Pictured: Mayor Sheldon Neeley and State Representative Cynthia Neeley
Mayor Sheldon Neeley and State Representative Cynthia Neeley are partnering with Friends of Berston to host a Back to School Rally.
The rally will take place from 1- 3 p.m. August 29 at Berston Field House, in the parking lot, where social distancing will be enforced.
This is a community-wide event. Backpacks and school supplies will be given away. Barbers from the Charity Cuts Foundation will be on-site giving free haircuts. There will also be a Halloween Costume Giveaway.
“We just want to give families and children something to get them excited before school and virtual learning begins,” said Bryant Nolden, executive director of Friends of Berston Field House.
“This school year will have many changes for families,” Nolden added. “So hopefully this event will help uplift them for the coming school year.”
Berston Field House opened in 1923 and was the first Flint community center available to African Americans. Generations of Flint residents learned to swim and play sports, used the library, made art, attended meetings and many elite athletes honed their skills at Berston.
The facility closed in 2002 until a group of volunteers, led by Bryant Nolden, began working to revive the historic center. In 2014, Friends of Berston achieved nonprofit status and that same year signed its first lease with the city of Flint to operate the community center.
Berston offers a wide variety of activities including bicycle clubs, fitness classes, art classes, a boxing club, senior line dancing, a chess club and softball tournaments.
