In Focus: Juneteenth celebrated in Centralia

Community members came together to celebrate Juneteenth on Friday at George Washington Park in Centralia. 

The event was sponsored by the City of Centralia, MultiCulturally Minded Lewis County and ROOTED in Lewis County.

The celebration, which was free and open to the public,  featured speakers, singers and food.

“Juneteenth is the annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War. June 19, 1865 was the day Union soldiers enforced President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and freed all remaining enslaved people in Texas,” event organizer Jim McCully said in a news release prior to the event. “MultiCulturally Minded and ROOTED in Lewis County, in collaboration with the Centralia City Council, wish to take this opportunity to educate the community on the importance of freedom for all Americans.”

“Our city was founded through the generosity of George Washington,” Deputy Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston said before the event. “His story is an example of how one man was able to accomplish many goals based on his desire to help people.”