144th Owen Sound Emancipation Festival - August 4th - 6th, 2006

 

It is with pleasure that we welcome you to celebrate with us, our 144thEmancipation Festival in Owen Sound, Ontario – August 4^th to 6^th, 2006.  Our annual Celebration Picnic will take place in Harrison Park, Owen Sound on Saturday August 5^th from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

 

Yes, for 144 years ….

 

“Individuals interested in … history, family, culture and community have been congregating every August 1st weekend since 1862 in Owen Sound, "the most northerly retreat of the Underground Railroad journey in Canada". Descendants of blacks, who came via the Underground Railroad to settle in freedom, gather to reminisce and enjoy a time of fellowship.” – www.emancipation.ca

 

This is an especial ceremony for all of us as we celebrate family, fellowship, “oral history”, “documented” history, “community, culture and roots” of our amazing integrated community.  Meet historians, educators, diplomats, relatives and contributors to the freedom journey.  Enjoy the integration of congeniality, pride, inquiry, knowledge, spirit and future.

 

This event is acknowledged as being the longest consistently running in Grey and Bruce counties – situated within the valley of Owen Sound resplendid with charm, warmth, camaraderie and purpose – home of John “Daddy” Hall (“The first Black person to settle at Sydenham Village near Owen Sound who arrived about 1843” – Owen Sound’s First Town Crier);  home of  Susannah Earlls Johnson Wilson,” the first deaconess in the British Methodist Episcopal Church history" and “the second woman in Canada, to be a fully ordained minister; home of  “Addie Aylestock … served as minister of the (Owen Sound) B.M.E. Church. In 1951, she became the first ordained female minister in Canada”; home of  Marisse Scott, who became the first nursing graduate in Canada after being refused “permission to enter nurse’s training schools because of her colour; home of  “Wilson Woodbeck, of Owen Sound who emerged in the 1930s as a baritone singer on the New York stage including Carnegie Hall;  neighbours to Hanover’s Tommy Burns who fought Jack Johnson in The Great White Hope and is remembered for how he stood up against prejudice which detered his notoriety,  neighbours to  Markdale’s “William Luke who preached at the Methodist Church (in Markdale) before leaving for Alabama to work with newly freed slaves there.  In 1870, the Ku Klux Klan lynched him and six of his black students.”  William Luke was the only white person lynched in the Underground Railroad Movement.

 

Enjoy Achievement Awards’ Presentations, Arts & Crafts Exhibits, Story Boards, Childrens' Races & Games, Baseball, Volleyball, Boating & Tennis, Great Food, Swimming Facilities, Door Prizes, Story Boards, Great Live Music and more …

This year we are having a Blues Welcome Party on Friday, August 4^th, on Sunday August 5^th the BME Church will have its Annual Through It All Gospel Benefit.  Don’t forget to take in the Grey Roots Museum Black History Exhibit.  Another amazing venue is the Sheffield Black History Museum in Collingwood. 

 

Our picnic has become concentric with historical and educational development, community integration and appreciation, cultural identification and documentation and, the appreciation of “community, culture and roots”.  The City of  Owen Sound and all who have taken part in this celebration welcome your participation.  Ken Johnson, , who has been coming to the picnic for as long as he can remember  concludes, “I wouldn’t miss (the emancipation picnic) for the world.” - Bill Henry, Sun Times Staff – July 16, 04. 

 

Harrison Park comes complete with a bird sanctuary, 2 swimming pools, minigolf, horseshoe pits, walking & cycling trails, playground equipment, and paddleboats.  Bring your picnic baskets, lawn chairs, story boards, family & friends and join us in celebrating “Emancipation”.  Now is the time to book your accommodations early. 

 

Donations and contributions are appreciated as the Emancipation Celebration Picnic is free and supported only through participant and sponsor offerings.   Please feel free to distribute this letter to those who may find interest.  See you there. 

 

A few new attractions that we are in the process of developing for this years’ picnic is a storytelling evening on Friday, August 4^th,  a Black Arts Exhibit in the Community Center, Harrison Park, August 5^th and a revamped crafts corner.  Interested participants please contact Dennis Scott at 905 331 0020 or osemancipation@hotmail.com.

 

SAVE YOUR CHANGE – This year the Emancipation Picnic Committee will be initiating an International Emancipation Children’s Fund - the “gathering of change”, to contribute to Oprah’s Angel Network, earmarked for our children of South Africa.  We will be collecting “change” donations at all of our venues throughout 2006-2007 to be presented at our picnic August 4, 2007.  Please review our website for donations to be made directly to a financial institution towards this effort commencing July 2006.

 

 

In gearing up for our 145^th Emancipation Celebration Picnic, August 3 – 5, 2007 we are excited by having the Adventure Cycling Association ( Underground Railroad Bicycle Cycling Club from Missoula, Montana) in partnership with the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh joining us on August 4, 2007 ending their 2000 mil/1000 participant tour throughout Underground Railroad Routes from the deep south  to Owen Sound. http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/undergroundrailroad.cfm

 

This in combination with Owen Sound’s 150^th Birthday Homecoming celebrating that same weekend will create quite a lot of excitement throughout the city and surrounding areas.  It may be wise to book space now for the Emancipation Festival, August 3^rd to August 5^th, 2007.  The Emancipation Festival Committee have been asked to participate in Owen Sound’s birthday parade, which we are looking forward to as representatives of Black History in Ontario.  We welcome any suggestions to this end.  There will be special guests of honour at all events and numerous activities remembering fondly, “Community, Roots & Culture.”  See you there.

 

All of these activities require sponsorship and volunteers.  We thank all of those who have assisted us towards our 144^th reunion.  We welcome all newcomers, participants and volunteers to our universal celebration.  To your continued success … The Emancipation Festival Picnic Committee.

 

 

 

Emancipation Picnic Committee

1303 Knights Bridge Court                                         osemancipation@hotmail.com        (905) 331 0200    (Voice)

Burlington, ON L7P 3K8                                                www.emancipation.ca                    (905) 331 3159   (Fax)