By decree of the governor, Kent Island Day is a celebration of the founding in 1631 of the first permanent English settlement in the territory that would become Maryland and the third in America, following only Jamestown and Plymouth.

Sponsored by the Kent Island Heritage Society, there will be all-day entertainment for the entire family, beginning with a big parade. Reenactments and an encampment provide historical perspective. Crafters, community-group displays, on-stage performances, demonstrations, kiddie rides and good food are part of the day’s experience. And a bake-sale booth with mouth-watering home-baked cakes and pastries.

Kent Island Day will be held in downtown Historic Stevensville on Saturday, May 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Continual entertainment runs from noon to 4 p.m.

The Heritage Society’s historic sites—Cray House, the Train Station and Caboose, the Old Post Office and the Stevensville Bank in Historic Stevensville and Kirwan Country Store Museum in Chester—will be opened to visitors. Docents in period costumes will be on hand at each site.

For information about the event, call Joyce Woodford at 410-827-4189.

For inquiries about the parade, call KIHS President Jack Broderick at 410-643-6452.