By T. Scott Boatright
With only two aldermen present and no quorum available, the Grambling City Council still met Thursday at City Hall, using the time to preview the upcoming Juneteenth celebration while also hearing reports and comments from a trio of guest speakers.
Council members Jerry Lewis and Cathy Giles were present for the meeting while three other aldermen — Davaria Ponton, John Brown and Delores Smith — were absent.
That meant tabling two orders of new business on the agenda — approving a resolution to adopt 2026 millage rates and authorizing Mayor Alvin Bradley to sign an Institute for Building Technology contract — until next month’s meeting.
Larry Walters, certified building official and floodplain manager for ITBS, was the first guest speaker and talked about what his company will do for Grambling once the contract is authorized to be signed, with services including accessibility code services, building inspections, building permits, fire code and inspection, floodplain management, plan reviews, planning and zoning, property maintenance and stormwater services.
The other two guest speakers were Brent Norris of SWYFT Broadband Infrastructure GUMBO 2.0 Project and Nick Salsubury, who previewed the unveiling of a Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick Northeast Louisiana Trail Monument from noon-2 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Park in the midst of Grambling’s Juneteenth celebration.
Grambling’s Juneteenth Opening Ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. today at City Hall, with the annual Juneteenth Pageant scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Floyd Sandle Theatre inside the Conrad Hutchinson Performing Arts Center on the Grambling State University campus.
Saturday will bring Grambling’s annual Juneteenth Fishing Tournament at Memorial Park followed by the Northeast Louisiana Trail Monument unveiling.
A Poetry Contest will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at City Hall and will be followed by a Living History — Remembering the Past and Inspiring the Future program.
Grambling’s Chamber of Commerce will present “Building Grambling Together Community, Culture and Legacy” Juneteenth Conversation Under The Tent starting at 6 p.m. Saturday at City Hall.
The annual Juneteenth Bakeoff is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall and will be followed by a Tracing Our Past, Celebrating Our Future program at noon.
A citywide Bible study will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Christ Temple Baptist Church while a Health and Wellness Fair will be held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.
Juneteenth itself — June 19 — will begin with a 45/45 Freedom Run starting at 4 a.m. on the GSU campus with a Car Show revving up at 8 a.m. at the Grambling Christian Center.
A vendor marketplace will open at 9 a.m. on Main Street on June 19 with the annual event parade rolling down Main Street starting at 5 p.m., to be followed by a fish fry sale at 6 p.m., and line dancing beginning at 7 p.m.
Grand marshals for the parade will be Melba Woodard, the oldest member of Grambling’s Woodward family, the Lincoln Preparatory School state championship boys basketball team and representatives from Autism Awareness.
The day’s events will wrap up at dusk with a fireworks display at Memorial Park.
And Grambling’s Juneteenth celebration will wrap up starting at 7 p.m. June 20 with the annual Juneteenth Gala on the GSU campus.
More information on Grambling’s Juneteenth Celebration can be found online at Grambling Juneteenth Heritage Festival.
Menette Evans-Black gave a Public Works report during the meeting, saying that Phase 6 and Phase 7 of Grambling’s water valve installation project are underway and that 27 valves have been installed so far.
Evans-Black said the next phase will begin after the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
