5th Annual Juneteenth Celebration – Interview with Easter Mitchell Washington
June 22, 2024 @ Fairhope Pier
3 – 8 PM
Free Admission
Positive, Family-Friendly, All Welcome
June 18, 2024 – Let’s Go! Fairhope
Nothing career-wise or in her past prepared Easter Mitchell Washington to start a new major annual event in Fairhope, Alabama, “except for God and my Aunt Wanda.”
On Saturday, June 22, 2024 from 3 – 8 pm at South Beach Park at the Fairhope Pier, the Fifth Annual Juneteenth Celebration will take place with food trucks, vendors, a bouncy house and water slide for the kids, entertainment, a job booth, and more. A graduate of Fairhope High School Class of ’99, along with her husband, Jermaine Washington, Class of ’97, Easter (like the holiday) said the couple personally funded the event the first two years as a way of paying it forward to the community.
“It is really the community coming together on a positive note to remember history, who you are, and harnessing good,” said Mrs. Washington in an interview with Let’s Go Fairhope on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Flashback to five years ago, Easter reflected: “As the world was coming out of Covid, we were seeing the George Floyd civil unrest and major rioting in big cities on TV. How life was being portrayed in the news was scary. Coming out of Covid, we were scared, what you were seeing on the news, now more scared. We did’t want to riot or picket, we wanted to do something positive for the community. We didn’t want everyone to have the feelings we were seeing in other communities. It was about harnessing energy for good, a bridge to come together rather than what you were seeing elsewhere.”
Mrs. Washington credits her Aunt Wanda Scott for being the inspiration for the event which is drawing participants from at least three states. “It was Aunt Wanda Scott having her own Juneteenth celebration in her backyard every year, a family affair,” that seeded the idea. Receiving a positive response after posing the question of a community Juneteenth event in the Facebook Group “Black Owned in Baldwin,” Easter said, “The first event came together by the grace of God, in just ten days.”
“A community member known as ‘Snake Doctor’ opened up his property to us the first year. We had it on his farm with goats and horses, and there was a great turnout,” said Easter. “That first year was out of love. We charged $25 per vendor, but we still came out of pocket to cover everything. God’s gift to me is service, and it was something I could do for the neighborhood.”
When asked about the diversity of participants and attendees, Mrs. Washington said, “Love has no boundaries, love has no color, no age, no race. We have white vendors, a blues group, Trinity Presbyterian church will be there, there are white and black pastors involved. This is not any type of rally, we are all coming together.”
Photos courtesy of Easter Mitchell Washington
Reflecting over past years, Easter Washington continued, “For three years now the Mayor has come out, and City Councilman Corey Martin is heavily involved. This will be our second event at South Beach Park in Fairhope. The two years prior were held at the Rotary Youth Club. Vendors are coming from Mobile, Mississippi, Pensacola, and these are vendors that have returned from prior years.”
The founder and organizer stressed that “Everyone is welcome to participate, and volunteers are needed. We have some lovely ladies that can use help unloading their vehicles, and more. If you want to help, I’ll find something you can help with!”
According to Mrs. Washington, “This will be a No-Alcohol event. All park rules will be strictly followed. This is first and foremost a family-friendly affair. Shout-outs to all the sponsors who choose to remain unnamed but do a lot in the background. Thank you to those people, and to Aunt Wanda Scott who was really the visionary first.”
“This is Independence Day for the Black Community. Someday we hope to have fireworks like the 4th of July. This is essentially Fourth of July for the Black Community,” said Easter.
