June 15, 2012 (Issue 31) In This Issue Vallejo Hosts 6th Annual Vallejo Hosts 6th Annual Pirate Pirate Festival Summer Music Returns Festival Downtown on Friday Nights

Juneteenth Celebration Ahoy mateys! The Northern California Pirate Festival will Returns to Downtown Plaza celebrate its 6th annual celebration of all things sea-faring tomorrow June 16th and Sunday June 17th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The free two day event is filled with musicians, singers, swordfighters, craftspeople, and of course, pirates! New this year, mermaids join the festivities as the theme is "Mermaids and Mardi Gras." Visit and get your picture taken with the mermaids in the new lagoon, trade Mardi Gras postcards for glittering beads, watch the Brotherhood of Vallejo Heights Oceanic Mercenaries blow things up and have fun with Keeps Captain Jack Spareribs: magician, comedian and Neighborhood ventriloquist. Clean

Every year in June the Vallejo Waterfront transforms into a swanky pirate jamboree, complete with ships, cannon battles, live The Vallejo Heights music, maritime crafts, hearty food and drink, children's games, Neighborhood treasure hunts and sword fights. Costumes are not mandatory, Association (VHNA) but definitely encouraged! Whether you come dressed as a gathered together on Swashbuckler or a Buccaneer, you're sure to have a good time at Saturday June 9th to 6th Annual Northern California Pirate Festival in Vallejo. help clean up blocks in their district near the Vallejo northern waterfront. VNHA is Summer Music Returns Downtown on one of the most active Friday Nights neighborhood groups in the City and participates in many It's summer time and that means Friday Night Summer Music at events improving the Gracie's BBQ is back in Vallejo's downtown arts and Vallejo community. entertainment district. The annual tradition will feature local bands performing every week during the summer to start off the This past Saturday weekend right. With a wide variety on the menu and different members and genres of music, volunteers came out to Gracie's BBQ is a perfect help he neighborhood way to eat delicious tidy up, donning work barbeque and enjoy the gloves and carrying music. litter cleaners and trash bags. The VHNA This summer bands will Board of Directors took include The Raymond Victor suggestions from Band, Fiddlearound, Jimmy residents around the Smith Band, John Patrick area on what areas Douglas needed sprucing up. Trio, Guy Arrostuto and Members and Friends, The Jeff Magidson neighbors volunteered Blues Band, Nick Philips and to clean areas around Friends, The Way De La Sacramento Street, Cruz Trio, The Used Blues vacant lots, and alley Trio, Carlitos Medrano, and West of Next. ways during the two- hour cleanup. In Running from June through October, Gracie's BBQ will be addition, the volunteers grooving to the music every Friday from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. drove around the Gracie's BBQ is located downtown Vallejo at 1801 Sonoma district in the vicinity to Boulevard. Gracie's is located within two blocks of other address other areas in downtown arts attractions the Vallejo Naval and Historical need of clean up. Museum, Empress Theatre and a number of galleries. The VHNA meets monthly and is geared Juneteenth Celebration Returns to to promote community spirit to enhance the Downtown livability of the Vallejo Heights area. Vallejo will revel in its 24th annual Juneteenth Celebration Quarterly neighborhood tomorrow Saturday June 16th. A festival of African American cleanups are planned history and culture, Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration to continue. Contact commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Dating VNHA if you would like back to 1896, it was to help out! on June 19th that the civil Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and the enslaved were now free. To mark this historic event, African Americans from all around the nation celebrate Past Issues Juneteenth with a festival of family, friends, community Open City Hall and freedom.

Creating a sense of solidarity in the African American community, Juneteenth helps African Americans to make proactive choices impacting education, health and wellness, the family structure and economic inclusion. In recognition of this, community businesses will provide free health screenings, tables for community resources, and helpful information on various subjects.

The Juneteenth Celebration is a free event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., located at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Park behind the JFK Library and City Hall in downtown Vallejo. The celebration is adjacent to the morning weekly Farmers Market on Georgia Street and Pirate Festival on the Waterfront. There will be great food, clothing, jewelry and accessory booths, martial arts and Zumba demonstrations, fun for kids, and much more at this year's Juneteenth Celebration.

Vallejo News is published by the City of Vallejo. We welcome your input and suggestions at [email protected]