McHenry County Trifecta This Weekend—Ride to Leave a Light On, Juneteenth, and Sumer Solstice

  

Ride to Leave a Light On Ride/Walk this Friday on the Square.  Light strings benefit Compassion for Campers, Jail Brakers, and other community organizations.

There is plenty to do this weekend in McHenry County to help you keep engaged in the community, edify your understanding, and connect with you spiritually.

First up—The 5th annual Ride/Walk to Leave a Light On event will take place Friday, June 20 from 7 to 10 pm on the Woodstock Square and in the nearby neighborhood! Come ride, walk, run (new!) or just chill as you support 8 positively impactful community organizations and enjoy live music and an Ice Cream Social!

The event is organized again this year by Ken West of Material Things Artisan Market, 103 E. Van Buren Street, Woodstock to connect the community with vital local organizations and raise funds to support their work with a fun and family friendly event. When you purchase a string of colored lights at the store or on line you help someone marginalized by trauma, by societal views, by prejudice, always by circumstances outside of their control. Supporters can also buy strings of color coded lights to decorate their bikes and themselves on the evening of the event.  Show support by purchasing strings for favorite organizations—Compassion for Campers, Jail Brakers, The Break Teen Center in Crystal Lake, The Illinois Migrant Council, Live4Lali, Woodstock Pride, and Lemonade & Advocate.

For the latest information on the ride visit the Facebook event.

Saturday, June 21 from 3:00 to 5:30 pm the McHenry County Junteenth celebration returns for the third time at a new indoor venue, the Center for the Arts (Music, Culture and Movement) at 1690 S. Eastwood Drive ( Rt. 47) in Woodstock.

The McHenry County Juneteenth Organization, founded and spearheaded County Board Member Gloria Van Hof, promises “an afternoon filled with music, dance, and community. Celebrate freedom and unity with a special program by Stev Walker and the Artistas Da Capoeira Woodstock troupe, the soaring vocals of Darlene Benton and learn about McHenry County’s connection to the Underground Railroad with Gloria Van Hof and another County Board Member Pam Althoff. Enjoy catered soul food by Chef Joanne Thomas, local exhibitors and fun activities for all ages.

Juneteenth commemorates the date of June 19, 1865, when Union troops marched to Galveston, Texas and enforced the January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, freeing over 250,000 enslaved persons still held in bondage, deprived of their freedom and basic dignity.  Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth officially became a Federal holiday after being signed into law by President Joe Biden.  The current regime is not recognizing or celebrating the day in any way and is scrubbing government web sites of any reference to it.

The event is free and open to the public but requests registration.

Saturday evening Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 5603 Bull Valley Road in McHenry invites the public to share its annual Summer Solstice service.

Celebrate the sUUmmer Solstice with food, readings, intention, music, and a simple dance. There will be an eat and greet at 6:30 pm and the service will start at 7. Bring a chair and a treat to share.

Everyone is invited to wear white, yellow, gold, orange, and/or red and women can don long and flowing gowns, a scarf, or a crown of flowers to celebrate their inner royalty.

The event will be on the church grounds, weather permitting.  The observation should conclude  at sunset at 8:34 pm.

All are welcome to participate in the Dance of the Witches, a favorite part of Tree of Life's Summer Solstice celebration. 
 

The event is family friendly, free, and open to the public.  A free will collection will be taken.

For more information visit https://treeoflifeuu.org/services/suummer-solstice/.

If you can cram all of that in you will earn a blessed sabbath on Sunday.  

 

 

Ride/Walk to Leave a Light On and McHenry County Juneteenth Festival Keep Woodstock Hopping

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.  

Dr. Venoncia M. Baté-Ambrus will be the featured speaker at the Juneteenth Festival.

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.

Singer Darlene Benton and founder/host Gloria Van Hoff on the Gazebo stage at the inaugural McHenry County Juneteenth Festival last year.

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.