The Elmont community will commemorate Black History Month on Sunday, Feb. 10 at the Elmont Public Library on Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont. Festivities will begin at 2 p.m. with a roundtable discussion moderated by Aubrey Phillips. From 3:45 to 5:15 p.m., there will be the annual awards ceremony in the library auditorium featuring performances by Sewanhaka Central High School District and Elmont School District students as well as the St. John's University Gospel Choir.

The Black History Month Celebration is entering its fifth year. It is sponsored by Elmont Online and the Elmont Community Awareness Program (ECAP). Among the awards presented are the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Award and the 21st Assembly District Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards presented by Assemblyman Tom Alfano.

Last year, Carol Parker Duncanson was presented with the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Award and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards went to John Sullivan and Joel Jackson.

This year, the awards will go to Dutch Broadway School Principal Walter Aksinoff, Clara H. Carlson School Principal Kenneth Rosner and Elmont Memorial High School senior Ian Feurtado. The Dr. Carter G. Woodson Award will go to Dr. Sydney G. McCalla, who provides surgical breast cancer care to medically underserved communities.

The celebration is an important event that brings the community together with poems, song, dance and recognition of some of Elmont's many community leaders.