City to celebrate Juneteenth with music, fellowship
The City of Sanford Appearance Commission is inviting the community to its second annual 'Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom,' a free evening of performances that celebrate the values of freedom, resilience and unity.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865 — the day when Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas with news of freedom. Juneteenth has been celebrated in Texas since 1866 but only became a national holiday in 2021.
The event will be held Thursday, June 19, at W.B. Wicker Elementary School starting at 6 p.m. It will start with a special reading of Sanford's Juneteenth proclamation by Mayor Rebecca Salmon along with members of Sanford City Council.
The Community Fellowship Choir will open the musical portion of the program with select songs before turning the stage over to the North Carolina Central University Jazz Studies Collective for several jazz standards.
Rod Brower and the Together-N-Unity Choir return with Ray Owen for their second Juneteenth in Sanford.
'Our performance will offer a message of peace and hope,' Brower said in a release. 'These are two things that the world needs right now.'
W.B. Wicker School was built in 1927 by prominent African-American contractor Link Boykin to serve Sanford's black high school students. The W.B. Wicker Alumni Association will offer a curated exhibit of historical photographs and memorabilia from the school's early days.
'W.B. Wicker School stands as a beacon to all things good and favorable; to have attended it is to love it, then and now,' Margaret Murchison, president of the school's Alumni Association, said. 'We are proud that the Appearance Commission chooses W.B. Wicker School as the venue for its Juneteenth celebration each year.'
'Bringing the community together is a small but fitting way to commemorate this culturally and historically significant anniversary,' said Liz Whitmore, a historic planner for the city and a liaison to the Appearance Commission.
A new addition this year is the participation of local members of historically African-American fraternities and sororities, many of whom have roots at W.B. Wicker School.
'As this celebration grows, we want to fill it with the people and organizations that represent the triumphs and resiliency of the African-American community,' Whitmore said.
The Appearance Commission received funding for the event from Friends of Sanford, Inc., the Lee County Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
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