CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Staff writer
The Annual Camden Juneteenth Festival has come and gone, was well attended and included participation by area candidates. Plans are already being made for 2019’s event to better promote the program
After lackluster attendance on Saturday, the Juneteenth Festival rebounded with a good crowd during the Sunday concert and car show.
Juneteenth is a national holiday that observes the arrival of Union Troops to Galveston, Texas, to help free slaves on June 19, 1865 - two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The event is traditionally celebrated during the weekend around the middle of June.
Friday kicked off the Juneteenth weekend with a parade downtown and a block party with Andre “DJ 5’9” Romby at Fred Owen’s Special Touch Barber Shop on California. The parade featured horses and entrants from the 2018 Miss Juneteenth Pageant, District 5 Rep. candidate Wade Andrews, Camden mayoral candidate Julian Lott, the Two-Wheel Cruisers Motorcycle Club, No Limit Riders Motorcycle Club, and Arkansas Plus Sized Model of the Year and Camden native, Kiffany Smith. The parade was led by Camden Police Department Officer L.C. “Buckshot” Smith and the Juneteenth honorees - Darlene Carter and Terry Calahan.
On Saturday, a health fair table was set up in the Teen Town building along with concessions and the judges for the 2018 Juneteenth Cook-off. Betty Usher completed a clean sweep by winning first place in the chicken, ribs and beef categories of the cook-off.
Later in the afternoon, candidates were invited to the stage in the park area to speak to the crowd for the first “Power the Vote” meet-the-candidates event. The event was added after Ouachita County had one of its lowest voting turnouts in history during the Primary Elections in May. Organizers explained that the purpose of the event was to introduce candidates and their platforms to the public in hopes that residents will be motivated to go out and vote without the candidates feeling any pressure of having to take part in a debate at the Juneteenth event.
The “Power the Vote” portion of the event was originally going to be inside, but the bulk of the crowd was in the shaded area of the park. Due to issues with the microphone, candidates had to speak loudly. However, each candidate adapted well and spoke briefly about their platforms and purpose for running and spent time visiting with the voters before and after the event.
Camden mayoral candidate David Chilcote and incumbent Camden Mayor Marie Trisolinni - as well as Andrews and incumbent District 5 Rep. David Fielding - all spoke during the event. Lott was in attendance, but had a prior engagement at a funeral during the time of the candidates’ addresses.However, he spoke with the crowd after returning later in the day.
Aldermen Marvin Moore, Joe Askew and Chris Aregood - along with Ouachita County Judge Robbie McAdoo and Ouachita County Clerk Gladys Nettles - were present during the festivities on Saturday. Alderwoman Irene Galbert telephoned and spoke with organizers beforehand and wished the group good luck, but stated that she could not attend the event because she had an illness in her family.
Saturday’s activities closed with basketball games and a dance contest, including a highly-competitive dance battle between a group of young ladies and CPD’s LaRhonda Moore, Erin Manning and Ashley Watts.
On Sunday, several local artist performed during the Annual Juneteenth Concert. This year, artists who performed included 11-year-olds “Tae Money” and “Drizzy Tae,” 16-year-old “T-Reeze,” along with “Burr,” “Vontae” and “’Lil Riley.” Magnolia’s DJ Andrew “Drewster” served as the DJ.
NFL Superbowl Champion and Camden native Stacey Andrews and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Vincent Thrower were in atendance to support the event and visit with area youth.
After the event closed, organizers discussed the positives and negatives from the event, but expressed frustrations with how the event was promoted.
The South Arkansas Cultural Association was allotted $1,500 in April from the Camden Advertising and Promotion Committee with another $1,500 going towards J.C. Productions to help promote the event. However, the $1,500 given to SACA had to be approved by J.C. Productions. An organizer of the event explained that he had reached out to J.C. Productions owner Jeremy Ables for instructions and approval for more than a week before the event, but Ables was unavailable.
The delay in the approval of funds led to the withdrawal of services by promoters who had successfully worked with the Juneteenth organizers in the past.
Planning committee members also stated that they learned from many attendees of the event that they did not know Juneteenth was to be held on that date until seeing the crowd in the park.
The group then talked about Facebook rumors regarding a white supremacist group that allegedly threatened to attend the Juneteenth event, and another rumor stating that admission was being charged for cars to get into the park.
The group ultimately decided that the issue should be raised at the next Camden A&P Commission meeting, and that the group should place a renewed vigor in recruiting to help the Juneteenth Planning Committee promote the event.