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80th Annual Dunbar Easter Parade draws thousands; oldest living Dunbar grad is grand marshal

Daniesha Maycock leads the Dunbar High School Band's dancers down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard during the 80th Annual Dunbar Easter Parade on Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Fort Myers.
Amanda Inscore Whittamore
/
WGCU
Daniesha Maycock leads the Dunbar High School Band's dancers down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard during the 80th Annual Dunbar Easter Parade on Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Fort Myers.

Thousands of spectators lined the streets in Dunbar Sunday to watch the 80th Annual Dunbar Easter Parade.

This year’s Grand Marshal was Mrs. Haywood Lee Baskin, also known as Mrs. Pete.

At 100-years-old, Mrs. Baskin is the oldest living graduate of Dunbar High School.

Last year’s grand marshal, Tamara Joy Hunter, offered up her view on the parade’s milestone version:

“If you take a look around, all of the churches are here. All of the schools are represented. We have different types of majorettes. The bands are here from all over, and you just get to see black excellence all over the community all at once.”

80th Annual Dunbar Easter Parade

The parade has become a pivotal event for the Dunbar community.

Barbara Parker, another long-time Dunbar resident watching the parade summed up what the parade meant to her:

“The children are out. Elderly are out. Everybody's out, and it's a great thing.”

The parade is an annual tradition for many families in the Dunbar community and was started by Evelyn Sams Canady, a former educator at the Williams Academy, and Sara Richardson, in the 1940s.

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