MCM-Meridian hosts Juneteenth Observance “History Through Cooking” presented by the C.J. Miller Foundation

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) -On Saturday, the Mississippi Children’s Museum of Meridian hosted its annual Juneteenth Celebration from 10 AM until 3 PM.

Many people from around the community were invited to come out and enjoy hands-on activities, delicious food, and live music that celebrates the African American culture and heritage.

One of the programs included in Saturday’s celebration was the Juneteenth Observance “History Through Cooking”, presented by the C.J. Miller Foundation and MCM-Meridian. This program showed guests cooking demonstrations of African American foods.

A total of four delicious foods were prepared and recipes were shared, such as Fried Chicken Nuggets, Watermelon, Hot Water Cornbread, and Hibiscus Cherry Lemonade.

“History Through Cooking” also featured culinary instructor and First Lady of Agape Storehouse, Linda F. Willis, a local food instructor who has taught classes at MCC and through her own nonprofit, LFW Outreach.

Stacey Miller-Cole, Executive Director of the C.J. Miller Foundation, says that this was a great way to educate people on the history of Juneteenth.

“Barbara and I have worked together off and on over the years, and she found out that I retired from teaching and gave me an opportunity to get involved with the museum. I’m always looking forward to being a part of our community through our foundation, the Miller Foundation, and this was just another opportunity as a retired schoolteacher, to continue educating our youth, but this time about the holiday of Juneteenth, so we wanted to make it something fun and appealing while also informative and learning,” Miller-Cole says.

Linda F. Willis, First Lady and Culinary Instructor of her nonprofit LFW Outreach, says that her nonprofit’s mission is to focus on the family.

“My role is the culinary artist, and LFW Outreach focus is on the family. Whatever I can do to enhance the family, to come back together, and what better way to do that than through cooking, whenever we’re doing anything, we’re going to be eating something. So, to pull us back around the table together, it strengthens relationships, it encourages us to get back into the kitchen so that we can take control of what goes into our bodies. So that’s my passion. I have a 501C3 nonprofit, and that’s our focus is on the family and home,” says Linda F. Willis.

To learn more about upcoming events that MCM-Meridian has to offer, visit https://mschildrensmuseum.org/meridian/calendar-events/.

Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter!