In keeping with tradition, the 19th Annual Reconciliation Week Celebration kicked off Tuesday with Lemonade Day.

In addition to a new location - The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Exper, The MAX - this year's event featured a Unity Sip Lemonade Competition among local businesses. Winners were:Sally Gulley's Desserts, first place; Loeb's, second place; and BankPlus, third place.

Other highlights included essay readings by 2026

Charlie J. Miller Scholarship recipients Kaley Hardy and William Hodges, a proclamation presentation from Meridian Mayor Percy Bland, and a presentation by charity honoree The Free Clinic. The day's observance concluded with deliveries of cookies and lemonade to local First Responders.

The weeklong observance continues Wednesday with the Charlie J. Miller Memorial Luncheon Fundraiser, which begins at 11:45 a.m., at First BapChurch. Guest speaker will be David Jones, who is a John Maxwell Certified Speaker.

Reconciliation Week commemorates the 23rd anniversary of the Lockheed-Martin workplace shooting that claimed six lives on July 8, 2003: the Rev. Charles J. Miller, DeLois Bailey, Sam Cockrell, Mickey Fitzgerald, Lynette McCall and Thomas Willis.