2nd Annual Sag Harbor Cultural History Weekend To Feature Gallery Exhibitions, Discussions, And Family-Fun Activities

The second annual Sag Harbor Cultural History Weekend will commemorate the village’s rich maritime legacy. The Sag Harbor: Port to the World themed event will be held on Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21, and family-friendly events will range from art exhibits at Eastville’s Heritage House to a reenactment of the Revolutionary War known as Meig’s Riase, which follows the route of the original patriots’ raiding party from Long Beach to Long Wharf, and much more.

“The Sag Harbor Cultural History Weekend is sponsored by the Sag Harbor Cultural District – which is a group of ten cultural organizations in the community,” shared Eric C. Cohen, Coordinator of Technology and Media at John Jermain Memorial Library. “We, as a group, offer a lot of resources to our community, many of which we feel are not well known so we run this annual event to help familiarize the community with this wide breadth of cultural resources that are available to them.” Last year’s Sag Harbor Cultural History Day was so successful that the organizations decided to expand the event to two days of programming.

My Three Sisters by Maxine Townsend-Broderick. (Courtesy Photo)

The Cultural History Weekend will kick-off on Saturday, May 20 at 9:30 a.m. with the Meigs Raid Historic Reenactment featuring the 3rd New York Regiment of 1775 in collaboration with 6th Connecticut Regiment who will commemorate the 240th anniversary of “Meigs Raid”. They will march the patriots’ route from Long Beach to Long Wharf and pause at the site of a British outpost on Brickiln Road, and at the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum (200 Main Street, Sag Harbor). Around 12 p.m., the troops will march up Main Street for ceremonies on the Long Wharf, at the American Hotel (45 Main Street, Sag Harbor), and the Old Whaler’s Church (44 Union Street, Sag Harbor).

Next, East End Classic Boat Society will lead a boat-building demonstration at 10 a.m. on the lawn of SPLIA’s (Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities) Custom House (912 Main Street, Sag Harbor).

Also at 10 a.m., the John Jermain Library (201 Main Street, Sag Harbor) will host a family-oriented marine touch tank from the South Fork Natural History Museum, which will be on display until 12 p.m. At 10:30 a.m., the John Jermain Library will welcome William Pickens III for a presentation on the history and significance of SANS (Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Subdivisions). Pickens will discuss the interconnectedness of community, sustainability, and affordable housing at a time when the historic SANS neighborhood is threatened by speculative development.

An “Unsculpt” Workshop by artist and environmentalist Cindy Pease Roe will follow at the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum. From 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., participants will create their own sculptural creation from marine debris. At 3:30 p.m., attendees can walk across the street to enjoy the classic Bossa Nova sound of Ludmilla and Marcello, who will perform in the Library’s courtyard courtesy of the Sag Harbor American Music Festival.

Eastville Community Historical Society’s spring exhibit entitled Maxine’s World, a solo mixed-media show by artist Maxine Townsend-Broderick that includes quilts, stained glass, ceramics, sand art, and more, will be on display at the Historical Society’s Heritage House (139 Hampton Street, Sag Harbor) all day, and at 1:30 p.m. there will be a guided walking tour of Eastville leaving from the Heritage House.

An “Unsculpt” Workshop with artist and environmentalist Cindy Pease Roe will take place at the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum. (Courtesy Photo)

Saturday’s programming will conclude at 5 p.m. with a talk on Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby-Dick, which mentions Sag Harbor in the story. The talk will take place at Canio’s Cultural Café (290 Main Street, Sag Harbor).

Additional Saturday events include free tours of the Custom House that highlight the work of Henry Packer Dering, Sag Harbor’s first United States Custom Master, and the Sag Harbor Historical Society’s Sag Harbor Views, Then and Now exhibit, which encompasses photographic interpretations of the historic paintings of Annie Cooper Boyd by Sag Harbor School District students. This exhibit will be on display at both the Historical Society’s Annie Cooper Boyd House (174 Main Street, Sag Harbor) and the John Jermain Memorial Library.

On Sunday, May 21, events will begin at 11 a.m. with an illustrated talk on the founding of Long Island’s oldest Synagogue: Temple Adas Israel, at the temple (30 Atlantic Avenue, Sag Harbor). At 2 p.m., the John Jermain Library will rescreen The Salt of the Sea, a documentary from the Hamptons Take 2 Film Festival, which explores the decline of the local independent commercial fishing industry.

Bay Street Theater and Center for the Arts, Canio’s Cultural Cafe, Christ Episcopal Church, The Custom House (SPLIA), Eastville Community Historical Society, First Presbyterian (Old Whalers’) Church, John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor American Music Festival, Sag Harbor Historical Society, Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum, and Temple Adas Israel are Sag Harbor Cultural District members.

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