Sag Harbor Celebrates Its History & Herman Melville
This weekend, May 20 and 21, Sag Harbor will celebrate itself with the second annual Cultural Heritage Day, filled with events designed to celebrate the village’s history, culture, music and community.
The event is organized by the Sag Harbor Cultural District, a loose consortium of museums, bookstores, performing arts venues and the John Jermain Memorial Library formed to highlight the culture of the village.
Among the activities are historic reenactments, historic house and walking tours, art workshops, kids activities and book readings.
The 3rd New York Regiment of 1775, in collaboration with 6th Connecticut Regiment will commemorate the 240th anniversary of “Meigs Raid,” a revolutionary raid on British soldiers encamped in Sag Harbor during the Revolutionary War.
They will march the patriots’ route from Long Beach to Long Wharf, starting at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. They will pause at the site of a British outpost on Brick Kiln Road, and at the Whaling Museum on Main Street. At approximately noon, the troop will march up Main Street for ceremonies on Long Wharf, at the American Hotel, and the Old Whaler’s Church. Find out more about the 3rd NY Regiment at http://3rdny.com.
The South Fork Natural History Museum will be at the John Jermain Memorial Library from 10 a.m. to noon with a marine touch tank.
At 10:30 a.m., Bill Pickens will give a talk on the Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest and Ninevah subdivisions at the John Jermain Memorial Library. These neighborhoods created a rare opportunity for mid-century African American middle and upper class to create a resort lifestyle and culture.
Artist Cindy Pease Roe will hold an Upsculpting workshop at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum from noon to 3:30 p.m.
Guests can stop by the Upsculpt table during the course of the event from noon to 3:30 p.m. to make whimsical creatures out of marine debris to take home. Cindy will be demonstrating all day while talking about the impact of plastics in our oceans and how you can be part of the solution. Marine debris will be provided but the organizers love it when you bring your own.
There will be a guided tour of Christ Episcopal Church on the corner of Union and Hampton streets at 12;30 p.m.
The Eastville Historical Society will host an art exhibit by Maxine Townsend-Broderick and a historic walking tour at 1:30 p.m. Call 631.725.4711 for more information.
Ludmilla & Marcello will give a Bossa Nova concert at John Jermain Library from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
The Custom House at the corner of Main and Garden streets will be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The East End Classic Boat Society will also demonstrate traditional wood boatbuilding techniques on the Custom House lawn.
Custom House tours will highlight the work of Henry Packer Dering as Sag Harbor’s first United States Custom Master. Attendees will learn about the money Mr. Dering collected and sent to Alexander Hamilton at the Treasury Department, find out what this money was used for and why customs collections were so important.
East End Classic Boat Society members will be on hand to discuss their work. Visitors can sign up to join their Amagansett-based organization and purchase raffle tickets for the group’s 2017 raffle boat: a Sunshine Tender sail and rowing craft with trailer.
Canio’s Books will present a talk with Herman Melville aficionado Lisa Dickman, who will discuss “Melville: the Modern Master,” a friendly introduction to the great American writer, a warm-up for the bookstore’s Moby-Dick Marathon June 9 through 11.
As part of the Moby-Dick festivities, the John Jermain Memorial Library will host a screening of the 1956 film version of the novel, starring Gregory Peck, on June 1 at 6:30 p.m.
The Library is one of five institutions where the Marathon will take place.
Anyone wishing to pick a time slot to read at the Moby-Dick Marathon can call Canio’s Books at 631.725.4926 or visit the shop at 290 Main Street in Sag Harbor.
On Sunday, May 21 at 11 a.m., Rabbi Dan Geffen will give a talk on the history of Temple Adas Israel, Long Island’s oldest synagogue, at the synagogue at 30 Atlantic Avenue.
At 2 p.m. Sunday, the John Jermain Library will play host to a Take 2 Documentary Film Festival screening of “Salt of the Sea,” the story of independent commercial fishermen on the East End.
A full schedule of the weekend’s events is online here.
