Na’mya Johnson shows off her finished face paint design at Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration in Wilkes-Barre. When asked about the inspiration for the paint, Johnson said ‘I just wanted to look cool.’
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
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Brock Vieney, owner of Brock’s Fresh Breads, prepares some samples ahead of Saturday’s Juneteenth Cookout in Wilkes-Barre.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
Na’mya Johnson, 6, has her face painted by Debra Bouman, otherwise known as the ‘Ladder Lady.’
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
Jimel Calliste, a member and former president of the Wilkes-Barre chapter of the NAACP, welcomes everyone to the cookout.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — Recognition, education and celebration — the NAACP’s Juneteenth Cookout had all three, bringing the community together for food, music and fun.
One year after the inaugural Juneteenth Cookout saw Coal Street Park renamed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Wilkes-Barre chapter of the NAACP brought the neighborhood back to the park for a successful sequel.
“We’re doing it even bigger this year,” said NAACP president Bill Browne. “We’ve almost doubled our vendors, and we’re expecting between 400 and 600 people.”
Perhaps the only blemish of the afternoon was a quick, persistent rain shower that may have dampened the park grounds, but could hardly dampen the spirit and enthusiasm of the cookout crowd.
The afternoon’s de facto emcee was former NAACP president Jimel Calliste, who helped lead the push to rename Coal Street Park and bring the Cookout to life last year.
As Calliste took to the stage to get the live music portion of the entertainment started, he took the time to acknowledge a group of people dancing just to the right of the stage.
“That’s the vibe we’re on today,” Calliste said.
Calliste took some time to remind everyone of the reason for the cookout — Monday marks Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the freeing of the last slaves left in captivity in Texas on June 19, 1865, two years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
Though the holiday has been recognized and celebrated in many different places over the years, the U.S. government officially made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.
The Juneteenth Cookout, Calliste said, aims to bring members of the Wilkes-Barre community together to celebrate their history, and to build a strong future.
“We are here doing the same thing our ancestors did,” Calliste said. “Coming together as a community to build a strong foundation.”
With dozens of local organizations, elected officials, members of the local and state police departments and plenty of small business owners, that foundation was looking rock solid on Saturday.
There was plenty to see and do for the crowd even before the first of several live performers took the stage. Near the entrance to the park, the grills were firing and the food was going fast.
In addition to the main cookout fare, Brock Vieney of Brock’s Fresh Breads was also able to give out some free samples of his homemade bread.
A returning vendor to the Juneteenth Cookout and a staple at several other area events, Vieney talked a little bit about the meaning of Juneteenth and the symbolism of Saturday’s cookout.
“The true meaning of it [Juneteenth] is a celebration,” Vieney said. “People should come out and learn about it.”
There were plenty of opportunities to learn a bit more about the holiday and its meaning, including right at the NAACP tent, where Browne and other members of the chapter had informational pamphlets and were also signing up new members.
“It’s a day of education, we are here to educate people,” Browne said. “Not even just about Juneteenth, but about the NAACP itself.”
There were also a number of service organizations present at the cookout, aiming to educate the community about their causes. Vito Malacari and Fern Leard set up shop on behalf of the Pennsylvania Cancel Lunch Debt Coalition, looking to free area students of the nearly $15 million in lunch debt built up across the state.
“We know students don’t learn when they don’t eat,” Malacari said. “How could we get them to concentrate when they’re hungry?”
Even through the rain and some equipment issues, the park was well on its way to filling up by about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, aided by the smell of the food and the sound of the music.
Cheryl Deverell came from New Jersey to support a work colleague, looking to open a childcare service for children with autism here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Deverell was wearing a bright orange dress with a design pattern that originated in Ghana.
She was looking forward to the fun of the afternoon, but also wanted to see some of the younger people at the Cookout take the opportunity to learn and grow.
“I’d love to see the young people respect their history and their background, and build on it … for the children, it’s critical,” Deverell said.
“I expect this to be a time to remember our roots, where we’ve come from and how far we’ve come.”
