PORT JERVIS, NY — The Port Jervis Tourism Board and Minisink Valley Historical Society will present a Stephen Crane festival on Saturday, June 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Orange Square, described as “A living memorial celebrating the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.”

The 45-foot-tall Civil War monument in Orange Square (seen in the photo) will be surrounded by an encampment of soldiers. Among those participating will be the 124th New York, known as the Orange Blossoms; Company L of the 15th New York Volunteer Cavalry; 143rd New York Volunteer Infantry; and Lee’s Battery Virginia Light Artillery. President and Mrs. Lincoln will be onsite in the afternoon to greet visitors and talk about their lives. There’s a rumor that Ulysses S. Grant will also make an appearance. The backdrops will provide great photo ops.

The Broome Street Fife and Drum Corps will provide era-appropriate music. In the First Presbyterian Church vestibule, there will be a display of authentic Civil War clothing by Juanita Leisch Jensen. The film “The Red Badge of Courage” will be shown several times during the day in the church’s Marsh Hall. Tri-State Historical Societies will have Civil War displays in the Drew United Methodist Church’s Fellowship Hall.

Stephen Crane’s father was the minister in the original church on this site. Robert Eurich will give a presentation titled “Stephen Crane: His Civil War Veteran Neighbors and The Red Badge of Courage.” The Gray-Parker Funeral Home’s 1867 Hearse, and Pike County Historical Society’s 19th-century Hiawatha stagecoach will be on display.

There will be activities and lectures offered throughout the day. Peter Osborne and Richard Roberts will lead a bus tour of Civil War veterans’ burial sites in the historic Laurel Grove Cemetery.