ullerton bserver FFULLERTON’S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS • Est.1978O • YEAR 43 #12 • JULY 2021 Submissions: [email protected] • Call: (714) 525-6402 • Daily Stories at: www.fullertonobserver.com Orange County Celebrates Juneteenth by Jesse La Tour After President Biden signed new leg- islation this month making Juneteenth (June 19) a federal holiday, several cele- brations took place in Orange County. Juneteenth (also called Jubilee Day, Black Independence Day, and Emancipation Day) commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it has been celebrated annually in the United States since 1866. This year on June 19, celebrations took place in Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Costa Mesa. Fourth District OC Supervisor Doug Chaffee hosted a Juneteenth Celebration at Anaheim Community Center Park featuring games, live music, booths, and free COVID-19 vaccinations. Julie Bennett, Karen Robinson, Lolia Washington, and Wellington Bennett at a Juneteenth Celebration in Anaheim. PHOTO BY GASTON CASTELLANOS. See Juneteenth, Page 2 CITY COUNCIL FUNDS MUSEUM Arboretum CENTER FOR PARTIAL YEAR Reopens by Matthew Leslie Except for a fundraiser exhibit last fall, the Museum has not been open to The Fullerton Arboretum at Cal State Following months of uncertainty the public since March 2020 when Fullerton will reopen July 7 with sum- PRESORTED PRESORTED about its future, the Fullerton Museum COVID-19 restrictions forced its clo- POSTAGE PAID PAID POSTAGE STANDARD U.S. STANDARD mer hours. It has been closed since FULLERTON CA FULLERTON PERMIT NO. 1577 PERMIT Center has received enough funding to sure. The Council voted to defund the spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pan- operate on a reduced schedule through Museum in the annual City budget it demic. the rest of 2021. The City will also reim- passed in June 2020. In prior years the During the closure, the 26-acre botan- burse the Fullerton Museum Center City budgeted over $600,000 annually ical garden’s website continued to offer Association over $51,770 for expenses for the Museum, with the Fullerton its two live camera views; virtual incurred while the facility has been Museum Center Association (FMCA) events; classes and workshops on gar- closed. Rather than allocate any funding raising over $160,000 through the popu- dening, cooking and composting; and in its annual budget, passed on June 1, lar Thursday night downtown market plant sales online. the Council chose to award the Museum beer garden, gift shop, and other The Arboretum’s self-sustaining COM $100,000 from the City’s General Fund, fundraisers. budget relies on membership, plant sale enough for the Museum to operate three revenue, and rental income from the gar- days per week for about six months. See Museum Center, Page 10 dens, learning centers, and wedding BSERVER areas. The arboretum will be open to the O RESIDENT public 9am to 2pm Wednesday through Sunday. On Tuesdays, the arboretum THE 430 pounds of illegal fireworks EMAIL will be open 9am to 2pm for Fullerton IN Arboretum members only. OR seized by Fullerton Police For more information visit 714-525-6402 www.fullertonarboretum.org CURRENT by Matthew Leslie According to Cpl. Phu, “All three sub- FULLERTONOBSERVER jects were arrested for a felony fire- @ DVERTISE Fullerton Police recently seized over OR works possession charge and sent to A 430 pounds of illegal fireworks follow- Orange County Jail.” ADS ing three separate investigations, the California laws governing fireworks Sign up for department has revealed. According to are far stricter than those of some neigh- FPD spokesperson Cpl. Billy Phu, the boring states where more powerful fire- Your Vaccine department’s Directed Enforcement works, including aerials, can be legally Team monitored online sale platforms purchased. In recent years sales and use Everyone is encouraged to register and and responded to tips by members of the of banned fireworks has accelerated, inquire through all available resources. public to locate individuals either using fueled by illegal imports from south- Go to the California Vaccine scheduling or selling the dangerous incendiaries. western states and from Mexico. site at: myturn.ca.gov. Or, for Othena, go to these sites: The total weights of the seizures— Scanning the Southern California hori- 114.4 pounds, 188.5 pounds, and 128.5 zon on a 4th of July evening, it can be • English pounds—elevated each of the violations difficult to distinguish legal professional othena.com to the level of a felony. Possession of civic fireworks displays from countless, • Español - Spanish less than 100 pounds is a misdemeanor, sometimes only slightly smaller, explod- othena.com/?lang=es but still a crime. Fullerton Police deter- ing rocket clusters launched from neigh- • Tiếng Việt - Vietnamese BSERVER othena.com/?lang=vi PO BOX 7051 ULLERTON mined that, in each case, the suspects borhood locations near and far. O • 한국어 - Korean F intended the fireworks for sale. FULLERTON CA 92834 CA FULLERTON See Fireworks, Page 3 othena.com/?lang=ko Page 2 FULLERTON OBSERVER NEWS JULY 2021 Orange County Celebrates Juneteenth Continued from front page Motherland Music performs while children and adults dance on the lawn. PHOTO BY GASTON CASTELLANOS. Kids dance to the music at Juneteenth Celebration in Anaheim. PHOTO BY GASTON CASTELLANOS. “This is not the first time Juneteenth 1862 officially outlawed slavery in all has been held in the county of Orange,” the states of the original Confederacy, Chaffee’s chief of staff LaShe Rodriguez enforcement of the Proclamation gener- said to the crowd gathered on the sunny ally relied upon the advance of Union June afternoon. “There’s a long history troops to enforce the Proclamation. of African American communities and On June 19, 1865, Union Army families who lived here in Orange General Gordon Granger arrived with County who have celebrated it. It’s with 2,000 troops in Galveston, Texas and their blessing and their support that we announced to Texans General Order No. ABOVE: Tammy Tumbling from the Orange County Community Foundation and put this event on today. And it’s just so 3, proclaiming and enforcing freedom of LaShe Rodriguez, event organizer.. nice for everybody to come together, enslaved people in that state, which was PHOTO BY GASTON CASTELLANOS. especially after being in the pandemic.” the last state of the Confederacy with LEFT::Impromptu spoken word poetry Speakers at the event included notable slavery. performance at Juneteenth Day of Black elected officials and leaders in Following this was a musical perform- Action. PHOTO BY JESSE LA TOUR. Orange County, including Fullerton ance by Motherland Music. Joint Union High School Board Trustee Just down the street, a Juneteenth Day BELOW: Tustin Mayor Letitia Clark. Vicki Calhoun, Tustin Mayor Leticia of Action, organized by the group OC PHOTO BY GASTON CASTELLANOS. Clark, Tammy Tumbling from the Protests, took place at La Palma Park. Orange County Community Foundation, The focus of this event was to highlight and Bobby MacDonald, President of the forces that remain in American soci- Orange County Black Chamber of ety that restrict Black freedom, such as Commerce. mass incarceration and police violence. “As one of the few Black elected offi- “We’re here to not only celebrate cials in Orange County, I always feel Juneteenth, but also to talk about what proud that we are making progress,” we need to be doing to move forward to Leticia Clark said. “There’s a strong his- end mass incarceration…and stand in tory of Black people here in Orange solidarity with community members County. My grandparents came here who’ve been incarcerated, who’ve been when they were 18 and 19 years old, my impacted by police violence,” Zoe- dad was born here, I was born here… Raven Wianecki, co-founder of OC Together we’re going to keep this Protests, said. “We are moving forward. County moving forward, and there’s so We are continuing this fight. It’s defi- much work to be done.” nitely not over.” Bobby MacDonald, whose father and Also featured at this event was an art Aid, in which community members seek together to celebrate and mourn and uncles were Buffalo Soldiers in World exhibit commemorating those killed by to meet the material needs of their work and learn.” War II, was clad in an 1877 Buffalo police. All the work was created and neighbors. The event featured live music by local Soldier outfit. He gave a historical pres- donated by local Orange County resi- Wianecki noted the importance of band Weapons of Mass Creation, spon- entation and a re-enactment of the read- dents. gatherings like this, especially given the taneous spoken word poetry readings, ing of General Order Number 3, which There were tables set up featuring free historic lack of African American repre- testimony by a woman whose son had transmitted the news of the food donated by community members sentation in Orange County. been killed by police, a candlelight vigil Emancipation Proclamation to residents for those in need. During the event, “There are few Black spaces in commemorating those killed by police in the state of Texas. some people experiencing homelessness Orange County,” she said. “For me it’s in the last year, and finally a screening Although President Abraham were given free food. Part of the focus of important, as often as I can, to collec- of Raoul Peck’s film “I am Not Your Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of OC Protests is a concept called Mutual tively gather the Black members of OC Negro” based on the writings of James Baldwin. JULY 2021 NEWS FULLERTON OBSERVER Page 3 POOCH PARK WILL MOVE TO BREA DAM PARK by Matthew Leslie City conduct an Environmental Impact Report to assess the effects of a dog park Fullerton’s popular Pooch Park will on endangered bird populations in the move from the Hunt Library area to Brea area, which, he pointed out, includes the Dam Park.