Experience a centennial celebration, Walker-style

It seems like 15 years ago, hardly anyone in Baton Rouge knew what or where the Livingston Parish town of Walker was. That has vastly changed as development spread farther east from Denham Springs, where families flocked for bigger real estate tracts and better public schools. Now a city, Walker has a history that reaches back to almost 1825, when Michael Milton and his wife Martha Clark blazed a trail from the Amite River to where Walker is now. The town, incorporated July 9, 1909, now hosts a centennial celebration this weekend that kicks off Thursday with a 6:30 p.m. parade at Walker Elementary, then a fair with live music by Clay Newsom & the Quarter Moon Band. All day Friday and Saturday at Walker High School, there will be crafts, food, a petting zoo, classic cars, live entertainment and fireworks. Entry fee Friday is $10 and benefits the high school.