Liberty Weekend: For old-times’ sake

It was like opening up a history book and having characters come out of it!

Liberty Weekend came and went this past weekend in Bensonhurst with hundreds of kids enjoying the activities offered on the three-day celebration, and adults gaining knowledge about the Revolutionary era.

Two hundred children attended on Friday alone, explained the President of the Friends of Historic New Utrecht, Dave Elligers.

“I can only admire the willingness of people to come out and stand in the heat for 1½ hours,” Elligers stressed. Despite the sweltering heat, the crowd loved the reenacting of the Revolutionary and Civil War eras, the traditional cannon firing, along with the movie shown, the lecture at the Parish House, and the tour of the ancient cemetery that Elligers leads every year in small groups of 14 people.

“[Liberty Weekend] is held in between Memorial Day and Flag Day focusing on the installation of the Liberty Pole,” he noted, emphasizing the significance of the landmark. “It’s a 230-year-old flagpole [tradition], a unique one that no other town or neighborhood has maintained since the end of the Revolution.”

Elligers also explained that the high school students who devoted their time to perform, the ISO Symphonic Band, sounded really good, thanking each individual for coming. “These are impressive kids,” he remarked.

All in all, Liberty Weekend, which every year takes place on the grounds of the historic New Utrecht Reformed Church at 18th Avenue and 84th Street, once again stole the show.