300 Mark Juneteenth At Waterpark

The best part of Quassy Amusement & Waterpark, according to six-year-old RJ, is ​“the black slide” — a waterslide tunnel that feels at first like ​“a black void,” until after a few twists and turns, ​“we saw the outside.”

RJ was one of 300 New Haveners to spend Juneteenth at the Middlebury, Conn., amusement park as part of a subsidized trip arranged by Hill Alder Angel Hubbard.

RJ’s mom, Tynicha Drummonds, had organized a contingent of attendees from the Waverly apartment complex in West River.

The group boarded a yellow B&B school bus at 8 a.m. outside Career High School on Thursday morning. They explored the amusement park from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., enjoying a seemingly endless supply of burgers and hot dogs for lunch. Finally, just as it began to rain, they boarded the yellow school bus back to Career, headed home.

The whole day, including food and transportation, cost $15 per person. 

The trip was subsidized by about $2,300 from the City of New Haven as well as donations from McClam Funeral Home, Lynons restaurant, Aides and Companions, State Rep. Juan Candelaria, a handful of alders, CT-LEAD, Board of Alders, Trinity Temple Church, the Hill Legends, Hang Time Real Talk’s Her Time, and Yale’s Office of New Haven Affairs.

Hubbard additionally ran her own fundraiser, cooking meals for sale and raising over $1,000; she used those funds to purchase the bus for families who didn’t have other means of transportation.

“I am overwhelmed… I am just happy,” said Hubbard after Thursday’s event. ​“New Haven has a bad stigma,” she said, but ​“there wasn’t one argument, one fight. It was everybody communicating with each other, laughing, playing. That’s how you get back to the city being a city.”

“Some kids, this was their first time going to Quassy,” Hubbard added. ​“It touched me, because they were like, ​‘When can we come back?’”

Indeed, Hubbard said she was able to sign a contract renting out the park on Juneteenth of next year — ​“whether or not I am the alder,” though she is running for the Ward 3 seat again.

Having the event on Juneteenth, the national holiday commemorating African American emancipation, was important to Hubbard. ​“It was my way of us celebrating our freedom day, our independence day,” she said. ​“When I was talking to some of the kids, I was explaining to them why it was important. They really didn’t know.”

The attendees included families from all over the city, Hubbard said.

Some kids, like RJ, had never been to the amusement park before.

Others had, like RJ’s 9‑year-old sister Lyric. 

Lyric, in fact, had been to the park on a school field trip less than two weeks prior.

Was it too much Quassy for a ten-day span?

“I don’t think it was enough Quassy’s,” Lyric declared.

Her number one favorite part was the blue and purple slide, she said. Her second favorite was — well, ​“It was called something… but I’m gonna call it The Death Drop,” she said, miming how the ride swung downwards. ​“I screamed at the top of my lungs.”

She was ready to go home, drink some cold water, and finish the burger and fries she’d wrapped in tinfoil to save for later.

The water slides and the feast for lunch were a highlight for many kids on Thursday. Also mentioned were ​“the spinny thing,” according to 12-year-old Nehemiah; ​“the after bus” (driving home with friends), according to 13-year-old Miasia; and ​“the splash pad,” according to 6‑year-old Melody.

“I think it was pretty cool,” said 8‑year-old Mulani, who said her favorite part of the day was the beach. 

She said that Thursday was her first time at Quassy. ​“I like it so much,” she said, expressing excitement that ​“Ms. Angel said we could come back next year!”

Hubbard said the event was inspired by her mom, Mary Ogman (also known as Honey Ma), who would often organize neighborhood trips to Six Flags (known then as Riverside) and the Connecticut Hall of Fame. ​“I took that initiative from my mom… because it’s in me,” said Hubbard. ​“A lot of the families, they don’t have transportation. And we made this trip affordable.”

She hopes to one day bring families to the Bronx Zoo and Mystic Aquarium.

“Hopefully,” she added, ​“this will be a new tradition for New Haven.”