Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery - "Where History Comes Alive"

Pippin starts next Thursday! Get your tickets now! Support the local Teen Drama Group at HCJ Parish that has been putting on summer performances since 1972!

Tickets to the four performances in our air conditioned auditorium are now on sale.

Performance dates are Thurs August 1st thru Sunday August 4th.

Please note that the Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances are all at 7pm. Sunday's performance is at 3pm.

ALUMNI NIGHT IS SATURDAY, AUGUST 3rd.

Tickets, on sale for $15.00, can be purchased in Msgr. Murray Hall of HCJ Catholic Academy from 5:00 to 9:00 pm today, tomorrow and Sunday thru Wednesday of next week .

Tickets can also be purchased before and after Masses this weekend and on the four performance dates, if we are not sold out..

We are located at 111-02 86th Avenue, Richmond Hill, NY

UPDATE 7/29/24

Dear Supporters:
THE TIME CAPSULE HAS ARRIVED!! Through your generous support, we were able to purchase this stainless steel time capsule. In the photograph, you can see our capsule and we had special guests who came to view it. Standing behind us (from left to right) is Executive Assistant, Office of the CEO JFK Terminal ONE Theresa McLoughlin, Maple Grove Cemetery President Philip Rash-Flynn, Maple Grove Artist in Residence Samantha Newman, and the new President of The Friends of Maple Grove Shahriar Hossain. We only have 3 weeks left to work on this project and we are pushing ourselves very hard to finish to create Memorials for everyone on FindaGrave.com. Samantha is working very hard on the beautiful marble lamb and we hope for an unveiling and dedication in November. Keep looking for our updates on The Friends page. Thank you!
- Dana Gervais, Jackeline Mejia, Giselle Cartagena, and Makayla Tlaseca

UPDATE 7/22/2024

Dear Supporters

We have been overwhelmed with the financial support given to us on this GoFundMe campaign. https://conta.cc/3S3ebFm Not only have we exceeded our $200 goal, but we have also been receiving donations from people who have dropped by to see and hear about this unique project.

Your generosity has enabled us to think beyond our initial project and we have developed some ideas to further enhance it. In a discussion with Maple Grove and with Artist in Residence Samantha Newman we will create a bronze plaque that will give the background story of this unique project – Honoring the Forgotten at Maple Grove. The bronze plaque will be adhered to the glacial boulder upon which the carving of the marble lamb will rest. The lamb has been christened Ocean. Ocean was the original name of this section of the cemetery and is no longer in use. The Ocean Plot with the three mass graves is now part of a much larger Border Section at Maple Grove.

This past week with the help of the Friends of Maple Grove President Shahriar Hossain and two fellow board members – George Stanciu and Shyloh Boursiquot we mapped out the exact borders of the Ocean Plot. We also created three flags marking off the locations for Graves 1, 2 and 3. In the attached photo, the four students from the SYEP stand at the four corners of the plot.

At present we are working on creating Memorials for everyone buried in the Ocean Plot. We will update you on some of the interesting people who were interred here!
https://conta.cc/3S3ebFm

Join us on Saturday, August 3, 2024, between 4 PM and 6 PM for an Opening Reception, with light refreshments, to meet our featured artist for the month of August, Linda Caycedo!

Take "Time Out" to be inspired by nature and life experiences.

RSVP to [email protected] or call 347-878-6613 to let us know that you will be attending the reception on 8/3/24. We would not want to run out of refreshments at the reception!

Linda's photograph exhibit will be on display in the Gallery at the Center from 8/1 to 8/31/24. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 1 PM.

A walking tour in Jamaica today from King Manor! Following the story of Wilson Rantus, a free black man who purchased land in the Village of Jamaica in 1827 for $250 for the purpose of creating space for the local black community to come together and prosper. Some of his descendants and other relatives are buried at Maple Grove.

At St. John’s University on Sun. 7/21!

This is coming up at St. John's University - stay tuned!
https://www.facebook.com/share/LAxQ4g7bqMJ3wKyz/
queensrisingnyc Queens Gazette
Boro Magazine It’s in Queens podcast

A great start to the Festival of Cinema NYC that will run at the Midway Regal Theater in Forest Hills from 8/2/24 to 8/11/24. The Pre-Launch Party is on 7/11/24!

Join us at the 2024 Festival of Cinema NYC pre-launch Industry Mixer!

To celebrate the upcoming Festival of Cinema NYC we have partnered with three of New York City's largest communities of film industry professionals. Follow this link for the full announcement and to RSVP!
- https://mailchi.mp/festivalofcinemanyc/tickets-now-on-sale-10328841

5/18/24 ACMP Chamber Music Play In at the Center at Maple Grove

5/18/24, FMG - ACMP Chamber Music Play In

6/2/24 Dance Floor Democracy with the Cut A Rug Quartet, featuring vocalist Edith Hazel and Kelly Green on piano.

6/2/2024, FMG - Dance Floor Democracy

Here is our Make Music Concert for the Summer Solstice from 6/21/24 on our YouTube Channel.

6/21/2024, FMG - Our Annual Make Music Festival: Summer Solstice Concert

Tribute to Maestro Roy A Prescod is now available for viewing on our YouTube Channel:

6/15/24, FMG - “A Legacy of Music” ~ A Tribute to Maestro Roy A. Prescod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsfLXKyOKg8
Here is the full recording of the New York Mandolin Ensemble from 6/15/24

6/15/24, FMG - The New York Mandolin Ensemble Concert

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qtSY9ZWhvaA

The New York Mandolin Ensemble Concert ... is now available on our channel! https://youtu.be/NsfLXKyOKg8

Helen Day setting up the beverages. (photo by BV)

Festival of Cinema NYC will be at the Midway Regal Theatre in Forest Hills from August 2 - 11, 2024. Tickets will be available soon - check out the fabulous list of films https://festivalofcinemanyc.eventive.org/schedule

Introducing the 2024 Festival of Cinema NYC Poster! - Read all about the winner here >>https://mailchi.mp/festivalofcinemanyc/introducing-the-2024-festival-of-cinema-nyc-poster

The Friends of Maple Grove is a member of the Queens Borough Presidents Nonprofit Network led by Director of Nonprofit Opportunities, Suzie Tanenbaum. On Thursday evening, June 27, Friends hosted the Queens Nonprofit Social Mixer - the Summer Soiree, lead by Wendy Gennaro of Queens Centers for Progress. Everyone was engaged in making new connections and enjoying the Center with an original piece composed for the occasion and performed by our Musician in Residence, Margin Alexander.

There are a number of Film Festivals that are held every year in the Borough of Queens. We got to attend a panel discussion, put together by the folks at Queens World Film Festival, with six festival directors. It was attended by a large group of filmmakers, on Sat. 6/29/24 at Kaufman Studios in Astoria. One of the panelists was our friend Jayson Simba of the Festival of Cinema NYC whose annual film festival is coming up in early August at the Midway Theatre in Forest Hills.

FILM FEST FUSION: The Queen's edition hosted by Queens World Film Festival
Meet the panelist:
+Clark Jackson; Executive Board, Conch Shell International Film Fest Conch Shell Int'l Film Fest - CSIFF
+Adrienne Whaley; Founder, Queens Underground Film Festival Queens Underground Film Festival
+ Mary C Miles; President , Hellenic Film Society Hellenic Film Society USA
+ Sherry Gamlin; Director, Sunnyside Shorts International Film Fest. Sunnyside Shorts Film Festival
+ Jayson Simba ; Executive Dir., Festival of Cinema NYC Festival of Cinema NYC
+ Phil Cappadora; President , Astoria Film Club
Astoria Filmmakers Club

A beautiful performance by composer Margin Alexander with his original work!

On Tuesday evening June 25, we were delighted to welcome best selling authors Alix Strauss and A.J. Jacobs to discuss their books and more! Alix Strauss is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her classic novel, "The Joy of Funerals" which was reissued in October 2023. A. J. Jacobs is a NY Times best selling author and recently released his latest book: "The Year of Living Constitutionally." Read more about this illustrious authors on their websites: https://www.alixstrauss.com/ and https://ajjacobs.com/

One of A.J.'s books, was called "The Puzzler," "one man's quest to solve the most baffling puzzles ever, from crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life." That being the case, then we had to dedicate the event to "The Puzzle King," Sam Loyd (1841-1911) who is buried with his family at Maple Grove! You can read more about him here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/53119904/samuel-loyd and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Loyd