What time does Grandma's Marathon end? That, of course, is a trick question, the answer depending on whenever the last intrepid runner sprints or hobbles across the finish line.
But it's a fitting metaphor for the start of Duluth's Juneteenth celebration at Bayfront Festival Park, a hop, skip and jump (or crawl) from the Grandma's race that should be just concluding when festivities get under way.
Juneteenth commemorates the freedom of African Americans from slavery -- in particular, the late notification of that fact to the slaves of Galveston, Texas. The freedmen learned of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation not when it was issued on Sept. 22, 1862, or Jan. 1, 1863, when it was to take effect, but on June 19, 1865, when 2,000 Union troops under the command of Gen. Gordon Granger took control of Galveston Island, more than two months after the Civil War officially ended.
In Duluth, the celebration has been hosted primarily, but by no means exclusively, by the city's black residents, and for years was held at the Central Hillside Community Center.
This year, with backing from the city for which it is an official event, the venue has been moved to Bayfront Festival Park. That may mean sometime around the noon start, a marathon runner or reveler or two, or 2,000, may arrive, like Granger's troops, to let the celebration of freedom begin. Enjoy all the day's festivities.
