Strand celebrates its 93rd birthday with a salute to Veterans Day

November 11, 1918, the day World War I ended on the Western Front was the same day that the Strand Theatre opened its doors for the very first time.

Tomorrow— exactly 93 years later — the Mayor’s Office of Arts Tourism and Special Events is hosting a free commemoration of both events at the former movie palace. However, “Strand 93 – A Birthday Celebration” is shaping up to be not only an Anniversary/Veterans Day salute, but also a showcase for African-American artists, working in film, live performance and quilting.

The festivities, which run from 4 to 7 p.m., were organized by Alda Marshall, the city’s Director of Public and Private Partnerships, who works out of the Strand every Monday and Tuesday. Marshall, who has co-produced many of the city’s MLK Day tributes, notes that while the majority of performers are black, “there’s a whole rainbow of performers on our Community Stage.”

From 4-6, that Community Stage will feature a wide variety of performances including a capoeira demonstration by Uphams Corner’s own Courtney Grey. Other acts include selections from the musical “Cabaret” by the Boston Dance Company (that used to present “The Nutcracker” at the Strand) and hymns by Anointed Biblical Scriptures, a gospel quartet from Dorchester’s Macedonia Baptist Church.

After 6 begins the salute to soldiers, including a verse appreciation by author Haywood Fennell, Sr., the founder of the Tri-Ad Veterans League, Inc., a local veterans’ rights advocacy group. A Boston University color guard will add to the pageantry.

Highlighting the military-themed observances will be the continuous screening of a short film that debuted last month on Black Entertainment Television. “Burned,” co-written, produced and directed by Phyllis Toben Bancroft, is described as “an emotionally wrenching film” that tells the story of a female Air Force veteran who returns from Iraq and finds Post Traumatic Stress compromising her new career as a firefighter.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of “Strand 93” is the opening of a two month long display of 93 quilts, created by Sisters in Stitches Joined in the Cloth, “New England’s Only Afro-American Quilting Guild.” Exhibiters will include Dot quilter Hattie Talley. The group’s organizer Susi Ryan notes, “To get the full 93, we had to open the show up to friends and former members. We’ll have an informational brochure and for the kids a ‘scavenger hunt’ where they’ll be looking for certain patterns and color combinations.”

For more information, go to strandboston.com or call 617-635-1403 to schedule a viewing of the quilts.