A parade down Main Street today will highlight Statesboro's observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday and President Barack Obama and his family will be among those around the country who will honor the legacy of slain civil rights leader.
      Statesboro's annual event begins downtown at 2 p.m. and features, floats, marching bands and big crowds.
      The Obamas plan to participate Monday in a community service project in Washington to honor King's memory.
Monday also marks the first King holiday where visitors can celebrate King at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which was dedicated last year.
      The new memorial, which opened in August, celebrates the ideals King espoused. Quotations from his speeches and writings conjure memories of his message, and a 30-foot-tall sculpture depicts King emerging as a "stone of hope" from a "mountain of despair," a design inspired by a line of his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.