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Free event to feature vendors, kid’s activities, historical exhibits and more

 

TRYON—The Roseland Community Center will host a free Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 15, from noon to 4 p.m.

Entitled “Juneteenth: A New Celebration / RISE! A New Generation,” this free event will feature historical exhibits and Juneteenth trivia, as well as a select number of vendors. Organizers invite the public to celebrate community and freedom and to help launch a new generation of the Roseland Institute for Summer Enrichment program, a local summer camp for children ages six to 13.

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 but has long been celebrated to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. A portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth,” the celebration recognizes the fact that on June 19, 1865, the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was ordered in Texas, where it became an official holiday in 1980.

There will be games and activities at the event for children and adults, such as horseshoes, cornhole, a cakewalk, bounce houses and face painting. There will also be music and dancing, as well as food trucks onsite.

Children can also register for RISE! at the event at no cost, which will be held from June 15 to July 5. This will be the 31st year of the program. 

“These are exciting times for Roseland and the Eastside, and we are looking forward to celebrating the community and committing ourselves to another generation of RISE! youth,” said Rosalend’s Dr. Warren Carson.

This free event and summer enrichment program are made possible in part by a grant from the Mary F. Kessler Fund at the Polk County Community Foundation. 

Roseland Community Center is located at 56 Peake Street in the Historic Eastside community of Tryon. Attendees are asked to park respectfully along Peake and East Howards streets and not to bring pets to the event.