Juneteenth in Lincoln City

Phill Bowles of Phill’s Smoke/N/Grill

This Saturday, June 15, the new outdoor spaces of the Lincoln City Cultural Center plaza will be filled with music, history and family activities, at Lincoln City’s second annual Juneteenth Celebration.

This year’s event, presented by the City of Lincoln City in partnership with local nonprofits, will also have a free barbecue picnic lunch while supplies last.

The theme for this year’s Freedom Day picnic is “Amplify Black Voices.” The keynote address will be given by Zachary Stocks, executive director of Oregon Black Pioneers. Also providing history and context to this national and state holiday will be Roderick Fields, a substance abuse counselor based in Yuba City, California. These guest speakers will share the dais with state Rep. David Gomberg and Lincoln City Mayor Susan Wahlke.

Providing the soundtrack will be Jimi Hardin and Hip Deep, featuring Rebecca Westby. Hardin, the drummer and band leader, will be playing songs from the Motown and Stax song books along with five musicians playing two sets in the Kiwanis Outdoor Art Classroom.

The BBQ lunch will be catered by Phill’s Smoke/N/Grill and Pat-E-Mac’s, locally-based Black-owned businesses, and served by volunteers from the Lincoln City Rotary Club. The event will also feature the opening of a new exhibit on the life of one of the first Black women to settle in Oregon, Letitia Carson, a 19th Century farmer and homesteader in the Willamette Valley. These informational panels, curated by Oregon Black Pioneers, will be on display in the cultural center hallway through July 15.

Children’s art kits, assembled by cultural center volunteers, will celebrate the legacy and accomplishments of Louis Southworth, a Black pioneer on the Alsea River, near Waldport.

The event will also have children’s books on Black history and culture provided by Driftwood Public Library, a table of local history and resources presented by the North Lincoln County Historical Museum and a prize table and children’s games, sponsored by the Lincoln City Parks & Recreation Department and Explore Lincoln City.

“This event is meant to bring people together, inspire and educate on what Juneteenth means in American history as well as to celebrate this crucial date in our country,” said Teri O’Malley, recreation supervisor for Lincoln City Parks & Recreation. “We are so excited that many organizations partnered and worked together to make this happen.”

The event will begin at 11 am at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, located at 540 NE Hwy. 101.

For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.

Event Schedule

11 am - Introduction and welcoming remarks          

- Music from Jimi Harden & Hip Deep

11:30 am - Free BBQ lunch, while supplies last

11:45 am - Speakers

12:15 pm - Music from Jimi Harden & Hip Deep

2 pm - Event ends