GALVESTON — Supporters of Galveston’s Juneteenth celebration are hoping to lure an important guest to open next year’s festivities: President-elect Barack Obama.

Sam Collins, a local businessman and community leader, first suggested inviting Obama to the island at the end of last year’s celebration, when the future president was still just a senator from Illinois.

But rather than drop the idea now that Obama has been elected president, Juneteenth organizers should pursue it, Collins said in an e-mail sent to city leaders on Monday.

Having Obama come to town would bring attention to Hurricane Ike recovery efforts, Collins said.

It would also lend support to Juneteenth advocates who have lobbied for years to get the Texas celebration recognized as a national holiday.

On June 19, 1865, Texas slaves first learned from Union soldiers that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years earlier.

Although the holiday was once celebrated almost exclusively in Texas and other southern states, it is now observed across the nation.

Supporters would like to see Juneteenth marked as a commemorative day, one that would not require a paid day off.

The president has the authority to make that proclamation, but President George W. Bush declined to do it this year, despite urging from both the U.S. House and Senate.

But Obama has been a supporter of Juneteenth, and a visit to Galveston might help make the national holiday a reality, Collins said.

If the city, its business community, the Galveston Historical Foundation and the Juneteenth committee agree to support inviting Obama to attend, Collins said he would like to expand the one-day celebration into a weekend event.