Gonzales County gets ready for Juneteenth observances
Preparations for 2024 Juneteenth celebrations are under way for both Gonzales and Nixon as both will be held Saturday, June 15.
--GONZALES--
The Edwards Association will hold their annual Juneteenth celebration at Edwards High School campus and David Tucy, president of the Edwards Association, is excited for the pcoming event
“The preparations for Juneteenth 2024 are going very well. A lot of effort is going into it to ensure that it is one of the best ever,” Tucy said.
Activities this year include the reading of General Order No. 3 that was issued by General Gordon Granger in Galveston, which informed the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free; a guest speaker; a Gospel fest; children’s activities, a live DJ; vendors and a night slingshot lighted parade.
And with the recent refurbishing of the lamella roof at the Edwards High School gymnasium — which Tucy lovingly calls the “Gem” — the event will return to Edwards High School after being held at Texas Independence Square for the previous three years.
“The Edwards Association's Juneteenth celebration had always been held on the campus of the old Edwards High School. Bringing it back provides an opportunity for the entire community of Gonzales to come view and share in its rich history and the history of Juneteenth,” Tucy said.
Tucy has a message regarding this year’s Juneteenth observance.
"We're all in this thing together. When we add diversity and inclusion to the equation, it make us all better human beings,” Tucy said. “Like Independence Day, an American holiday, Juneteenth, an American holiday, is a celebration of freedom. But we cannot be free unless we let go of the burdens that tend to be a yoke.”
The Gonzales Juneteenth celebration will run from 4 p.m. to midnight at Edwards High School, 1427 Fly Street, Gonzales.
--NIXON--
In Nixon, the Juneteenth celebration will be held at the Nixon Community Center Building, 302 E. Central Ave., and Kelly Roberts Cooper said organizers are better prepared this year.
“We are ready. We had a successful annual fundraiser in April, and special thanks to our donors and supporters, for without their contributions, our event could not succeed,” Cooper said.
Last year, the event was held outdoors, but due to anticipated hot weather, they requested at the October 2023 Nixon City Council meeting to hold the event in the community center on Saturday, June 15 from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. and the request was approved, Cooper said.
Cooper added it was very important to have the city’s approval and have the Juneteenth celebration inside. She said the hope is to surpass attendance numbers from last year.
Cooper recited a quote from the late Al Edwards, a former state representative who was a driving force for the creation of Juneteenth as a Texas state holiday, as the message for this year’s Juneteenth.
“Every year we must remind successive generations that this event triggered a series of events that, one by one, defines the challenges and responsibilities of successive generations,” Edwards once said.
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