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Sunday School/All Church Picnic - June 14

Please join us at the Sunday School / All Church Picnic. Everyone will gather at the Stevens abode in Bellport on June 14 after church. It will be a Pot Luck picnic - we'll provide burgers (veggie and beef) and dogs. Please bring a salad, beverage or dessert to share. Come prepared to help the kids with their scavenger hunt, play some games or just enjoy one another's company!

In the planning stages for next year is a Sunday morning class for little ones and a monthly teen gathering on Sunday evening. If you have thoughts or suggestions for the planning stage or would like to be a leader or helper during the year (or part of it) please talk with Darcy.

Monday, June 8, 7 p.m.

Film: Race or Reason: The Bellport Dilemma

In 1970, there was an outbreak of hostilities between African-American and white students at the Bellport High School that forced school officials to call police and close the school for over a week. Local community leader Betty Puleston was one of many who opened her home to help in meditation and facilitated dialogue through the production of video tapes by the students.

These tapes have been recently revisited, and Betty and Lynne Jackson have produced a film which includes modern insights some thirty years later by many of the then participants. The film was recently screened at the Museum of Modern Art. Some of the original participants are expected to be at this showing. Betty died April 28th at age 91.

[John Deitz comments: Members of Old South Haven Presbyterian Church were much involved in this very stressful time for the community. The Carriage House was frequently used as a neutral meeting place between community members, mediators, school officials, and students. While my memories are fuzzy concerning many of the details of these events, this film presents a student perspective somewhat different from what I remember as a "young" minor participant. It is well worth viewing. There are important lessons for us today.]