Heather's Dawning: Must I Say Goodbye To August Too

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Must I Say Goodbye To August Too

Major events I am involved in are just memories at this point.

I lead a not for profit in the City of White Plains, NY. We plan events throughout the year, at times in conjunction with other entities. Yesterday, May 18th, was Haitian Flag Day. We were planning to celebrate our third Annual Haitian Flag Raising on May 15th, but the villianous COVID-19 took that away.

It had already taken away our Mother's Day Tea and Fashion Show, something I look forward to because I am very competitive when it comes to dressing the tea table. I won two years ago, with my Wakanda theme and placed second the year before, with my Everything Jamaican theme.

Our agency is a member of the White Plains Juneteenth Heritage, Inc. which holds an annual Juneteenth parade and festival. We will say goodbye to the 16th annual celebration, scheduled for June 14th. We had already done so much of the work. We were going to present our Grand Marshal at a breakfast on April 25th. Of course that never occurred.

The Father's Day Cookout where we celebrate all men and boys will not happen.

Ta ta to our third Community Day Festival, our major fundraising event. Even though it is our major fundraiser, it is the mssion which is most important - serving the community. Last year's event was almost derailed by the scorcher of 2019, the hottest day in eons. However, we brought the event indoors and it was spectacular. A memorial basketball game continued outdoors because the organizers of "Shoot Hoops, Not Guns" thought the message too important to let the weather stop them. Social distancing will give us no choice this year.

But truly, truly, will I have to say goodbye to the Jamaican Flag Raising on August 3rd? Last year, the black, green and gold reigned in the City of White Plains, NY for the first time. We proudly raised the flag and sang the Jamaican National Anthem. The jumbo tron outside the Westchester County Center declared it as Jamaican Heritage Day. I have already made arrangements to hold this year's, social distanced and virtually, with the committee present as the flag is raised and live-streamed. But will that even happen?