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The Annual Durham, NC  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade has been named One of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society. The Parade was nominated by the Durham Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Founded in 1983, the Southeast Tourism Society is dedicated to the promotion and development of tourism to its member states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The membership includes state travel offices, attractions, hotels, motels, resorts, convention and visitors bureaus, airlines, car rental agencies, newspapers, magazines and other travel-related organizations.

The Parade is organized and produced by Phyllis Coley, President of Another Coley Event. Now in its fifth year, Coley says, “the Annual Durham Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade is a multi-cultural, wholesome family-oriented event that affords the community an opportunity to reflect upon the past while seeking hope, determination and opportunity to act upon the promise of the future. We cannot educate or inform unless we can get you there and the parade does that.”

According to the Southeast Tourism Society, the Annual Durham Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Parade was selected because in “celebrating the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this parade includes educational programs, marching bands, and more in a city rich in civil rights history.

The theme is of this year’s Parade is "Rediscovering Lost Values". During the trip to Michigan that included an address to the Lansing NAACP and a sermon at his uncle's church, Dr. King delivered the sermon, "Rediscovering Lost Values" on February 28, 1954 at Detroit's Second Baptist Church. In this sermon King declares, "If we are to go forward, if we are to make this a better world in which to live, we''ve got to go back. We''ve got to rediscover these precious values that we''ve left behind."   

Coley says, “It is requested but not mandatory that all entries - marching bands, floats, step and drill teams, motorcycles, horses, dancers, cars, etc. - should have a sign with a value that if rediscovered would make the world a better place. It is our hope that this will generate dialogue about Dr. King and values.”

The 5th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade will be held on Saturday, January 13th at 12 noon. The Parade route will start at Heritage Square Shopping Center and proceed down Fayetteville Street. Grand Marshal is R. Kelly Bryant.

Another Coley Event (ACE), an event-planning firm located in Durham, specializes in the professional planning of festivals, parades, conferences, and conventions and is the publisher of Spectacular Magazine.

For more info: www.durhammlkparade.com or call 919-680-0465.