Philanthropy Today

Manhattan Juneteenth Celebration On the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 307

• Dave Lewis

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 18:51

We share what makes Manhattan’s Juneteenth weekend feel like a true community homecoming, from live music and barbecue to a walk that helps strangers become friends. We also connect the celebration to the history of Yuma Street and close the weekend with a free screening of 42 at the Douglas Activity Center. 
• Party Train concert details and why the show is free 
• Fellowship focus through food sports and music 
• Barbecue contest format including $5 sampler kits and audience voting 
• How to register a barbecue team at JuneteenthMHK.org 
• Community walk plans and the updated route highlighting historic churches 
• Local history ties including Jackie Robinson and the Yuma district 
• Movie night logistics for 42 with lawn chairs and free popcorn 
• Sponsors partners and volunteers who make the weekend possible 

Please put the word out that it's happening on June 19th from 5 to about 9:30 or 10 on June 20th. All day, please come out


GMCF

CFAs

Welcome And Juneteenth Preview

SPEAKER_01

Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode, we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on news radio KMAN. We are back with a special opportunity here on the GMCF Community Hour to talk about uh a great community event. I'm really excited about this. I I get I anytime Betty O makes a present in the studio is a great day. No offense to to Pat or Dr. Wiley, you know, but we just have a thing.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, we go way back. We we have a thing. Some stories that we're just not gonna even share. Yes. We just love each other. Really?

SPEAKER_01

I I don't remember those stories.

SPEAKER_03

No, I'm not gonna say anything about the shots and that type of party stuff. We're past that now.

SPEAKER_01

We've we've oh yes we are. Yes, we are. We've been inoculated. Oh, we have the inevitable Betty O here.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, hello, family. And I say family because it's our community and it is our family and friends. So good morning.

SPEAKER_01

And we have Dr. Zelia Wiley in the house.

SPEAKER_04

Good morning. I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01

And we're happy to have you. And Pat Hudgens is a late entry into the party. Hello, Pat. You know, I always show up though.

SPEAKER_02

Amen.

SPEAKER_01

We're just we're just kind of fired up that you were able to get in the front door with it being locked here this morning.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, that is true.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, we're here on a holiday. Somebody locks us out.

SPEAKER_01

That's right.

SPEAKER_03

She's our pastor. So she's a pastor Hudgens.

SPEAKER_01

So you need that support.

SPEAKER_03

It's a foundation, right?

SPEAKER_01

That is. Well,

Party Train Concert And Schedule

SPEAKER_01

Juneteenth has had um uh quite a history here in Manhattan and the celebration that you have coming up the third weekend of June. And and Betty O, we're gonna start with you uh because you know, my question list that I have here that's been prepared for me, the first sentence is talk about artists. And you told me you got the entertainment part of it, and uh, and and you're part of that. Are you MC in again? I am going to MC, yes, sir. You know how delightful you are on the stage in front of a microphone as an MC.

SPEAKER_03

Well, you're so sweet. You truly are. I love it there. It's our happy place, right? I mean, there's places that we are comfortable, but on stage, we get to kind of be that person that we can't be at home because our spouses are like, no, sit down. I'm not having all that. But when we're on stage, we're alive, we can breathe. We try to bring in the love with the family and the community. We have a good time. They have to pull us off there, Dave. Dave, if they don't tell us to cut it, we'll still be there two or three weeks later. We'll still be there. I don't have that problem. You're so good. You're so good. So, yes, we're bringing in the party train this year, formerly the gap band. So all the hits will be hit teen.

SPEAKER_01

You got a favorite gap band song or party train.

SPEAKER_03

So you dropped a bomb on me. That's probably one of the biggest ones. Oops, uh, side your head.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You gotta remember, I was spinning, I was spinning vinyl at Aggie Station in the 80s. Oh, so this community is ready for that, right, Dave? I mean, we're gonna have a great time, right? Well, when I first saw, and I don't remember who who showed me, you know, uh no, you sent me a text message. But this is gonna be, you know, I'm like, oh, I told my wife I'm saying, we are going. And I am and I am gonna be there. I'm gonna be, I'll probably get up and dance a little bit. You have to. Yeah. You have to. I'm both my friend Danielle from Kansas City's gonna come over too. So I'm I'm I've sent it to her and she goes, Oh okay, for sure.

SPEAKER_03

So they are coming. We're gonna have the fabulous Mr. Gary. He's always coming in from St. Louis. I call him the cousin. He's wonderful. He's gonna have to be a good thing. You got a lot of cousins, girl. Yeah, but only the good folks are the cousins. Okay. You know you're a cousin. Oh, Carol Panette.

SPEAKER_01

I remember that.

SPEAKER_03

I remember that. Yes, always. So, yes, so they're coming in. And then on um Saturday, you know, at the Douglas Activity Center, we're gonna have the train ride, we're gonna have vendors, activities, just a good community time. We're calling it this year fellowship because what we have in common is food, sports, and music. And if nothing else, that brings us together. So you can meet old neighbors, new neighbors, give them an excuse to get off that couch. Father's Day is that weekend, so it's a freebie for dad to come out, have a great time, kick back, and you know what the cost is? Zero. Zero. We can't make it any better than that community. Zero to come out and have a good time with the party train. Formerly the band. All right.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that's uh what time is that?

SPEAKER_03

It's gonna start. The band will start at 7:30, but we'll be there all day. There's gonna be a barbecue contest. Please come out. The samplers are only five dollars. You're gonna have plenty of food. Put your little ticket in and judge who's the best griller out there. So that's always a good time. We're gonna be having giveaways, little prizes that we're gonna give away throughout the day. So I'm telling you, community, this is one of the bigger celebrations that we have in our community, and you can't miss it.

SPEAKER_01

Dr. Wiley. Yes, are you ready for barbecue?

SPEAKER_04

Yes, of course I am. I'm from Texas.

SPEAKER_01

Pat, are you ready for barbecue? Yes. Oh, yeah. It's time to have some good barbecue. Brisket. Okay. And there's some brisket out there. There's all kinds of there's gonna be everything. Is that all they barbecue in Texas?

SPEAKER_04

No, that's not all okay, but that's the majority.

SPEAKER_01

Uh-huh. All those longhorns down there. We like roasting Bivo.

SPEAKER_04

You know about Bivo? That's really good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I'm from West Texas. Bivo is big.

Barbecue Contest And Taster Voting

SPEAKER_01

And tasty. And tasty. Well, let's talk a little bit about the barbecue contest because this is this is a lot of fun. You got. Oh man, I don't know. What do you have? 10, 12, 15, 20 people or groups? Great teams.

SPEAKER_04

And the um the teams, uh, once they supply we part of our partnerships is to support them like with the meat of what they decide to actually barbecue. And to build upon what Betty O is saying about like one community and shared freedom, this is one thing that's very key is that we get individuals come from all over the Manhattan area to participate. And then Betty will work so hard to get great giveaways after we do the contest. So the community can go out, you pay five dollars, and you get a get a some baked beans along with it, and you go to each group, and we give you a ticket, part of your taster kit, and then you vote. You vote from the team. You say, This is the best chicken, this is the big barbecue sausage, this is the best brisket, or beef or reels. It's whatever the team decides to uh pick. And then Betty O, the MC that she is, she makes the announcement doing an intermission of the great concert. So you gotta come to the concert if you want.

SPEAKER_03

All right. We're still looking for grillers, too. Yes, we are. Yeah, we are.

SPEAKER_04

So we hope that part of this session is going to get individuals to really get excited. Okay. And to get that team, and everybody's welcome. It's one community.

SPEAKER_01

And how does someone get involved if they want to get their barbecue team in the party?

SPEAKER_04

They can contact any member, or they can go to the Manhattan Juneteenth uh website.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_04

And that's that's one way for the volunteer, and then you'll see the form for the barbecue, the barbecue team. And then after that, we'll reach you. And our chair for that is Derek, and Derek is with um Parks and Rec. Um, so we're just really excited. And that's one good way to say about our partnerships. You know, Greater Manhattan, Parks and Rec, various, you know, just community individuals that have donated. It's truly about one community, like video says, with food and music, but this barbecue taster is where individuals can really put their personal touch to it.

SPEAKER_01

All right. I'm in. Juneteenth MHK.org. That's it. As a website, if you want to get uh um get that application filled out to be on the barbecue.

Community Walk And Yuma Street Roots

SPEAKER_01

And Pat, there's a community walk again.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, we are so excited because it pulls not only our students together, it pulls our community together. Everybody in the community. And one of the things that we encourage is we usually invite our mayor to read the proclamation just to remind the community of why we're there, and then we pull together and say, find somebody to partner with that you do not know so that you can make a friend that particular time just walking down Yuma Street from Long's Park. So the the walk starts at Long's Park that morning at 9 a.m. And then we'll walk straight down Yuma Street, the historical Yuma Street, to the Douglas Activity Center. And so we encouraged everybody to come out, get a t-shirt, and um join the walk.

SPEAKER_01

I remember, you know, you you you you talk about, you know, make a friend. I remember I had a wonderful visit. The first time I had ever met Beastony was at over, you know, one of the picnic tables. And I just sat there and we just talked and talked, and and I'd known a little bit about her, some of the things that she had been involved in. She was in the law board. And um, you know, and then all of a sudden, you know, and she was gone. And it's just like, you know, you have a great opportunity to meet some wonderful people.

SPEAKER_02

Wonderful people, and she's a she was a dear, dear friend of each of us. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I just oh sorry about that. I didn't mean to do that, but you know, hey, it is Memorial Day, so we're gonna we can do that.

SPEAKER_03

But and a little bit of a correction. We're not starting at Long's this year, we're gonna start at the Douglas Activity Center and walk that perimeter. We've changed it a little bit, I forgot.

SPEAKER_04

We're going to know that the church from historic um the Baptist Church, Pilgrim Baptist Church, to Bethel Ammy Church. And we're gonna really bring in the historical to really focus on the community of uh Yuma Street.

SPEAKER_01

And you got the new cultural arts center out of the path.

SPEAKER_04

Yes, and they're gonna be part of the celebration on Saturday at noon. They're gonna be part of the celebration to talk about the culture center. Great. All right. So thanks for that great tie-in for the city.

SPEAKER_01

Well, you know, I I I kind of try to keep track of y'all. Yeah. But it's it's it's such a it's such a joyous day. You know, everybody has a great time. You talked about music, sports, yeah, and food and food. You know, you have my attention and and you know, but we haven't talked much about the sports aspect.

Movie Night With 42 And Local History

SPEAKER_01

Now, you have a showing of a movie. Is this correct?

SPEAKER_03

We do. We have a showing of the movie, it's 42 uh Jackie Robinson movie, and that's something also new that we're going to do this year. It's gonna be after the whole day of celebration on June 20th. That evening, we want people to come back. And uh, we're going to be showing the movie uh 42 free popcorn. So you're getting a little historic uh information during that time. And Jackie Robinson actually was over in that Yuma area when he was stationed at Fort Riley. This is where he came, over that Yuma area. Joe Lewis, Lena Horn, Martin Luther King after his last speech at K-State. He came over in that Yuma district. Tiger Woods dad's family grew up over there. So it's a lot of history over there that needs to continue to be shared. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

I saw a photograph the other day as came up on um on Facebook, Jesse Baker. Yeah, and it's just like, you know, and of course, you know, we all know Dave and Sonia, and and to uh to bring that up to the forefront again, just kind of like you know, we've had some wonderful, wonderful individuals, no no matter what color that have been in Manhattan. But that it's really neat to to hang on to that those treasurable moments.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

We're beating it. Where's the movie gonna be shown at?

SPEAKER_03

It's gonna be shown at the Douglas Activity Center. We're gonna set up a huge screen and uh it's gonna be right there. Bring your lawn chairs, come out, family, friends, and again, uh popcorn, and you're gonna have something to drink, you know. Awesome.

Sponsors Volunteers And Final Invitation

SPEAKER_03

We like to recognize our partners if you allow us.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I was getting to that here. That's that's like on my question list. Actually, that's the the the next question after what. But if you if you want me to bump it up in my order, I can do that. Because there's a lot of sponsors. Let me just start this off.

SPEAKER_03

Makes it happen.

SPEAKER_01

Dr. Wiley.

SPEAKER_03

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01

In order to pull off an event of this magnitude, it takes not only just a bunch of volunteers like the three of you lovely ladies, but it takes a lot of people that will open up their checkbooks and say, hey, we'd like to help. Who are some of those wonderful contributors to the Juneteenth Committee? Did I phrase that all right for you? No. Was that a good transition?

SPEAKER_04

Great transition, great voice. We just really appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, bless your heart.

SPEAKER_04

I just wanted to say when it comes to the movie, when it comes to 42 and how we're going to end it this year, it's Parks and Recs, the AMC Theaters, and then overall Greater Manhattan uh Foundation. That's what I wanted to really point out to show that how the community is coming out, so we can talk about the history, how the fellowship with the popcorn, and show the movie. And that's why we wanted to end it this year with a movie. Everything is gonna be right there at the Douglas Activity Center section, right there on Yuma, right in that block. Okay. So that's why we're really just so excited. And then the community, this Manhattan individuals have contributed. So it's every dollar amount, if it was five dollars, a thousand, five thousand, ten thousand, whatever it is, as a reason that we can pull this off. But I wanted to point the the especially parks and rec the city of Manhattan and all of our volunteers for making this happen.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, we didn't ask you the question what's your favorite gap band song? Excuse me, party train song.

SPEAKER_04

I I really like Oops Upside the Head. Yeah. It has the best beat.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that little groove that groove in it.

SPEAKER_04

It's just the best beat, and it brings back to the game. Tulsa. That's what the gap band is. It's their three streets. I for really yes, it's Greenwood. I forgot the one that's A and P. But there's three streets that that that they grew up in.

SPEAKER_01

I did not know that connection.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. I have good friends from Tulsa, Oklahoma that keep me in line.

SPEAKER_01

What's your favorite gap band song?

SPEAKER_02

It's it's it reminds me of doing the bump. Oops, upside from it.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, for sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_01

And early in the morning's a good one too. You know?

SPEAKER_02

There's a beat in the morning.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah. You're gonna have a lot of fun out there. You know, and you've got a you've got a recent history in the last four or five years of bringing in some top-notch entertainment uh to the city park stage.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, we have. And I would like to thank the Dr. Betty O because she has got some good connections. Is everybody here a doctor? No. No. She is today. The music.

SPEAKER_00

Dr. M C Dr. M C Dr. MCO. MCO. Dr. M C O We got a new name for you, Dr. MC Young.

SPEAKER_02

But um, we have we have worked very hard and she has worked behind the scenes relentlessly, just pulling together. Um, we we kind of throw out some ideas, and then she says, Let me see what I can pull up on the fishing hook. And she goes for it hard. And um, she does an excellent job of pulling in to pull people together because it is people will come and gather about music and food anytime. Yeah. And it doesn't matter the genre. And so we're bringing something different that usually is not at our in our in our town, and it's big, and we do it big.

SPEAKER_01

You know, we talk about uh the people, and you know, there's vendors that are involved, you know. There's there's people that are coming up cooking up good stuff, but you know, vendors and and a lot of pol uh, a lot of people uh volunteering and and and uh you know when you talked about the beginning of the parade. I just remember a lot of kids, a lot of students at K-State dressed up in you know their their organization's t-shirts and heading down that walk and just having a great time.

SPEAKER_02

To be seen and to be sh to show their community, and that's what's important. Yeah showing community and being a bar community. So we're excited to get some new people to come out who haven't. Uh as I was driving down Huma Street today, I saw some activity outside the Douglas, and I thought we're gonna have um some dancers that are gonna come out. We're working on that. Um, we're gonna do a little bit of a fitness thing, um, work on getting people fit in the morning because people like to start their day off moving and shaking. Uh after they've been moving and shaking the night before, they got to keep it going. So true.

SPEAKER_01

He didn't talk about therapy being part of the deal. Well, PT.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so true, so true. Anything the greater um greater Manhattan Community Foundation, Vern Hendricks, he's been great. Uh the Lattimores, I mean the Butler Foundation, just outstanding. So there's so many to thank, and we're gonna have a list to make sure we get everyone. Dave Lewis, you included, of having us here. So we're uh WIBW, uh Fox News. There's a lot of uh different components that we're adding in this year. So again, thanking the community. Please put the word out that it's happening on June 19th from 5 to about 9:30 or 10 on June 20th. All day, please come out, tell the athletes. K-State, I challenge you to bring every athlete, every new coach, every old coach, come out, support your community, bring in new people, old people, young people, handsome people, people that are people, people. We just want everyone out to have a great time this year, and that's what it's about. We want to be the example that community works. Dr.

SPEAKER_01

MCO. Community works.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, did it? That's great.

SPEAKER_01

You like that?

unknown

Dr.

SPEAKER_01

Z O'Wiley, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having us. Pat Hudgens, thanks. Thank you, Dave. Bringing the joy. Thank you, Dave. Bringing the joy. We're gonna have a lot of fun. All right, ladies. Uh a great segment here on the GMCF Community Hour. And our next great segment is with Jennifer Elliott, who is the marketing director uh for the Midwest Dream Card Collection. They got some cool things that are happening over there to entice you to come and visit with them, and we'll learn more about that in just a couple of moments here on the GMCF Community Hour, here on News Radio KMA.