Gladewater Juneteenth parade fills streets with floats, dancers, classic cars

GLADEWATER, Texas (KLTV) – In Gladwater, East Texans also continued celebrating Juneteenth, remembering ‘emancipation and freedom.’

Floats, classic cars and dancers filled the streets of old downtown Gladewater in the annual ‘Juneteenth parade’.

“We do this to remember and honor the past, our ancestors, and also to reflect on how far we’ve come,” says event organizer Odette Alexander.

“You can tell it’s growing, I’ve been in the parade a couple of years and this is the biggest one so far,” said one parade participant.

Held the weekend after the actual holiday, the event was foremost in bringing people together in unity over the shared human pursuit of freedom.

And passing it on to a new generation.

“We’ve made a great effort to get our young people involved,” Alexander said.

“It’s very encouraging because they need to know where we came from, they need to know our history, they need to know how to prepare in life,” said fellow organizer Raymond Johnson.

And for some who grew up in the segregation years, the celebration is priceless.

And believe it should mean something to all people.

18″its a celebration of freedom but a celebration for all of us to come together… 108 if we do not always understand history then we can sometimes fall to repeating history. that’s why its so important for days like this,” said Gladewater mayor Brandy Flanagan.

“With everything that’s going on in the world, wars, unrest, it’s important to come together in unity and celebrate one another,” Odette says.

The celebration of Juneteenth continued with a city picnic at Weldon park, which included food, along with games and activities.