While “freedom” is the buzz word of the day, a group of Oak Harbor African-Americans gathered Thursday to celebrate their greatest declaration of freedom, the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.

June 19. also known as Juneteenth Independence Day, was made an official holiday by presidential decree in 1997.

Thursday the congregation of Mission Ministries Outreach, with a largely African-American membership, celebrated the day that marks the end of slavery in the U.S. with an evening of prayers, praise and rafter-rattling gospel singing.

Juneteenth had been celebrated in Oak Harbor in the early 1980’s, according to Mission Ministries Pastor Fannie Dean, but it fell by the wayside when the hosting Oak Harbor Black Citizens Association disbanded.

“We want to recognize the day,” Dean said. “We want to bring it back to full force.”

As Dean explained, although President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, news was slow to reach the cotton states, where plantation owners were more interested in free labor than freed slaves. Lincoln finally had to send a Union Army messenger to spread the word to the slaves that they were free.

The Oak Harbor group had planned on celebrating with a barbecue at City Beach last weekend, but the picnic area was already booked.

Undeterred, they combined it with the non-denominational church’s 13th anniversary.

Dean hopes the Juneteenth celebration will be the start of a greater presence of African-Americans in Oak Harbor, including in the police force, on government councils and in public agencies.