Celebrate Juneteenth with Ebony Vision June 17 with live entertainment, games and new soul food contest

Daphne Lemke, Fond du Lac Reporter
Updated ·2 min read
23

FOND DU LAC – Celebrate nearly 160 years of freedom with Ebony Vision this weekend.

The organization's 15th annual Juneteenth Celebration invites the community to enjoy live music, food, children's activities, raffles and community vendors in the free event starting at 11 a.m. June 17 at Buttermilk Creek Park.

Juneteenth, sometimes known as Freedom Day, celebrates the abolishment of slavery two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, according to Ebony Vision.

On June 19, 1865, about 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas — which was still under Confederate control — and announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree.

This year's event features performances from cultural African dance group Ko-Thi Dance Company and All Saints Catholic Church Choir, both from Milwaukee.

New this year is the Juneteenth cooking contest, where pre-registered attendees compete to see who in the community makes the best ribs, collard greens, sweet potato pie, or macaroni and cheese. The winner will be decided by three "Fond du Lac celebrity judges": Bishop Haywood, Tyrone Wisdom and Laurice Snyder.

Ebony Vision meets on the third Monday of every month, and with June's meeting falling on Juneteenth for the first time, the organization will hold a family game night in place of the meeting, board member Kyonna Henry said.

Everyone is welcome June 19 at the McLane Room of the Fond du Lac Public Library, 32 Sheboygan St., to play board games or card games, eat snacks and learn about Juneteenth from 6:15 to 7:45 p.m.

Sponsors for Saturday's event include University of Wisconsin- Madison's Division of Extension, NAMI Fond du Lac County, United for Diversity, Solutions Center & St. Katharine Drexel Shelter, Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, Fond du Lac County Health Department, Fond du Lac Public Library, Democratic Party of Fond du Lac County, Gratitude Club, Inc., Getting Ahead-SVDP Fond du Lac, ADRC of Fond du Lac County, the Fond du Lac School District, Cops for Kids, SSM Health and TDS Telecom.

For more about Ebony Vision or Juneteenth, visit ebonyvisionfdl.org.

Contact Daphne Lemke at dlemke@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @daphlemke.

This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Fond du Lac's 2023 Juneteenth Celebration includes soul food contest