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Registraton due May 15 for Juneteenth parade in Georgetown

April 25, 2019

All are welcome to attend the Juneteenth celebration beginning with a parade at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 15, at the Richard Allen School, 316 S. Railroad Ave., Georgetown. Juneteenth celebrates the Emancipation Proclamation, which notified enslaved people that they were freed. Vendor space is available. There will be entertainment, parade, food, vendors, games, school tours and more.

For vendor information, call Carolyn at 302-228-5973. For parade information, route and lineup, call Hattie at 302-228-0057. Parade participants must preregister by Wednesday, May 15. Vendor cost is $50, and vendors must bring their own tent and table, and set up by 9 a.m.

The proclamation, called General Order No. 3, was read by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger upon his arrival June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas. The order began most significantly with: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.” It is written that, with the announcement, festivities abounded showing the relief many felt realizing the profoundness of this announcement.

The community responded with both joy and shock as the proclamation was read. Some of the enslaved people did not wait to hear the reading in its entirety but went to their previous masters to determine what their status would be with this proclamation. Others were eager to learn how this transition would take place and reveling in their new freedom.

The celebration of Juneteenth grew with more participation from descendants. It became a time for reassuring one another, for praying and for gathering remaining family members. Juneteenth continues to be highly revered in Texas, with many former slaves and descendants making their way back to Galveston in celebration of this date.

This event is sponsored by the Richard Allen Coalition, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Sussex Alumnae Chapter, Restoration Worship Center, and Everlasting Hope Ministries in collaboration with the Buffalo Soldiers.

For more information, contact Jane Hovington at 302-258-7182 or email jehovahrohi@aol.com.

 

 

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