Saturday, February 26, 2011

February 26 Harris Neck Festival

Storytellers, shouters and others will perform at the annual Harris Neck Festival 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 26 on the grounds of the First African Missionary Baptist Church of Harris Neck in northern McIntosh County.

Sponsored by the Harris Neck Land Trust, the festival will feature performances by the Gospel Messengers and the Gullah Geechee Shouters, storytelling by Jamal Toure and food sales.

The land trust will also give an update on the Harris Neck Justice Movement, an effort to reclaim land taken by the federal government through eminent domain during World War II.

The government built an airfield on the land but deeded it to the county for public use after the war. After the county allowed the land to be misused, the federal government took it back and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now operates it as Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge provides important habitat for migratory birds, including wood storks.

The Land Trust represents former residents and descendants of former residents of the disputed property. They contend the federal government promised the property would be returned at the end of the war, but never followed through.

The group is trying to influence Congress to enact legislation returning the property to the original owners. The land was settled by freed slaves at the end of the Civil War. They and their descendants lived there until the federal government bought the property.

The church is on Harris Neck Road, about five miles east of U.S.17 in northern McIntosh County. Harris Neck Road and U.S. 17 intersect a mile south of Exit 67 off Interstate 95.



Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2011-02-01/story/harris-neck-land-issue-part-feb-26-festival#ixzz1F4spWCtk

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