres of land in Putnam Valley and provided recreational opportunities for urban black New Yorkers at a time when few opportunities existed elsewhere.
The 20-acre cemetery stands as a testament to its history.
Putnam Valley Supervisor Jacqueline Annabi said the cemetery remains as a “vital heritage landmark with 30 individuals interred including Bishop Lawson himself.”
The ceremony gets underway at 2 p.m. at Putnam Valley Town Hall.
