Current Schedule

9:00 Live Art with Blake Irwin
SCC concession stand wall
9:00 Benefit Pancake Breakfast, hosted by the Daniel B. Matthews Historical Society cost: free-willl offering
SCC Community Room
10:00 Panel Discussion on "The Help," moderated by Jonelle Henry
SCC Community Room
12:00 Community Meet and Greet
SCC Garden Theatre

12:00 Vendors & Partners make and take activity tables open for Business

12:30 SCC Pool Opens--FREE SWIM

1:00 Dedication Ceremony and Re-enactment Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation
Legion Porch

Afternoon Break-out Activities
Center Stage
2:00 Gospel Song and Dance
Betty Asche Douglas, Tri-Stone Baptist, On Common Ground, and Coraopolis Church of God and Christ
4:00 Soul Line Dancing with Roland Ford

Legion History Room
1:30 Interactive Discussion with past players Thadeus Stevens, Martin Delaney and Abraham Lincoln
2:15 "The Real Heroes" Tuskegee Airmen tribute by Regis Bobonis
3:00 "Hope Somewhere in America," by Sydell Pearl author reading and book signing

SCC Community Room
2:30 Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness Talk
3:30 Food Pantry Garden Presentation

SCC Garden Theater
2:45 Qigong, led by Malcolm Minnekhekh Thomas
3:45 "Soul in my Story; the Story in my Soul" guided writing led by Jean Zell
4:45 Guided Drumming Circle with Janelle Burdell and Phillip Harris

Evening Activities
5:30 All Ages KICK BALL, SCC field
6:30 Spoken Word Concert and Open Mic, Legion
7:30 Sewickley Families Reunion Celebration, Legion

Juneteenth is an American holiday. What meant physical freedom for the previously enslaved for those of Galveson, Tx in 1865 meant the beginnings of a change in mind for others and their self-imprisonment. Come celebrate with us where regardless of race, color or creed we are all, "Free to be Me!"

Join Us! Events and Activities

The Sewickley Community Center is proud to present its 3rd annual Juneteenth Celebration, June 23, 2012. Please join us as we celebrate freedom and equality.

ADMISSION IS FREE for all events except the pancake breakfast.

Saturday, June 23, 2012, 9 am to 7 pm
Sewickley Community Center
15 Chadwick Street, Sewickley, Pennsylvania


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Events and Activities

Morning Activities
Pancake Breakfast*—per person fee to attend (9 am)---by the Daniel B. Matthews Historical Society
Book Panel Discussion—The Help (10 am)---Moderated by Jonelle Henry of CSPAN

Afternoon Activities
Community Leaders Meet and Greet Reception (12 pm)---Meet local civic leaders and politicians
Pool Opens—Free Swim (12:30 pm)---The 2012 pool season officially opens at the SCC
Juneteenth Reenactment (12:30 pm)

• USCT Fife and Drum Corps---Enjoy a Drum and Fife Corps re-enactment
• “Abraham Lincoln” Reads the Emancipation Proclamation
• Martin Robison Delany
• Historical Commentary on Thaddeus Stevens

Boy Scout Troop Flag Ceremony (1 pm)

Afternoon Entertainment
Betty Douglas, Marianne Pratt, Common Ground, Christian Lighthouse, Church in the Round, Church of God & Christ Praise Dance, Roland Ford, and more!

Afternoon Classes and Seminars
Qigong, Community Gardening, Breast Cancer Awareness, Guided Writing, Historical Seminars, and more!

Evening Activities 
Kick Ball Tournament (6 pm)

ABOUT JUNETEENTH
Juneteenth commemorates June 18 and 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take possession of the state and enforce the abolition of slavery. On June 19, 1865, while standing on the balcony of Galveston's Ashton Villa, General Granger read the contents of "General Order No. 3.":

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

Jubilant celebrations followed the announcement, with commemorative events beginning the following year. Today, Juneteenth is celebrated throughout the United States.