Emancipation Day Committee Windsor
How you can help our 2017 celebration:
This 85th Anniversary Windsor Emancipation Celebration promises to be one of the best of the decade! With some of the finest entertainers in Windsor showing their best for a great tradition. Leslie McCurdy will be performing her 20th Anniversary rendition of The Spirit of Harriet Tubman! Blues Award winning The 519 Band, Guitar Army, Smokin' Purple Monkey Gang and many more! D&D Mascots, Zoo2You, Border City Barkers and so much more! BBQ Village brought to you by Jimmy G's Bar & Grill, Gino's Pizza and Handsor Smoke! Emcees comedian Michael Geeter and Mark "Pawnman" Bradac.
Remember to bring the kids!
We are looking to you, the community, for help in assuring that the Emancipation Celebration becomes self-sustaining and successful for many, many generations to come!
Though the celebration itself does not occur traditionally until August, it takes many months of planning and preparation. That is why we ask that you begin to contribute now.
Being raised in Windsor with this tradition, it is our responsibility to be sure the legacy lives on; that our heritage as a community working together be shared with our youth and newcomers, until it is once again woven into the fabric of the City of Windsor; until the world is once again familiar with "The Greatest Freedom Show on Earth!”
Who we are . .
We are Emancipation Day Committee of Windsor.
In August of 2013, a small group of men and women found themselves looking for answers and information that could only be found in books and dated newspaper articles. Fortunately for us, our era is blessed with the greatest number of Baby Boomers that will ever exist; people with direct ties to the answers we seek. We want to know who we are and where we came from. We want to understand how we worked together, and what caused some of us to drift apart.
In 1932, Mr. Walter Perry brought the Emancipation Celebration concept to Windsor. His "First of August Program," later known as Emancipation Celebration, is a wonderful Windsor legacy and the birthright of its citizens. It is our focus and our dream to ensure that it remains so.
My name is Bradley Wade Jones. I was born the year Walter Perry passed away and I’m the current President of Emancipation Day Committee of Windsor.
What we do. . .
In co-operation with Parks & Recreation and several concerned local groups and individuals, we have outlined formats for events and the means by which they may be achieved. We are committed to supporting our heritage societies, to facilitating forums and special events, and to solidifying productive and lasting relationships with likeminded, progressive individuals and associations.
Within months of our August 2013 gathering, we received our Letters Patent and the following August we hosted over 1,500 community friends and family members at our two-day festival in Lanspeary Park.
That number grew to over 2,500 participants in 2015, and they were treated to live entertainment from 12 bands, an extensive Children's Village with pony rides, exotic animals and children's entertainers.
We particularly appreciated the support of local celebrities and sports figures, politicians, and business owners. To everyone’s delight, we wrap things up with a signature barbecue in a family picnic atmosphere. One aspect of the weekend that makes the Emancipation Celebration so unique!
