Long Island Semiquincentennial Events

March 15, 10:30 AM – 12 PM | Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve: Colonial Games - Test your coordination with a ball and cup. How far can you roll a hoop? Take a journey to the past and visit Colonial America!

March 21, 11 AM – 12 PM | Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center: The Science of Spying - Join an educator to explore a different topic in science, technology, engineering, art, or mathematics through experiments, art projects, and more. Learn about the Culper Spy Ring through a hands-on activity.

March 28, 10:30 AM – 12 PM | Nissequogue River State Park: Revolutionary Remedies: The Women Who Healed a Nation - Explore the overlooked medical work of women during the American Revolution. We’ll highlight the nurses, caregivers, Indigenous healers, and enslaved African women whose herbal knowledge, improvised remedies, and daily labor sustained the Continental Army. Through a hands-on activity, visitors will discover how ordinary women used extraordinary ingenuity to keep a nation alive.

March 29, 10:30 AM – 12 PM | Caleb Smith State Park Preserve: Flag Code of the Revolution - Explore how our flag has evolved over the past 250 years and how flag code was useful communication during the Revolutionary War. Go on a guided hike to decode a spy letter using flag code and create a flag of your own to take home.

April 8, 1 – 2:30 PM | Caleb Smith State Park Preserve: Spy Through Parks - Become a code breaker like Washington’s spies! Learn how the Culper Spy Ring used codes during the American Revolution, then try to crack the secret codes for real!

April 11, 10 AM – 12 PM | Hallock State Park Preserve: Hike Through History - Go on a hike through Long Island’s role in Revolutionary History in a year-long series highlighting how local sites played a role during the American Revolution.

April 12, 1:30 – 3 PM | Connetquot River State Park Preserve: Recognizing Women’s Right To Vote in NY State - On November 6, 1917, women won the right to vote in NY State. Join this special America250 program to hear Town of Islip Historian George Munkenbeck share the history of local Long Island suffragists. Also on display will be a travelling exhibit provided by the Long Island Library Resources Council.

May 30, 10 AM – 12 PM | Belmont Lake State Park: Colonial Cooking - Learn how colonialists grew and cooked their food as well as popular recipes from this time. Watch as Diane Schwindt from the Ketcham Inn cooks food over an open-air hearth and then sample items that she cooked! 40 people max.

June 6, 10 AM – 12 PM | Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve: Hike Through History - Go on a hike through Long Island’s role in Revolutionary History in a year-long series highlighting how local sites played a role during the American Revolution.

June 14, 10:30 AM – 12 PM | Caleb Smith State Park Preserve: Flag Code of the Revolution - Explore how our flag has evolved over the past 250 years, and how flag code was useful communication during the Revolutionary War. Go on a guided hike to decode a spy letter using flag code and create a flag of your own to take home.

June 20, 11 AM – 12:30 PM | Hempstead Lake State Park: Spy Through Parks - Become a code breaker like Washington’s spies! Learn how the Culper Spy Ring used codes during the American Revolution, then try to crack the secret codes for real!

July Fourth weekend, Jones Beach State Park will host the FourLeaf Air Show and Fireworks: Celebrating America250. Fireworks are scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. on the Fourth, with the annual air show set for July 5 and 6. Headliners are the United States Navy Blue Angels, joined by international military jet teams, including the Canadian Snowbirds. Other performances will include the United States Army Golden Knights, United States Navy F-35C Lightning II Demo Team, Australian professional aerobatic and air race pilot Aarron Deliu, American Air Power Museum Warbirds, Farmingdale State College Aviation, 105th Airlift Wing, and NY Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster III Flyover.

August 2, 1 – 3 PM | Connetquot River State Park Preserve: He Dared To Sign: William Floyd - Long Islander William Floyd dared to sign the Declaration of Independence for New York in 1776. In doing so he risked his life, family and fortunes. But he didn’t sign on July 4th! Most of the men signed today, August 2, 250 years ago! This talk will cover Floyd’s life and times and the actual signing of the Declaration, along with 3 other New Yorkers.

August 15, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Caleb Smith State Park Preserve: Hike Through History - Go on a hike through Long Island’s role in Revolutionary History in a year-long series highlighting how local sites played a role during the American Revolution.

September 4, 6 PM – 8 PM | Connetquot River State Park Preserve: Spy Through Parks - Become a code breaker like Washington’s spies! Learn how the Culper Spy Ring used codes during the American Revolution, then try to crack the secret codes for real!

October 4, 10 AM – 12 PM | Sunken Meadow State Park:Hike Through History - Go on a hike through Long Island’s role in Revolutionary History in a year-long series highlighting how local sites played a role during the American Revolution.

October 17, 1 – 3 PM | Nissequogue River State Park Preserve: Unfinished Revolutions: First Nations - The American Revolution itself was imperfect and many Native Americans did not benefit from its ideals of liberty and freedom. Learn more about the ongoing struggle of New York’s Indigenous communities to achieve the ideals of the Revolution from author Travis Bowman and Montaukett Executive Director Sandi Brewster-Walker.

November 14, 10:30 AM – 12 PM | Connetquot River State Park Preserve: Revolutionary Remedies: The Women Who Healed a Nation - Explore the overlooked medical work of women during the American Revolution. We’ll highlight the nurses, caregivers, Indigenous healers, and enslaved African women whose herbal knowledge, improvised remedies, and daily labor sustained the Continental Army. Through a hands-on activity, visitors will discover how ordinary women used extraordinary ingenuity to keep a nation alive.