SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Riding their bikes to downtown Punta Gorda, Tajaris Beasley, 13, Troikari McClary, 13, Tyrese Beasley, 11, and TroiQuawn McClary, 9, wait patiently for their slot in this year’s the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, which took place Monday in downtown Punta Gorda.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Four-year-old TyQuenius Haynes rides with his father, Booker Haynes, standing in the back of a Thunderbird convertible.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Deacon James Beauford of First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Punta Gorda was chosen as the 2013 Grand Marshal for the MLK Parade.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Denay Cruz, 8, Yaneese Evans, 4, and Morrisa Deacon, 11, wave to the crowd from the Cooper Street float filled with children dressed in clothing representing different countries and cultures.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Krysandra Papatola, 8, and Anique Aponte, 8, had the privilege of carrying theTroop 90 sign while the rest of the Brownies and Daisy Scouts followed.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
The Charlotte High Silver King Marching Band was one of two bands that performed this year. The other was the Port Charlotte Middle School Band.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
The job of Sonia Waters of the Democratic Women’s Club throughout the parade was to throw beads to parade watchers.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Wearing her extra small Charlotte High Tarpon shirt, 18-month-old Maya Taylor watches the parade — in particular the CHS Silver King Marching Band — from her stroller on the corner of Taylor and Marion streets in downtown Punta Gorda.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
A float filled with children from the First Macedonia Church.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Abraham Lincoln, aka Bob Bacon with the Supervisor of Elections office.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Petra Bell joins her father, Judge Peter Bell, for a ride along the parade route.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Crossing Marion Street, a group from Baker Street Elementary.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
What parade in Punta Gorda is without the Conquistador boat with members tossing beads to the parade watchers?

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS
Morgan Briggs, 7, rides in the passenger seat of the 1940 firetruck that carried members of the Punta Gorda City Council.