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As a child, Berkley Bell made the three-mile journey every morning to Quince Orchard Colored School from his family's home in Gaithersburg. Bell said he and other black students heard slurs yelled from passing buses and cars as they walked to school.

Now Bell, 85, makes the peaceful drive from his home in Dickerson to Gaithersburg to meet with old friends, sing soulful songs and celebrate black heritage during June Fest.

"It's like a family reunion every year," said Bell, a member of the Royal Harmonizers, a gospel group.

People gathered by the old Pleasant View Methodist Church on Saturday to enjoy food, music and history at June Fest, hosted by the Pleasant View Historical Association to raise money for the upkeep of the church and school.

Pearl Green, one of the association's trustees, said the festival brings people together to share the history of the church and the school, where black students studied in the early- to mid-1900s.

According to the Pleasant View Historical Association's history, the three acres the old Pleasant View Methodist Church and Quince Orchard Colored School sit on were purchased in trust for $54 in 1868. The land was to be for a Methodist Episcopal Church and the congregation met in a school house on the property until 1888. The church moved to the newly built Pleasant View Methodist Church, according to the association. In 1901, the Quince Orchard Colored School burned down and in 1902, an old school for whites was moved to the site to replace it.

Green, 91, of North Potomac, attended the Quince Orchard School from 1924 to 1931 before heading to Rockville Colored High School, she said. At Saturday's festival, Green listened to her grandson, Jason Green, 28, of Gaithersburg, speak about family, his heritage and his days working on President Barack Obama's campaign. Jason Green led the national "Get Out the Vote" campaign for Obama and is now associate counsel, Pearl Green said.

In his speech, Jason Green said it was always fun coming to the festival with his family. He joked that he remembered two different events at the festival site: his dad beating a snake that came from behind the outhouse and the funeral of his grandfather, Gerard Green Sr., at the Mount of Olives Cemetery.

"I remember my first time crying was here at my grandfather's funeral," Green said.

The Rev. J.W. Park, pastor at Fairhaven United Methodist Church in Gaithersburg, said the festival "is a wonderful thing." Park, of Darnestown, said the festival, which draws people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, "shows how all races can get together" and celebrate.