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Festivities detailed for Juneteenth Festival on Friday, Saturday

STEUBENVILLE — Second Baptist Church, 717 Adams St., Steubenville, will present its Juneteenth Festival celebrating African American heritage during two days of festivities.

The community-oriented event open to the public will be held from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the location of South Eighth Street short to Adams Street.

The opening ceremony will be at 11 a.m. Friday. William and Sheila Hendricks are chairs.

There will be a disc jockey providing music both days, informational booths, health screenings, art, food, vendors, face painting, a children’s area, games, a Bounce House, line dancing and live entertainment.

Sponsors include the Steubenville Lions Club, Trinity Health System, Vinson House of Mortuary, RSV Inc., SVRTA and the Steubenville Striders.

Involved in the planning are: James Baber and William Hendricks, sponsors; Juanita Slappy and Rhonda Parrish, entertainment; Trina Lawson, chair of vendors committee including Lee Vinson, William Hendricks and Speedy Hawkins; Keith Murray and Gail Dixon, culinary department; Deborah Jackson, baked goods sale; Carolyn Simmons, book sale; Lorraine Hopkins and Connie Vinson, ticket sales; Patricia Herring and Sheila Hendricks, fliers and posters; and Donna Jackson, social media. The Rev. Marvin E. Barner Jr. is the church’s pastor.

Juneteenth, also called Freedom Day and Emancipation Day, celebrates the abolition of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Texas, according to promotional material provided, to deliver news that President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the enslaved. Although the proclamation was issued Jan. 1, 1863, it took nearly two and a half years for word to travel from Washington to Texas. By then, Texas had amassed more than 250,000 slaves. Since 1865, the day the Union army arrived in Texas, Juneteenth has been celebrated informally throughout the country. Today, Juneteenth, said to be the oldest black American holiday, is a celebration of African American freedom, heritage and culture — “a time of reflection to remember from whence we have come and a time to enlighten, educate and empower the next generation.”

Some Juneteenth facts, according to the promotional material, include:

¯ Texas was the first state to declare Juneteenth an official state holiday in Texas on Jan. 1, 1980.

¯ Juneteenth is a combination of the words June and nineteenth in reference to the date that slaves were freed in Texas.

¯ There is a Juneteenth flag of freedom, which is half red and half blue with a star in the middle. Each year a Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony is held in Galveston.

¯ Strawberry pop and barbecuing have become associated with celebrating Juneteenth.

¯ Red food (watermelon, red velvet cake, etc.) commemorates that blood was spilled during the days of slavery.

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