The City of Natchitoches concluded its day-long Juneteenth Celebrations with a fun filled concert and fireworks show Saturday, June 15 at the downtown riverbank. The family-friendly event was attended by a capacity crowd who filled the amphitheater seating and enjoyed some superb music from Shreveport’s Tipsey the Band followed by Zydeco legend Chris Ardoin. GODJ Chris kept the fun going in between sets. The indefatigable local civic leader Johnny Barnes of the Concerned Citizens Association of Natchitoches kept the crowd hydrated with free cold water.
The community’s newest annual celebration also featured food trucks, a mechanical bull, and inflatable play areas for children. The Juneteenth celebration concluded with one of our city’s signature fireworks shows.
The MLK Community Center hosted a community celebration earlier in the day that showcased our area’s young people. There were performances by dance schools and the Weaver Elites, educational displays by community organizations, and a basketball tournament. The tournament featured a team from the NSU Football squad sponsored by the Ben D, Johnson Center, the Natchitoches and NSU Police Departments, and some sharp young men from the “Future Leaders” Team 1865. The most eagerly awaited hardwood matchup, however, was between a team lead by Natchitoches Mayor Ronnie Williams and well known singer and radio personality Trinni Triggs. The mayor’s team eventually triumphed, aided by fellow mayor Derrick Johnson of Cheneyville, and several young men who were players from our parish’s superb high school teams.
Juneteenth commemorates the day of June 19, 1865, in which Union general Gordon Granger landed his forces in Galveston, Texas and issued his famous Order Number 3 declaring: “…The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free ….”
On the first Juneteenth, a little over two months after the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox doomed the Confederacy, General Granger and his troops fulfilled the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. The Stars and Stripes once more flew from every corner of this nation. The Confederacy was crushed and the evil of slavery driven from our country. It is indeed a day worthy of remembrance and celebration!
