People will also be remembering “Sister Vickye” James as the celebration will be dedicated to the late community leader and a member of the Jamestown City Council.

This year’s celebration will start at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 19, with a tree planting ceremony in honor of James, who for two decades led the Juneteenth Planning Committee.

Regina Brackman, Ward 3 councilwoman and Juneteenth Planning Committee chairwoman, said along with the planting of a queen silver maple and weeping willow trees, there will also be a ceremonial plaque displayed in a stone that will be dedicated at the park in honor of James’ work on the Juneteenth festival for so many years.

“Sister Vickye carried this festival for 20 years,” Brackman said Thursday at Jackson-Taylor Park during a Juneteenth Planning Committee meeting. “Vickye has done so much for this community. Her legacy will never die.”

Standing, Regina Brackman, Ward 3 councilwoman and Juneteenth Planning Committee chairwoman, discussing the Juneteenth celebration that will be held at Jackson-Taylor Park Saturday and Sunday, June 19-20. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Brackman said with last year’s Juneteenth festival at the park being canceled, even though a silent march was held in the city, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee wanted to make sure there was a celebration this year.

“We really wanted to make sure we did something this year for Juneteenth,” Brackman said.

Following the tree planting ceremony, a reading of a proclamation by Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist and a presentation on black history, there will be activities like food concessions, basketball and face painting held throughout the afternoon.

“It’s going to be an afternoon full of fun family activities and then we will come back on Sunday,” Brackman said.

Starting at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, June 20, there will be a continental breakfast, which will be followed at 9 a.m. with a worship service. Around 10:30 a.m., activities and food concessions will start again until 3 p.m. when the gospel festival will start. Around 4 p.m., the Vickye James Memorial Scholarship will be awarded.

This year’s Juneteenth Celebration is dedicated to the late Vickye James, former Jamestown City Council member and longtime Juneteenth Planning Committee chairwoman.

Brackman said planning Juneteenth started at the beginning of May and couldn’t have been done without the assistance of the planning committee and the Rev. LeRoy Walker of the Emmanuel Baptist Church.

“It’s been a lot of work, but we’ve made a lot of progress,” she said.

Juneteenth originating in Galveston, Texas, and is now celebrated annually on June 19 throughout the United States. It commemorates the anniversary — June 19, 1865 — of the announcement proclaiming freedom from slavery in Texas. President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, had officially outlawed slavery in Texas and the other states almost two and a half years earlier.

“That is what Juneteenth means — freedom,” Brackman said.

The Juneteenth celebration will follow the current state guidance when it comes to COVID-19, so masks will not be mandated because it’s an outdoor event.

“We encourage people to use common sense,” she said.