700+ Celebrate Juneteenth At Waterpark

by Laura Glesby

A group photo after a long day at Quassy. Credit: Laura Glesby Photo

Eight yellow school buses full of New Haven families — 721 people in total — took a day trip to Quassy Amusement and Waterpark on Friday in honor of Juneteenth.

“We don’t treat this day any differently than we treat the Fourth of July,” said Hill Alder Angel Hubbard, the field trip’s organizer. “We’re gonna do it with a bang.”

Friday marked the second annual Juneteenth trip to Quassy that Hubbard has organized. This year, attendance more than doubled compared to the 300 who came last year.

Kids of all ages, along with their parents and other adult volunteers, spent the day across various parts of the amusement and water park in Middlebury. They tried out roller coasters and waterpark rides, swam and relaxed at the Lake Quassy beach, and enjoyed an outdoor meal all together.

With the help of donations, tickets were subsidized and cost $20 per person.

“She made it affordable,” said Karen Prioleau, a parent who attended the trip for the first time this year with her kids. “We had an awesome time. I appreciated being in my community.”

Prioleau attended with a sizable contingent from the local church Upon This Rock Ministries, which is how she found out about the trip.

Ten-year-old Gustavo Colon’s favorite part of the day was “rollercoasters.” No, wait — “waterparks!” Or “free food!”

10-year-old Gustavo with parents Adrian Colon and Lismarie Rivera.

“We passed a good time together, everybody together,” said his dad, Adrian Colon, who heard about the trip from a flyer that Hubbard gave him at the Freddy Fixer Parade. “We met a lot of people that we didn’t meet before.”

Prior to the bus ride, Hubbard said she took a moment to explain to the kids about the meaning behind Juneteenth — the anniversary of the 1865 liberation of enslaved Black people in Texas, who had not yet experienced freedom even after the Confederate army’s surrender.

Hubbard’s goal was to “pay homage to our ancestors, our culture, our independence” through a day of joy and community.

Tynicha Drummonds, a Democratic Party co-chair for Ward 23 who helped out with the event, said she hopes the amusement park trip will “inspire the kids that this day is a day of freedom for them, not just for the ancestors.”

Tynicha Drummonds and Angel Hubbard.