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The Guinea Jubilee and the Guinea Heritage
Association, like a blue crab, has gone through several
sheddings—periods of growth and change. What began in
1979 as a four-day celebration of the
Guinea
community has evolved into a non-profit organization committed to
giving back to the community through scholarships,
cultural activities, and a museum.
The first Greater Guinea Jubilee was held in
the parking lot of the shopping center everyone referred
to as "Plaza Pharmacy." The following year, 1980, the
event was cut back to two days, and the committee
crafted its purpose as "to honor and celebrate the way of
life in Guinea Neck." For the 1981 event, Buck
Rowe served as the first Grand Marshall.
By 1992, the Jubilee had grown too big for
its shell, spilling across the street (US Route 17) to use
the Food Lion parking lot and attracting people from the
surrounding communities. To safely accommodate
the
crowd, the Abingdon Ruritan Club offered their grounds. This change
signified the Jubilee’s move closer
to the center of its community and saw the first fireman’s parade.
Soon, the festival became known as
Gloucester
’s Fall Event and began offering posters and signed, limited edition
prints that artistically documented the community’s heritage.
1995-1996 was a vulnerable year for the
Guinea Jubilee Committee. It shed its long-time home in the
back room of Plaza Pharmacy to meet in a larger space. The
group’s vision for the future included
incorporating,
so the Greater Guinea Jubilee became the Guinea Jubilee, Ltd. During
the 1996 fall celebration of the Guinea Jubilee, the documentary They Live
in Guinea was shown at Waterman’s Hall,
VIMS.
By the summer of 1996, the organization again changed its name, with
the event being the "Guinea Jubilee" and the
"umbrella" parent organization becoming the Guinea Heritage
Association, Ltd., (GHA) to emphasize
its charitable and educational purposes. Organizing in this manner,
the Guinea Heritage Association was soon granted federal tax
exemption. The Association had its first Board of Directors and
the Guinea Jubilee Committee was under the GHA to continue the
annual celebration and fund raiser for
the
community.
Just shy of its twentieth year, a deed of
gift was recorded to the Guinea Heritage Association for theparcel of
land known as "the old Studebaker dealership" It is located
at the corners of Mark Pine and Guinea Roads in Bena, just across the
street from Buck Rowe’s Store and the Bena Post Office. This
property was designated as the future home for the GHA museum. As
we participate in the annual Guinea Jubilee
celebrations, we are a part of an organization that in its humblest
beginnings had at its heart the preservation of the history and values
of the unique community we know as
Guinea
.
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