Mountain Home neighbors kickoff Juneteenth celebrations as Idaho marks 25 years of recognition

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — Mountain Home neighbors are coming together this weekend to honor Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

June 19 marks the day enslaved people in Galveston Bay, Texas, were freed — more than 2 years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

WATCH | Mountain Home marks 25 years of Juneteenth Celebrations—

Mountain Home celebrates Juneteenth with a weekend of community events

The Mountain Home Juneteenth Committee hosts an annual Juneteenth 5K to honor the holiday. Saturday’s festivities continue at noon at Carl Miller Park with food, live music, games, and more.

Committee Vice President Dylisaly Reed said this year’s event marks an important milestone. 25 years ago, efforts led by former Mountain Home Mayor Joe B. McNeal helped Idaho become one of the first states to officially observe Juneteenth — though the holiday did not become an official state and federal holiday until 2021.

“It took the help and the foresight and the running, and the legacy of Dirk Kempthorne and Joe B. McNeil, who did what they had to do in order to make this happen for us,” Reed said.

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Many neighbors said they only learned about Juneteenth a few years ago. Purvis Cowens, who attended the Mountain Home Juneteenth 5K, said awareness remains a challenge.

“We don’t talk about it in school. A lot of people of color are really not familiar with it,” Purvis Cowens said. “So it’s a good deal to get it out there and get it in the community.”

To help change that, the committee uses money raised through its events to fund 5 scholarships for local high school seniors, who write essays about what Juneteenth means to them.

Charlotte Cowens, who hosts the Mountain Home Juneteenth 5K, said understanding history is essential.

“It’s nice to know history because you got to know your history to know where you’re going. So if you don’t know where you came from, you never know where you’re going,” Charlotte Cowens said.

Reed said the scholarship has already made a meaningful impact.

“This was a young Caucasian gentleman, and he won, and he said when he did the research for his essay, he found out so many things he absolutely just never knew. And that’s all we want,” Reed said.

The committee said these events and the scholarship funds wouldn’t be possible without their sponsors, including Freer Foundation, Mountain Home Black History Committee, St. Luke’s, A Taste of Texas, and many more local businesses and churches.

To learn more about the Mountain Home Juneteenth Committee and this weekend’s events, click here.

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