Woodstock Square hosts many special events this summer including Woodstock Pride Festival last weekend and Ride/Walk to Keep a Light On and the McHenry County Juneteenth Festival this week.
It is a busy weekend in Woodstock beginning Friday, June 14 on the Square for the Ride/Walk to Leave a Light On and then on Saturday, June 15 for the Second Annual Juneteenth Festival.
First up—Ride/Walk to Leave a Light On, a fun, easy bicycle ride through the streets of Woodstock. The event raises funds for organizations serving the community including Compassion for Campers. To support the event volunteer to ride and gather sponsors and buy color-coded string of lights—a different color for each charity—to decorate bikes or yourselves. Strings are $9 each and all proceeds go to the corresponding charity.
The Ride/Walk is an event for all ages over an easy, level route through pleasant neighborhoods beginning and ending on the Square. To participate purchase one or more light strings to support the eight organizations benefiting from the event.
Gathering and sales of strings begins on Woodstock Square at 7 pm with an ice cream social and live music. with the ride beginning after full dark about 8:40. As riders return to the Square music will continue until 10 pm. Strings are available for $9 each from the beneficiary organization or $10 split between all of them or at Material Things Artisan Market, a craft and art consignment shop at 103 East Van Buren Street.
This event comes at an especially urgent moment for Compassion for Campers, the organization that provides urgently needed gear and supplies for the McHenry County unhoused who sleep outside or in cars and vacant spaces all or most of the month. The gear is distributed at the Community Empower Shower Event at Willow Crystal Lake at 100 South Main Street in Crystal Lake which is held on the first and third Fridays of each month. Direct money donations can be made to Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 5603 Bull Valley Road, McHenry, IL 60050 by check with Compassion for Campers on the memo line or donate online here using the drop down menu under “Give to Unpledged Donations.”
Another Tree of Life ministry, Jail Brakers which provides support individuals and families with incarcerated loved one is another beneficiary. Direct donations can be made as outlined above.
Other great community assets and organizations that will benefit from the Ride/Walk include: The Break teen center in Crystal Lake, The Illinois Migrant Council, Live4Lali, Woodstock Pride, and Stairway to Prosperity.
For more information stop by Material Things, call Ken West at 815 954-3483, visit the Facebook event.
Other great community assets and organizations that will benefit from the Ride/Walk include: The Break teen center in Crystal Lake, The Illinois Migrant Council, Live4Lali, Woodstock Pride, and Stairway to Prosperity.
For more information stop by Material Things, call Ken West at 815 954-3483, visit the Facebook event.
Singer Darlene Benton and Chicago bluesman Kenneth Davis of the Ken Davis Project are returning as musical highlights of McHenry County’s Second Annual Juneteenth Festival to be held on historic Woodstock Square on Saturday, June 15 from 3-6 pm. The acclaimed Moya Cultural Arts Dance Group will also perform.
Dr. Venoncia M. Baté-Ambrus who worked in nonprofits, faith-based organizations, health and human services, academia, and workforce development for more than 20years, focused on promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice for marginalized communities will be the featured speaker. She designed curricula and taught Health Disparities, Race and Ethnicity, and CHW Leadership courses. She was trained in restorative justice, circle keeping, and Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation. Baté-Ambrus earned a BA in multicultural psychology via the University Without Walls at Northeastern Illinois University, a MS in Organizational Leadership from Dominican University, a MA in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University, PhD in Community Psychology from National Louis University and graduate certificates in healthcare administration, health psychology, health mission leadership, marketing management, fundraising management, mediation, negotiation, and conflict resolution. She is currently enrolled in Loyola University’s Master of Jurisprudence in Health Law and will graduate in 2025. She is the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County’s executive director and a Lake County resident.
The program is a celebration of the date, June 16, 1866. when formerly enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas first heard news of Emancipation. The commemoration of that event has spread from Texas and now is observed nationally as a day of Jubilee and freedom.
The celebration was organized by Gloria Van Hof, a McHenry County Board member, noted Underground Railroad historian, and long-time activist along with other community leaders. Van Hof will return as master of ceremonies.
The program will feature a readings of the original Galveston Proclamation by community activist Patrick Murfin and will also include food trucks, vendors, and fun family activities on the Square.
For more information look for the Facebook page or the McHenry County Juneteenth Organization web page.
No comments:
Post a Comment