Anderson family keeping legacy alive with Juneteenth parade
ANDERSON, Texas (KBTX) – Wednesday is Juneteenth.
On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers traveled to Galveston to ensure all enslaved people would be freed.
There have been events across the Brazos Valley to honor this history and one will happen Wednesday in Anderson.
The Anderson Juneteenth Association will host its 84th parade starting at 11:30 a.m.
“We have floats and cars and motorcycles and wagons and horses and anything you can name,” Bessie White said.
White and Rosie Calhoun are a part of the organization and said the parade is one of the city’s biggest events.
“People all lined up and down the street,” Calhoun said. “They are enjoying one another, trying to stay cool, but they’re enjoying each other because some it’s a yearly thing. Every year they turn out.”
The parade will start and end at the old school on Highway 90. Afterward, there will be free lunch available at the Hillside Community Center.
There will also be vendors, games and dancing.
Although the parade has been happening for 84 documented years, White said the history goes beyond that.
“I know early 1900s, a group of families got together and they started at the church,” White said. “They would have church services and the guys would barbecue goat and the women would fix all the dressings and they would just have a dinner. So it started a long time ago.”
White and Calhoun have loved keeping the event’s legacy alive and hope families leave inspired.
“I’m in hopes that they’ll get involved and do something to help us out and keep pushing for this day because this day is one that carries a lot,” Calhoun said. “A lot of meaning goes behind it.”
Following the afternoon festivities, the Anderson Juneteenth Association is hosting a rodeo at the Navasota Fairgrounds at 7 p.m.
