Marching bands from Charleston High School and North Panola High School in Sardis are scheduled to participate in Charleston’s 17th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade Monday, Jan. 20.
Also set to show up and show out is Satin Diamonds dance troupe from Sardis.
The parade, whose theme is “Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve,” is scheduled to get underway at noon.
Lineup for the parade will begin an hour earlier, at 11 a.m., on Walnut Street behind Charleston City Hall.
The procession will make its way onto South Market St. and then Dr. T.T. Lewis Circle at Tallahatchie General Hospital, eventually turning east onto Main Street, rounding the south side of the Tallahatchie County Courthouse and venturing onto Martin Luther King Drive before reaching its final destination, New Town Missionary Baptist Church. There, the North Panola band will perform for those assembled.
Carolyn Johnson, an organizer of the event, sponsored by a local committee, said no memorial program is planned at New Town church.
Gwen Dailey will be the parade’s grand marshal.
“Churches, clubs, groups, organizations and anyone else that would like to participate in the parade are welcome,” said Johnson.
Entry in the parade is free, and those who take part are asked to display a sign or banner honoring Dr. King.
For information, contact Johnson at 662-647-1346 or Lillie Smith at 662-625-2055.
The Jan. 20 festivities, and similarly styled celebrations across the United States, are a part of the federal holiday begun in 1986 to observe King’s birthday each year on the third Monday of January.
King, who championed social reform during the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. He was 39 years old. The Lorraine is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum.
