Saturday’s Juneteenth parade started at the Denton Civic Center, circled through downtown and ended at Fred Moore Park.

But the celebration in Denton commemorated a journey of a different kind.

Juneteenth represents survival in the African-American heritage and nearly 150 years of freedom in the U.S., said Vicki Byrd, president of the alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.

DRC/Gary Payne

Denton High School alumni from 1980 to 1989 ride in a float during the annual Juneteenth parade on Saturday in Denton.

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“This is a fellowship celebration, to get together with one another,” Byrd said. “You’ve got to be able to appreciate your heritage. I love my heritage; it’s a symbol of where we came from to freedom and survival.”

Byrd and her sorority sisters put their feet to the pavement in the parade to help educate the wider community about Juneteenth.

Many attendees at Denton’s celebration were born after the civil rights movement and don’t know the price their ancestors paid for freedom, said Peternia Washington, a member of the Juneteenth Celebration committee.

Washington said she’s shown her 4-year-old grandson the current Iranian protest marches on television, telling him, “When I was growing up, black folks marched the street in protest like that; some were jailed. Those people out there want to be free.”

By telling her grandson what it was like when she was young — such as not being able to play in parks and being unable to attend the State Fair unless it was “colored day” — Washington said she’s able to do her part to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

“When we’re dead and gone, they’ll remember,” she said. “There’s something inherent about the 19th of June — it’s very special to Texas, and he’ll carry that legacy on.”

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that word about the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Texas and Texas slaves were freed, two and a half years after the proclamation was decreed.

Denton’s 40th annual Juneteenth festivities were going smoothly and about 3,000 people were expected to attend, said Terese Thomas, chairwoman of the Denton Juneteenth Celebration committee.

“Things are going wonderful. We’re riding and rolling,” she said.

Event organizers said about 40 parade entries finished their promenade to Fred Moore Park, where the celebration continued with music, food, vendors and children’s games.

Denton’s Juneteenth Celebration helps get the message behind the holiday out to the community, Thomas said.

“Most people have some idea what Juneteenth is about, but they don’t know about the pain or the survival,” she said. “A lot of people died for us to be free, and we need to keep it alive and remember where we come from.”

For Shirley Ebron, bringing her great-grandchildren to the Denton event was a way to pass on their heritage — and it was something they couldn’t necessarily get in other cities, she said.

“It’s to let them find out what Juneteenth’s all about,” Ebron said.

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.