It's a beautiful sunny summer morning at the corner of Genesee and Moselle. It is time again for the Juneteenth Parade. What does Juneteenth mean? After the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, it took a couple of years to get the word out, from the East Coast to the West Coast. The latter heard about it in June, and for those it was in the middle days of June, so Juneteenth.
In Buffalo this is the 34th Annual Juneteenth Festival. It is the third largest Juneteenth in the country. It starts out with a parade. And you know how I loved the St. Patrick's Day Parade and the world's largest Dyngus Day Parade is in Buffalo. Well, this parade kicks off with beautiful classic cars, even a Studebaker from the 1930s. The cars are from every decade, an they glide by two abreast.
Next I see a convertible with its top up. Grand Marshall Rodney White is sitting in the back seat. Mr White is 100 years old! Amazing!
A beautiful white stallion follows, with a buggy attached. What a nice day for a ride, not a cloud in the sky. You can hear beautiful music from Grover Cleveland High School's Krewe de Funk in their green and gold.
Mayor Byron Brown's float is next (not pictured). Boy, does he get around. I just saw him speak hours earlier at the start of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at Delaware Park. Check back at BRO for that post. The Deliverance Dancers looked great in their sharp purple. And the two Erie County Sheriffs on horses looked mighty distinguished.
Beauty Pageant Award Winner Young Miss Buffalo looked gorgeous. Channel 7 was there with new reporter Kevin Jolly on their float. And, of course, the Buffalo Bills. The 'other' Bills were next, the Pop Warner Eastern Region Junior Pee Wee Division 2 Western New York Bills that were champions in 2008, in their red white and blue.
It was nice to see the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame marching. International star Taylor Van was in attendance. The parade ended at Martin Luther King Park. OK food fans, here's what looked good: elephant subs, fried okra, pastelillos, crystal beach suckers, plus jerk and curried chicken.
The parade was just the just the first of many events throughout the weekend. Other events included Underground Railroad Bus Tours, Basketball Shootout, Family Photo Booth (instant photos for only a buck!), and a performance by the Old School B-Boys (they sure were a big hit at the Concert for the Heart at Kleinhans Music Hall this past March).
I wish that this had the exposure and attendance of the St. Patrick's day parade. Why do tens of thousands of people stand in the snow and rain to watch that parade, while this one goes largely unnoticed by the general public in Buffalo. This one is far more significant.
It would get exposure if more people went. Also I saw channel 4 led their news cast Sunday with this instead of Allen Town Art Festival. Give it some time and maybe Americans will turn it into a drinking holiday, and then you can come back in 20 years and write about how it's lost all meaning.