Southside event, parade today

The 13th annual Southside Family Reunion parade, sermon and picnic will be held today at Harris-Johnson Park.

The Joseph H. Parks Memorial parade begins at 10 a.m. at 17th and South Market streets with former City Commissioner John P. Franklin as parade marshal. This year's theme is "Honoring our Ancestors and Heroes from Africa to America to Chattanooga."

The Rev. Billy Church, pastor of St. Elmo Missionary Baptist Church, will preach the reunion sermon at noon after which the family picnic will begin and end at 7 p.m.

Contact state Rep. JoAnne Favors at 624-5088 or Napoleon Williams at 400-0628 for T-shirts or for more information.

Youth Symposium set for Tuesday

A former drug dealer and ex-convict will be the speaker at the Chattanooga Youth Symposium scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Chauncey-Goode Auditorium at Tennessee Temple University.

Terrell Johnson is pastor of the Greater Fellowship Full Gospel Church in Bolivar, Tenn., and a member of the Tennessee Legislative Black Caucus Criminal Justice Panel.

The event is free and targets children 13 and up. The symposium is sponsored by Reach 1, Stop the Madness and the Legacy Campaign.