Juneteenth quilt raffle to benefit NAACP scholarship fund

MANSFIELD — Quilting is about community for Yolanda Allen. It’s an activity that brings people together. It’s also a chance to give back.

For forty years, the Chat and Chew Quilter’s Club has met to share a meal and quilt together. In addition to personal projects, they’ve sewn blankets for senior citizens and homebound individuals.

Last fall, the group decided to collaborate on a black, green and red quilt to benefit the Mansfield NAACP’s scholarship fund.

The queen-sized bedspread and a matching sham will be raffled off during Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration.

Allen said the colors in the quilt are ones typically associated with Juneteenth, due to their prominence in the flags of African nations.

The quilt will be displayed at the main branch of the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library on Wednesday and in Central Park during Saturday’s festivities.

Raffle tickets will be available for sale during the festival. They can also be purchased prior to the event by contacting Allen at 419-522-1072. Tickets are $5 each or five for $20.

The group has already collected $300 in presale tickets so far.

The winning ticket will be drawn Saturday; the winner does not need to be present.

Juneteenth is an annual commemoration of June 19, 1865, when the last slaves in the United State were finally free.

Even though President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, it hadn’t been enforced in Confederate-controlled territories.

The Civil War ended in April 1865, but news traveled slowly. 

On June 19, around 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, armed with a military order declaring “all slaves are free.”

In the years that followed, Black Americans continued to celebrate June 19 as a day of freedom and liberation.

Free Juneteenth parade, festival returns to downtown

Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday in 1979. Other states followed, but Juneteenth did not become a federal holiday until 2021.

Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration in Mansfield begins with a parade at 10 a.m., with an all-day festival to follow in Central Park.

The parade route starts at the intersection of Marion Avenue and Park Avenue West. The festival will feature live music and entertainment, vendors, food trucks, community choirs, health screenings, kids activities, wine tasting, line dancing and more.

The event will also be raising awareness about health equity, voter education and engagement, economic empowerment, and education.  

Authors Effie James, Teana Sykes, Romeo Travis and Obesida Cooke will all be hosting book signings.