All Americans are asked to pause at 3:00 p.m. (local time) on the last Monday in May for a ‘‘National Moment of Remembrance”

Antioch to hold commemoration Monday morning

From govinfo.gov and USMemorialDay.org

Memorial Day is the national observance on the last Monday in May to honor those who sacrificed their lives while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Memorial Day commemorates the women and men who have died while in military service, and it will be observed this year on May 30, 2022, the last Monday in May as designated by Federal law (36 U.S.C. 116).

Begun in the late 1860’s as Decoration Day, spring flowers were distributed at graves to honor those fallen in the Civil War. By the end of the 19th century, ceremonies were being held in cities across the country. In 1966, the Federal Government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. (Source: The Origins of Memorial Day, Department of Veterans Affairs )

According to History.com, “some records show that one of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of formerly enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865. in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day…which first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866…because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.”

According to USMemorialDay.org, the origins of this day are difficult to prove “as over two dozen towns and cities lay claim to be the birthplace. Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War (which ended in 1865) and a desire to honor our dead. On the 5th of May in 1868, General John Logan who was the national commander of the Grand Army of the republic, officially proclaimed it in his General Order No. 11…for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.’ Because the day wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle, the general called it, the date of Decoration Day.

On the first Decoration Day, 5,000 participants decorated the graves of 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington Cemetery while General James Garfield made a historic speech.

New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday in 1873. It was recognized by all northern states by 1890. Differently, the South refused to acknowledge the day and honored their dead, on separate days. This went on until after World War I when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war.

With the Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363), it is now observed on the last Monday in May by almost every state.”

Red Poppies on Memorial Day

Also, according to USMemorialDay.org, “In 1915, inspired by the poem ‘In Flanders Fields,’ Moina Michael replied with her own poem: We cherish too, the Poppy red That grows on fields where valor led, It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. See more on the significance of the Red Poppy.

Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms. Michael. When she returned to France, she made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children’s League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later, and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help.

Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their ‘Buddy’ Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms. Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.”

Public Law 106-579, signed into law December 28, 2000, created the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance, and it designated 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Memorial Day each year as the ‘‘National Moment of Remembrance.” At this time all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps’.”

Antioch to Hold Annual Memorial Day Commemoration Monday Morning

Memorial Day in Antioch will begin Monday morning at 9:00 am with a processional, followed by a ceremony, then continue with a fundraising lunch at Smith’s Landing Seafood Grill. For details click, here.

In celebration of BART’s 50th anniversary this year, we’re looking back at the transit system’s five decades of service and innovation in a new series of stories. BART celebrates 50 years on Sept. 11, 2022.

Deep in the BART archives at Lake Merritt Station, an unassuming large format book has been gathering dust. Just over 100 pages, the green cover has now faded, the pages yellowed. The cover title reads: “Regional Rapid Transit: A Report to the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission.”

Published in January 1956, the report is a crystal ball, peering into an idealized future of BART and the Bay Area of the 21st century. The New York-based engineering consortium Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Hall and Macdonald researched the report from 1953 to 1955. Within its pages emerges a portrait of a burgeoning Bay Area – population ~3 million– in desperate need of a high-speed, grade-separated regional transit system.

“We are firmly convinced that the answer to ever-increasing traffic congestion in the Bay Area lies in the utilization of … interurban rapid transit,” the report’s cover letter reads.

Since 1956, the Bay Area has more than doubled in population, with an estimated 7 million people now residing in the region’s nine counties and 101 municipalities – many of which are now served by a BART system born of the forward-looking Parsons-Brinckerhoff report.

The report is a significant document as it was the first major publication to envision what BART could be. In the 1950s, many were keenly following this yet-to-be-built mass transit system, according to Liam O’Donoghue, a local historian and the host of the podcast “East Bay Yesterday.”

“One of the reasons there was so much national attention on BART is because it was the first mass transit rail system to be constructed in the U.S. for 60 years,” O’Donoghue said. “It was not only a milestone for public transit, harkening to a new era, it was also a test case for urban mass transit rail systems moving forward.”

O’Donoghue said the report is significant for multiple reasons. For one, it provided a blueprint for one of the biggest construction projects in California in half-a-century. It also helped “sell” the transit system to a skeptical, tax-paying public.

“The report really had to make the case for BART to the public,” O’Donoghue said. “BART came very close to not happening, so the people promoting BART needed the informational ammunition.”

Devin Smith, a volunteer at the Prelinger Library in San Francisco, recently got a shock when a Parsons-Brinckerhoff report from 1956 was donated from the private collection of Jay Bolcik, a former BART Manager of Schedules and Services. The library contains many trade periodicals, including plentiful materials on transportation, so the donation fit well with the library’s existing collection.

Smith said he found the report “incredibly fascinating,” and was especially impressed by its size and scope.

“It’s always interesting to look at reports like these and contextualize why this one proposal got picked over other,” he said. “Seeing the BART system at such an early stage…it’s just amazing.”

The Bay Area, the Parsons-Brinckerhoff report concludes, required a rapid transit system to complement the area’s already-established network of highways. Traffic, even in the 1950s, proved a sore spot for the region.

“Today’s age of automobiles has brought with its miracles a level of travel discomfort, cost, and hazard that is critical,” the Parsons-Brinckerhoff report summary reads. “In the Bay Area, home now for some 3 million people, traffic problems are aggravating.”

The report uses a series of phrases to stress the car problem: “heavily burdened,” “chaos,” “ever-mounting barrier.” Interurban transit would serve as a balm to soothe the Bay’s gridlock headache, while also facilitating urban development.

“The report is important now because the problem that BART was meant to deal with then – traffic – is still a problem here,” O’Donoghue said. “We need to keep expanding on projects like BART, whether it’s additional lines or some sort of connectors. We need to keep building these public transit systems because individual car use is really a dead end.”

The Parsons-Brinckerhoff engineers specify in the report that the new trains needed to travel at speeds of at least 45 miles per hour (BART trains now travel an average of 35 miles per hour with stops and can reach speeds up to 70 miles per hour). The report also states the new BART system needed to contain “comfortable seats for all passengers” on trains, provide service at short intervals, and construct stations at conveniently located and strategically positioned areas.

One fascinating aspect of the report is its portrait of a BART that could have been. BART as a monorail? BART trains with pneumatic tires? Nothing, at this stage in the transit system’s development, was overruled or overlooked.

Some train models the report examined include the suspended monorail in Wuppertal, Germany, the oldest elevated railway with hanging cars in the world; the Talgo Train, with its in-between carriage bogies; and a “Carveyor,” or continuous conveyer belt with cars atop. BART eventually nixed all these ideas for various reasons, including cost, feasibility, and reliability. The transit system settled on self-propelled cars that draw power from an electrified third rail and operate – perhaps notoriously — on a non-standard gauge width.

The report also puts forth four options for constructing the system with the following keep the system low cost, attractive, and as unobtrusive as possible.

“Low cost is always predominant and in the public interest; the aesthetics of the rapid transit structures is a major factor in determining general public acceptance of its form and its impact upon the value of adjacent properties,” the report states. “These basic objectives are often in conflict, however. The ideal combination of invisible structures at zero cost is impossible, and we must therefore make compromises.”

Construction options included surface transit, open-cut transit, subway transit, and elevated structure transit. Today, BART uses a combination of all four options.

As for the trains, the Parsons-Brinckerhoff report outlines that the system most likely to serve the Bay Area would be a “basic supported system,” with high-speed, lightweight cars featuring steel wheels on steel rails, powered by electricity. But the report didn’t write off alternative systems, such as suspended trains or rubber tires. It included renderings of some alternatives, which you can view above.

“The question of appearance,” the report notes, “always involves personal taste.” Future reports would outline in greater detail the look and feel of BART, but the renderings the report does provide depict transit specifically born out of the Space Age, with sleek and futuristic-looking bodies.

The report concludes with a simple thesis: “Some form of interurban transit [for the Bay Area] is necessary.”

“Unless it is willing to accept sustained congestion and the retardation of economic growth that would result, the Bay Area has no choice but to accelerate its transportation planning and construction,” the report concludes, continuing, “Concepts of large metropolitan cities served only by private automobiles are in the realm of physical and economic fantasy.”

Just under two decades later, many of the Parsons-Brinckerhoff report’s findings and recommendations would be put into action. Some of the original concepts continue to serve the Bay Area and its transit riders today.

According to O’Donoghue, the report serves as a reminder of what is possible.

“If we’re going to solve the Bay Area’s problems, like traffic, we have a whole playbook from BART history about how people were approaching these same issues in previous generations,” he said. “And that matters.”

If you’d like to read the report yourself, you can access a hard copy at a handful of libraries and historical societies around the Bay Area. You can view them on WorldCat by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

Trains will bring visitors to celebrate Juneteenth at site unique to California’s African American history

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park is holding a celebratory Juneteenth event on Saturday, June 11 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. In partnership, Amtrak San Joaquins has scheduled special trains, bookable at a 50 percent discount rate to bring travelers to the historically significant Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park. Amtrak_Juneteenth_2022

The town of Allensworth was established in 1908 by Colonel Allen Allensworth and at one point was home to more than 300 families. The park is a California state treasure because it was the first town in California to be founded, financed, and governed by African Americans. Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park became a historical landmark in 1974.

The Juneteenth Festival is one of four major annual events hosted by Friends of Allensworth (FOA), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission is to support, promote, and advance the educational and interpretive activities at Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park.

According to FOA, “Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery. It was on June 19th, that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that all slaves were now free.”

About Allensworth State Historic Park

The town of Allensworth is located in the heart of the Central Valley, about 30 miles north of Bakersfield, and has a rich history that is of interest to students, families, history buffs, minority community organizations, and anyone else looking to spend a fun day exploring the historic community and its restored buildings. In 1908, Allensworth was established as a town founded, financed and governed by African Americans. There were a series of challenges impeding the town’s long-term survival, but it is celebrated as a key historic icon, and in 1974 California State Parks purchased the land in order to maintain it as a site for visitors to learn and explore the Colonel’s house, historic schoolhouse, Baptist church, and library.

Event activities will include square dancing, self-guided tours of historic buildings, historic games with prizes, storytelling, and arts and crafts. Food and refreshment vendors will also be present. Travelers can also bring their bikes and chairs aboard Amtrak trains and Thruway buses.

“Amtrak San Joaquins has been a long-time partner to the FOA in connecting the people of California with the historic town of Allensworth” said FOA President, Sasha Biscoe. “We encourage any individual that is interested in immersing themselves in the rich, ethnically diverse history of our state to consider taking advantage of the affordable, convenient, and fun transportation option provided by Amtrak San Joaquins and join us on June 11th to celebrate Juneteenth.”

The southbound trains that will be running for the event include trains 702, 710, 712, 714. The 710 train will depart the Richmond station at 6:56 AM, Martinez at 7:25 AM and Antioch at 7:50 AM and arrive at the Colonel Allensworth Park station at 11:56 AM. When purchasing train tickets, a 50% discount will automatically be applied to the ticket purchase and on up to five companion tickets.

Additional discount programs regularly available to riders includes:

• Infants under 2 years of age ride for free
• Children 2-12 years old ride half-price every day
• Seniors (62+ years of age) receive 15% off
• Veterans & active military members receive 15% off
• Disabled riders save 10% off

Visitors attending the Juneteenth Festival will be able to take Amtrak San Joaquins trains to the Allensworth station. From there, riders will be met by a free shuttle for the short ride to the main property. The Allensworth station is normally a whistle stop on the San Joaquins available to be booked by groups desiring to visit the park.

Train tickets to Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park can be booked online at amtraksanjoaquins.com. For more information on how to book a group trip to Allensworth, please contact Carmen Setness, community outreach coordinator for San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC), at Carmen@sjjpa.com.

About the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA)

Since July 2015, SJJPA has been responsible for the management and administration of Amtrak San Joaquins. SJJPA is governed by Board Members representing each of the ten (10) Member Agencies along the 365-mile San Joaquins Corridor. For more information on SJJPA see www.sjjpa.com.

Amtrak San Joaquins is Amtrak’s 6th busiest route with 18 train stations throughout the Central Valley and Bay Area, providing a safe, comfortable and reliable way to travel throughout California. Amtrak San Joaquins is currently running six daily round-trips. In addition to the train service, Amtrak San Joaquins Thruway buses provide connecting service to 135 destinations in California and Nevada including Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Napa Valley, Las Vegas and Reno.

Fundraiser at Smith’s Landing Seafood Grill

The annual Antioch Memorial Day Commemoration on Monday, May 30, will begin with a processional from the Veterans Memorial at the foot of L Street at 9:00 AM and arrive at the Oak View Memorial Park at 2500 E. 18th Street for the ceremony which begins at 10:00 AM

Following the ceremony, the Delta Veterans Group is honored to partner with Smith’s Landing Seafood Grill again, this Memorial Day. Smith’s Landing will donate 15% of their food and beverage sales that day to DVG.

The owners, Randy and Lynn Tei, are very supportive of our local veterans’ community, and this is just one of the many ways throughout the year they support our veterans. Smith’s Landing is also the main sponsor of the annual Antioch Veteran and Lifetime Veteran of the Year Program.

So, join us at Smith’s Landing and the rest of the veterans’ community on Memorial Day as we remember the sacrifices of our military men and women who gave their lives, and their families, so we wouldn’t have too.

For more information about the fundraiser please click, here.

And committee of 11 other African American Antioch residents to make it “bigger and better”; two councilmembers decry action; after city withdraws permit Claryssa Wilson, daughter of a Thorpe recall proponent, relocates her event to Brentwood; Antioch’s event might move to Williamson Ranch Park, Celebrate Antioch Foundation no longer involved, will continue to support Wilson’s event; questions go unanswered

By Allen D. Payton

With a little over two months before the planned and promoted annual Antioch Juneteenth Celebration, Mayor Lamar Thorpe, District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker and Interim City Manager Con Johnson decided to take the event from Claryssa Wilson, the young African-American college student who has organized it for the past two years. Johnson had Director of Parks and Recreation Brad Helfenberger give Wilson the news that the City was withdrawing the permit for the event planned for Waldie Plaza in Antioch’s historic downtown Rivertown. She in turn passed the information on to her committee of 11 other African-American Antioch residents, including her mother Velma and Antioch School Board Trustee Dr. Clyde Lewis.

According to Velma, Johnson said it would now be a city event and wanted it “planned by the African-American community”.

Juneteenth honors the day the slaves in Texas were informed by the Union Army on June 19, 1865 that they were free, two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. It has become a worldwide event celebrated in the U.S. and other countries.

This year’s event in Antioch was included as one of the City’s Sesquicentennial events sponsored and promoted by the Celebrate Antioch Foundation (CAF), which has served as the Juneteenth committee’s fiscal agent. While CAF is no longer involved in the Antioch event, the organization will continue to support Wilson’s event which has been relocated to Brentwood and rebranded as the East County Juneteenth Celebration.

Velma Wilson said the decision was made in a meeting attended by Thorpe, Torres-Walker, Johnson and Helfenberger. The Wilsons were invited to attend a later organizing meeting held in April, but they declined. Who attended that meeting hasn’t been shared. Velma has been an outspoken opponent of Thorpe, supporting his recall as one of the 20 proponents. (See related article)

Two Councilmembers Decry City Action

During the April 12th meeting, District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock decried the action taking the event away from Claryssa saying, “We as council have made youth a priority. We have a beautiful, African American young woman that’s grown up in our community that’s created events such as Stuff the Bus and Juneteenth. Now, we as a city, are taking this event from her. Her name is Claryssa Wilson. She created the Juneteenth event here, in the city. It started small but it’s actually grown greatly in size. I’m not sure why we want to take this event away from her. The interim city manager has directed our recreation department director, Brad Helfenberger to take it over. I would ask that stop and allow it to go back to Miss Claryssa Wilson. Nobody else in the city wanted to participate to help create this event. So, I’m gonna ask that that be stopped. Thank you.”

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Barbanica echoed Ogorchock’s sentiments..

“Probably two hours before the meeting, I learned of Miss Wilson not having the Juneteenth,” he said. “I’m not sure what caused that. But over the next week I will speak to the interim city manager and have a conversation about that. I do support her doing this. She’s done it for several years. I’ve attended her event. She’s put on a very good event.”

Claryssa Wilson Not Happy

On Monday, April 18 in an interview with Claryssa Wilson she said, “It was already planned. This will be the third one. The first one was in 2020 on Thomas Gaines’ land.” She had previously served as the co-host for the 2016 Antioch Juneteenth Celebration.

“I was pulled into it after my mom was notified,” Claryssa continued, explaining how the event was taken from her. “I was on the phone with my mom and Brad Helfenberger. He called us. He basically just expressed that the city wanted to expand on Juneteenth and said with the expansion, he used the phrase ‘making it bigger and better’. He stated that he wanted to invite me to be around the table with a host of other African Americans in the community who wanted to come together and put on the event.”

Asked if they wanted to put on the event with her, she replied. “No, being I’m the one who has been planning and hosting it. He said it wouldn’t be an event where one person was getting the credit.”

“I asked him what that meant. Did that mean I was no longer going to be hosting it or leading the meeting or collaborating or leaving me out of it?” Claryssa shared. “He was basically saying that they wanted me to be there and share the plans I already had in place for this year’s Juneteenth then they would decide how to expand on it.”

“He later included some people in an email with an initial event. I didn’t receive the email,” Claryssa stated. “My mom did and asked Brad why I wasn’t included. He said he didn’t have my email address. She (Velma) also said ‘the meetings would have to be done virtually since Claryssa is in college in San Diego’.”

Regarding Grace Bible Fellowship Claryssa said, “We tried to work with them, last year to collaborate. But they chose to have their own event.”

“I was already working on Plan B before the meeting because I didn’t appreciate them wanting to take all the work I’ve done and not give me any jurisdiction over anything regarding the event,” Claryssa said. “I didn’t end up attending the meeting because I felt it wasn’t going to be productive and I was going to be strong armed and give up all my information, so they don’t have to start from scratch.”

“If you guys are so willing to take on this event two months before…” she continued, sharing her thoughts. “I kept asking Brad if the City wanted to take it over or collaborate. His response was that the City recognizes this is an important event and wants to expand it.”

Asked if anyone from CAF had spoken with her, Claryssa said, “We’ve all communicated. Celebrate Antioch has been the fiscal agent since we first started, providing the insurance and we raise funds through their non-profit. Then they pay everything, the entertainment. What’s bothersome to them as well, CAF’s argument is why didn’t anyone come to us and then where the event is going to take place other than Waldie Plaza?”

“Joy, Michael and Tammy of Celebrate Antioch said whatever I decide to do they will support me,” she added.

“Plan B” Relocates Claryssa’s Event to Brentwood

Asked what her “Plan B” is and is she moving forward on it Claryssa responded, “The plan is to move it outside of Antioch. Brentwood was the first to say they’d take it on. I’ve been working with both residents and city officials. We’ve gotten our permits filled out and they’re supposed to be approving them, this week.” The event has since been approved.

“It’s very unfortunate,” Claryssa continued. “I believe the Juneteenth celebration has been a benefit to the city of Antioch. Ours is now being rebranded as an East County Juneteenth. It will be located at City Park next to the Brentwood City Hall.”

“So, we’re reaching out to all the cities in East County to make this a bigger event, including Pittsburg, and Oakley, too. But because it’s so late in the game I can’t say the other cities are supporting it, yet,” she added, saying that may have to wait until next year.

Claryssa said she’s studying Africana Studies and minoring in Counseling and Social Change and in her Junior year at San Diego State University.

Velma Wilson Disappointed Says Who Made the Decision

Velma Wilson offered additional details about what occurred and her disappointment.

“Con said we were welcome at the meeting, but we said, ‘no’,” she shared. “Con responded that it’s now a city event.”

“Claryssa has been planning this for a year and we have contracts in place,” Velma stated. “Joy (Motts, president of CAF) sent an email to Con who said, ‘this should be something planned by the African-American community’.”

“Brad said Lamar, Tamisha and Con gave him a directive that the city is going in a different direction,” Velma continued. “It would be a city-sponsored event. Joy asked if the city is going to pay for it and Brad said he would be submitting a budget revise for any additional costs. But they didn’t know what that was.”

Email From Velma Wilson Offers More Details

In an email sent to an Antioch service club member on April 30 and copying 25 others, including the Herald, Velma Wilson wrote, “The Let Freedom Ring: Antioch Juneteenth Celebration information that was sent to you on April 6th is no longer valid. We were notified after this information was emailed to you and a few individuals, by Brad who is the Parks and Rec Director that he was given a directive by Lamar Thorpe, Tamisha Torres-Walker and Con Johnson that the ‘city wants to go in a different direction by having the event planned by African American community members to make the event bigger and better’.

The event planning for this event has been underway for almost a year as Claryssa who is an African American youth started the initial plans with a committee that has other African American community members involved in addition to the partnership with the Celebrate Antioch Foundation because we have been with Celebrate Antioch for 10 years. The event plans started immediately following last year’s VERY successful event. No one gave my daughter the respect of contacting her prior to such a directive but we move forward.

Therefore, the Let Freedom Ring: Antioch Juneteenth Celebration that Claryssa was organizing with the support of Celebrate Antioch Foundation has been Rebranded to reflect all of East Contra Costa County and has been relocated accordingly. If the (organization’s name deleted) would like to participate please submit a new request to EastCountyJuneteenth@gmail.com as the vendor spaces are almost full as of today. For additional questions, feel free to contact me or Claryssa.”

Questions for Thorpe, Torres-Walker, City Staff and CAF Leaders

On Thursday, April 21, an email was sent to Thorpe, Torres-Walker, Johnson, Helfenberger, CAF leaders Joy Motts, Michael Gabrielson and Tammy Larsen, as well as Assistant City Manager Rosanna Bayon-Moore with the following information and questions:

“I’ve been informed by Claryssa and Velma Wilson, that the City is taking over this year’s CAF-sponsored Antioch Juneteenth Celebration as part of the Sesquicentennial activities, wanting to make it ‘bigger and better’.

Is that true? If so, who made the decision, when did it occur and why? If it was Johnson, when did the council give you direction to do that after having approved the budget for this year’s Sesquicentennial events late, last year?

Did the City pull the approved permit for Claryssa and CAF to use Waldie Plaza, as planned and promoted on CAF’s website?

Why take it from an Antioch youth, specifically the one who organized the Juneteenth event for the past two years, and has already done all the planning for this year’s event?

Mayor Thorpe and Councilwoman Torres-Walker, doesn’t that work against your efforts to support the youth of our city? Is that fair and right to do to Claryssa?

Where is the event going to be held, instead of Waldie Plaza if it’s going to be ‘bigger’? How do you plan to make it ‘better’?

Is there adequate time for proper planning with just two months before the event? Or is it being combined with Grace Bible Fellowship’s Juneteenth event?

Was a meeting held about the event, last week? Who was invited and who attended that meeting?”

Additional questions were emailed to Helfenberger on Tuesday, April 26 asking, “what was the decision on this year’s Juneteenth Celebration in Antioch? Is the City’s being combined with Grace Bible Fellowship’s event? Or is the City and CAF not hosting one, now that Claryssa Wilson has moved hers to Brentwood?”

Antioch Event Might Relocate to Williamson Ranch Park, CAF Not Involved Will Support Claryssa’s Event in Brentwood

On Tuesday, May 3, Gabrielson shared about the Juneteenth event in Antioch that, “CAF is not involved, and the city still hasn’t decided location and time as of 11 am, today.”

“I just heard, today they are considering Williamson Ranch (Park) but nothing confirmed,” he added.

If the event is relocated, that will relieve traffic and parking challenges for the Rivertown Father’s Day Car Show, which will be held on W. 2nd and G Streets, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. It is also promoted by CAF as part of this year’s Sesquicentennial Celebration. It is also sponsored by the Rivertown Merchants.

In addition, Motts shared, “The Celebrate Antioch Foundation Juneteenth event has been changed to the East County Juneteenth and will be held in Brentwood at City Park, 12pm to 5pm. As in past years, CAF members Claryssa and Velma Wilson are the primary organizers of this event.  All amenities, music, entertainment is still in place, but the venue has been moved. We are updating our sites ASAP.”

No responses were received from any of the city officials as of Wednesday, May 4.

Grace Bible Fellowship to Hold Own Juneteenth Event Friday and Saturday, June 17 and 18

According to Pastor Kirkland Smith of Grace Bible Fellowship, his church will once again hold their annual Juneteenth Celebration on their grounds over two days, Friday and Saturday, June 17 and 18. They’ve been asked to help with Antioch’s event, which he said they’ll do but in a smaller way on Sunday.

Please check back later for any updates to this report.

 

Dedicated to Antioch historian Charles Bohakel, the Antioch Historical Society will host History Walks downtown as their next contribution to the city’s Sesquicentennial events. Walks at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. will begin at City Hall, 200 H Street in historic Rivertown on Saturday, May 14, 2022. Lead planner Lucy Meinhardt says the walks will cover approximately one mile and last about 90 minutes. Walkers should wear comfortable shoes and carry their own water. A fee of five dollars will reserve a spot.

Meinhardt plans that the walks will result in a publication enabling folks to take self-guided tours. A simple hand out on the day of these first walks will include a map and a brief listing of all stops. QR codes and links will lead to detailed information on the historical sites. Photos of buildings no longer standing will be shared. The tour will include a brief tour inside the Masonic Lodge Building, originally the historic Belshaw Building. Depending on their popularity, more walks will be offered in the future.

Spots may be reserved either through Eventbrite or by mailing a check for five dollars each to the Antioch Historical Museum, 1500 W. 4th St., Antioch 94509. Please include a note with your name, phone number, and a note referring to the history walks.

Get autographs

This Saturday, April 9th, from 1-4 pm, the Antioch Sports Legends museum will be having a lineup of Hall of Famers that are former Major League Baseball players as our docents.

Our Saturday line-up is, Antioch’s first MLB player Gene “Butch” Rounsaville (ASL-HOF 2007); Antioch’s only World Series Champion, Aaron Miles (ASL-HOF 2014) of the 2006 St Louis Cardinals and 1987 17th over-all draft pick Alex Sanchez (ASL-HOF 2010)! Unfortunately, Antioch’s four MLB player, Jeff Pico (ASL-HOF 2010), had prior commitments.

Each of the three will have cards and photos to sign, so bring the kids! The first 40 attendees will be given a free hot dog, water and chips.

Butch’s baseball career- https://www.antiochsportslegends.com/…/gene-butch…/

Aaron’s minors to the major’s story- https://www.antiochsportslegends.com/inductee/aaron-miles-2/

Alex’s College All-American to MLB story- https://www.antiochsportslegends.com/indu…/alex-sanchez-2/
The Antioch Sports Legends Museum is located inside the Antioch Historical Society Museum at 1500 West 4th Street in Antioch. Admission is FREE!

Contact Program Coordinator Tom Lamothe at sportslegends@comcast.net or call 925-639-2536 if you have questions.