Parade

The 11th annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention celebrates the African American experience in comic books Friday and Saturday. The convention will offer an awards ceremony, film screenings, youth workshops, a parade, a comic-book marketplace, and other events at the African American Museum in Philadelphia and the Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia. Convention activities begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the museum, with a free reception and ceremonies for the Pioneer and Glyph comic awards.

Six hundred and thirty children will be the feature attraction in Monday's Center City parade preceding the dedication of the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Penn's Landing. The children - 315 from public schools and 315 from parochial schools - each will carry the name of the 630 Philadelphia servicemen killed in the Vietnam war. More than 5,000 persons, representing more than 75 agencies, are expected to march in the parade, according to Ed Scott, secretary of the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans and a coordinator of the march.

Crowds lined Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Chestnut Street yesterday to watch the Puerto Rican Week Festival parade. The parade, which started at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and proceeded to Independence Hall, wrapped up the festival.

Even paraders need a rest. Pet owners and their pets did just that July 11 at Charlestown Nature Center. The pets and owners had gathered for the sixth annual pet parade.

Marching bands, horse soldiers, Army tanks and costumed dancers highlighted yesterday's Pulaski Day parade in honor of Revolutionary War hero Gen. Casimir Pulaski. Tourists who were locked out of the Liberty Bell pavilion and Independence Hall because of the U.S. budget impasse joined thousands of other parade watchers for the colorful spectacle. The parade marked the 10th anniversary of Solidarity and was dedicated to Polish presidential candidate Lech Walesa.

Bristol Borough's Christmas parade hit the streets Saturday for the first time since 1988. The tradition had been stalled after merchants complained that the parade cut into time that holiday shoppers could spend in their stores and disagreements broke out about who would portray Santa. This year the parade was moved to Farragut Avenue and Pond Street instead of the business district on Mill Street. And spectators lined its route.

Polish-Americans yesterday celebrated Pulaski Day with a parade in Center City and ceremonies later at Independence Square. The day's program began with a memorial Mass at St. Hedwig Roman Catholic Church, 24th and Brown streets, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the General Casimir Pulaski memorial statue at the Art Museum quadrangle. Pulaski was a Revolutionary War hero. The parade featured military and ROTC units, police officers and firefighters.

The Veterans Committee of We the People 200 Inc., which had complained about disabled veterans' participation in the Sept. 17 bicentennial parade, has resolved its differences with parade planners, its chairman said yesterday. "The veterans are very happy," said Philip Rein, head of the veterans' group. The committee met Monday with Willard G. Rouse 3d, chairman of We the People 200 Inc. The committee and Rouse worked out an arrangement for some disabled veterans to ride in vehicles behind the war floats in the second, or "Preamble," section of the parade, said We the People spokesman Sam Rogers.

Maurice Watson of Boys' Latin and Constitution's Savon Goodman have been named to Parade magazine's 56th annual All-America boys' basketball team. Kahleah Copper, a high-scoring guard for Prep Charter, was named to Parade's All-America girls' basketball squad. Watson, a 5-foot-10 combination guard, netted 2,356 career points, the seventh-best all-time mark in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Last season, the Boston University recruit averaged 21.8 points and 7.5 assists in leading the Warriors to a 25-7 record and the PIAA Class AAA state semifinals.

Family Philadelphia on Parade at the Mann Center. Saturday is a day of performances, dance workshops, and other activities of the second annual Philadelphia on Parade at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, a free family arts festival presented by PNC Arts Alive. The celebration begins with a parade led by the 130-member marching band from the Girard Academic Music Program. The festival will offer five stages with more than 100 performers, including the Rock School for Dance Education, Sinfonia Youth Orchestra, Sharon Katz and the Peace Train, and the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble.

The 11th annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention celebrates the African American experience in comic books Friday and Saturday. The convention will offer an awards ceremony, film screenings, youth workshops, a parade, a comic-book marketplace, and other events at the African American Museum in Philadelphia and the Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia. Convention activities begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the museum, with a free reception and ceremonies for the Pioneer and Glyph comic awards.

MANCHESTER, England - In a city that's more used to a sea of red during title celebrations, it was blue confetti that fell over the streets of Manchester on Monday. About 100,000 fans packed the streets as Manchester City paraded the Premier League trophy through the city to celebrate its first English title in 44 years. Blue and white ticker-tape and streamers rained down on the team bus as City players showed off the trophy they had wrestled away from crosstown rival Manchester United in nailbiting fashion a day earlier.

MOSCOW - Speaking to thousands of soldiers at the annual Red Square military parade, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Wednesday that the country is a force for world security and that Russia will stand up for its positions. Putin's speech, two days after his inauguration for a third term in the Kremlin, came less than a week after the nation's military chief of staff warned that Russia would consider pre-emptive strikes, if a dispute with the United States over a Europe-based missile defense system worsens.

South Street Headhouse District celebrates Easter and welcomes the spring season on Sunday with its 81st Annual Easter Promenade from 1 to 3 p.m. The festivities start at Passyunk Avenue and South Street, and Philadelphia notables will be on hand to judge costume categories for individuals and families promenading in Easter attire. Local Philadelphia Mummers, Steve Ballock's Vaudevillian Jazz Troope, and artists from the Arts on South organization will be featured in the parade. Fox29 Good Day Philadelphia host Mike Jerrick will announce the winners.

Sunday's Albert J. Carino Boys' Basketball Club of South Jersey senior all-star game is not only one final chance for the participants to compete, but also another opportunity for them to get exposed to college coaches. The 3 p.m. game at Rutgers-Camden, which will come after the 1 p.m. grammar-school contest, will attract a number of interested college coaches. Many will be from Division II and III schools. At this time of year, many of the Division I schools are set with recruiting, but especially for Division III, this is an important time.

Revelry and the celebration of all things Irish were front and center at Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade in Bucks County, but this year's party also had a more serious purpose. The parade's theme, "Remembering Our History, Protect Our Future," was chosen as a way to raise awareness about Tay-Sachs disease, a deadly condition that progressively destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Irish Americans are at an increased risk of carrying the trait that can cause the disease.

Revelry and the celebration of all things Irish were front and center at Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade in Bucks County, but this year's party also had a more serious purpose. The parade's theme, "Remembering Our History, Protect Our Future," was chosen as a way to raise awareness about Tay-Sachs disease, a deadly condition that progressively destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Irish Americans are at an increased risk of carrying the trait which can cause the disease.

Police are advising motorists that a parade marking the move of the Philly Pops from 260 S. Broad Street to new offices at 1518 Walnut Street at noon today could disrupt traffic in the area. The parade will consist of about 50 people, including Peter Nero, musicians from the Philly Pops and a group of Mummers. Police there will intermittent closures on South Broad Street and on Walnut Street from about noon until 1 p.m.