Juneteenth Celebration in Waveland

Shared History - June 2024

This year’s Juneteenth celebration marked the twenty-third consecutive year that Waveland Helping Hands has sponsored the event.
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- by Maurice Singleton

 
On June 14 and 15, over 300 citizens from across Hancock County celebrated Juneteenth on the grounds of the Martin Luther King Jr. Park on Herlihy Street.

  
Children cooled off on the splashpad, while adults listened to music, pitched horseshoes, and feasted on boiled shrimp, fried fish, seafood pasta, fried chicken, turkey necks, and sweet treats. Vendors shared information regarding library offerings, voter registration, hurricane preparation, community college offerings and regional employment opportunities.
 
Members of Waveland Helping Hands were pleased with the participation of the community as well as the number of vendors.
 

 
“I think it was a real nice event, a real nice turnout,” said Waveland Helping Hands vice president Clarence Harris. “Number one, the people coming out supporting each other was the biggest thing.”
 
Waveland mayor Jay Trapani opened the event on Saturday with a welcome, and Ward 2 Alderman Bobby Richardson sponsored the seafood pasta booth which supported Waveland Helping Hands.
 

 
“It was very positive,” said Harris. “The mayor spoke about the things that the city is doing and planning to do. That means the world, when the mayor comes out and welcomes everyone and talks about the things they’re going to do in the city. That puts information out to the people in our community.”
 

 
This year was the first time the event was held over two days. Harris said that he was pleased with the growth of the event. “We didn’t have as many people out on Friday night, but I believe as the word gets out and we advertise more, adding the Friday night event is going to work out fine,” said Harris. “We’ll advertise more and promote more next year. But overall, Juneteenth 2024 was a huge success.”
 

 
Juneteenth, which combines the words “June” and “nineteenth,” pays tribute to the day – June 19, 1865 – when 2,000 Union soldiers arrived in Galveston Bay. Led by Major Gordan Granger, the troops were sent to inform the 250,000+ enslaved African Americans that they were freed by Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it was not implemented until 1865 – when the Civil War ended – in places under Confederate control.
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