King celebrated at Augusta parade

Derrick Hamp marveled at his surroundings Saturday during Augusta's annual parade in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“The atmosphere has been lovely,” said Hamp, who brought his 11-year-old son Dereon. “We’re down here celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King … this is where I should be.”

Hundreds lined the parade route, which began at Dyess Park Community Center and continued to Wrightsboro Road, Augusta Avenue, Laney-Walker Boulevard, 11th Street and D’Antignac Street.

What impressed Dena Howard the most was the sense of togetherness the event brought.

“We’ve got two sets of strangers, we’ve never met but we’re all talking like we’ve known each other for years,” she said as she watched the parade with her husband Demetrius, and daughter Dominique, 9.

Dena Howard was a little concerned about the weather beforehand but was happy she was able to share the moment with her daughter.

“They don’t teach enough about this in schools and I’d like for her to see all the different things, the different groups that we aren’t normally exposed to,” she said.

Demetress Howard was pleased with the response from the community. He said it was important to him to show his granddaughter, Aziya, 5, what is going on since this will be a big part her life going forward.

“This is a great response. It’s very important to come out and support Dr. Martin Luther King and what he did, what he achieved and the goals he set and also the ideals he left for us to follow, to keep the peace alive," he said.

As he closely guarded the bag of candy he accumulated from the parade, Dereon was able to reflect on King’s legacy, which he admitted he didn’t know much about before Saturday.

“I saw that he was a good person and he cared about all of the other people,” he said.