SAN ANGELO, Texas The Rev. Terressa Holcumb threw down her walking stick and linked arms with a large circle of people to pray at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park in north San Angelo.

Freedom is the ability to see my children realize the sky is the limit, they can educate themselves, said Holcumb, with the Sims Chapel at the House of Restoration. Its going to the grocery store to pick up what I want to eat, not what I have to eat. Being able to celebrate who God is to me if not for him, we would have none of this.

Several hundred people gathered Saturday for a parade and picnic to celebrate Juneteenth, which commemorates Emancipation Day and the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865.

Juneteenth is about those who finally got the message, said Theodore Boone, of the Ministerial Alliance of San Angelo. Its important because sometimes people dont get the message and miss out on opportunities, so they continue in bondage.

To Boone, the delayed receipt of the message on Juneteenth is symbolic of those who have not heard the Christian gospel.

Were celebrating information that brings change. If you never get the truth, you stay in bondage, he said. We got the message. We got the message.

With a cool breeze whipping past, the parade procession made up of cars, motorcycles, a firetruck and a tandem bicycle caused a joyful clamor in the neighborhoods along MLK Drive.

Waving at Fort Concho Buffalo Soldier re-enactors and parade floats from the sidewalk, 62-year-old Billie Jean Lacy called out to them and gleefully collected the candy they threw to onlookers.

Lacy, originally from San Angelo, drove from Austin to celebrate Juneteenth with her family. She is thrilled that other cultural groups join in the celebration, too.

Now we have lots of different ethnic and cultural groups, she said. Thats the goal not to have segregation. Its for all culture to come to enjoy.

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Freedom feted for Juneteenth