Cruise featuring ‘Temptations Review’ to launch 2025 Juneteenth celebration

The Temptations, featuring Paul Williams Jr., will be the featured entertainment aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat, in conjunction with Hannibal’s Juneteenth Celebration, on June 15. Contributed photo

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

Hannibal’s 28th annual Juneteenth Celebration, scheduled to launch on June 15, marks a significantly historic event, the anniversary of the end of slavery in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, on June 19, 1865.

Marsha Mayfield, who has been associated with the Juneteenth celebration since its inception in Hannibal, is once again in a leadership role for the local event.

“Juneteenth is so important to us culturally” she said. As a woman of color, she added, “it is our Independence day.”

A special highlight of this year’s celebration will be a dinner cruise aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat on Sunday, June 15. Boarding is at 6 p.m.

Featured entertainers will be Paul Williams Jr., and The Temptations Review, and the musical group “All For Love,” which performs the same style of music as the Temptations.

“I am a die-hard Temptations fan,” Mayfield said. “Paul Williams Jr., is the son of one of the originals. We heard them perform in Quincy last year, and it was almost like reliving the original.”

Tickets for the dinner cruise are selling quickly, and she recommends those who wish to attend call to reserve tickets. There will be seating for 130 at the dinner cruise, and this year there will also be 40 tickets available on the upper deck for those who do not want dinner. Dinner cruise tickets are $75 each, and upper deck tickets are $40.

This is the third year that a dinner cruise has been a part of the Juneteenth celebration. To reserve tickets or for more information, reach out to: ceo@mcfact.org, or call 573 719 7171.

Mayfield compares the performance of The Temptations to Hannibal’s early years, when the community attracted such music greats as Ike and Tina Turner.

Twenty-eight years ago, Hannibal was among the first communities in Missouri to stage a Juneteenth event. Now, it is a federal holiday, and Juneteenth celebrations “have blossomed since then,” she said.

A parade is scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 21, featuring the Red and Black Brass Band, and the Jessie White Tumblers from Chicago.

To conclude the local celebration, there will be a balloon glow, with a gathering beginning at 7 p.m. June 21 next to Clemens Field baseball stadium, 403 Warren Barrett Drive.

Guests can enter for $20, and have their photos taken with the balloons at dusk.