VALDOSTA – Barack Obama Boulevard officially becomes a reality Saturday.  

Prior to the Oct. 30 unveiling of Barack Obama Boulevard, the ceremony planning committee met a final time to complete the itinerary. 

The City of Valdosta started replacing Forrest Street signs with Barack Obama Boulevard signs Monday, Oct. 25, expecting to finish by Saturday, Oct. 30.

City Engineer Patrick Collins said the city is leaving one sign bagged for the unveiling.

The name change comes after a few years of efforts. Organizers claimed Forrest Street was named for Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan founder. Others claimed the street was named for a Black man more than a century ago.

Petitions to change the street name were filed then refiled. City leaders reviewed policies for changing street names. Different groups spearheaded the effort to rename the street at different times. 

Finally, Valdosta City Council voted to change Forrest Street to Barack Obama Boulevard July 22; however, the official name change was set to occur 90 days from that date.

David Jonathan “D.J.” Davis and the Action Sociology Anthropology Club at Valdosta State University were instrumental in the name change.

Davis said the name change is exciting but added a reminder of Mother Teresa’s words: “Love brings unity and unity brings peace.” 

Those words will be the focus of the ceremony and the focus of the speakers. 

The lineup of speakers includes Mayor Scott James Matheson, state Rep. Dexter Sharper, Bishop Wade McCrae, Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, Gerald Rose, Davis and some Valdosta City Council members.

Jackson will lead the invocation.

District 2 Councilwoman Sandra Tooley will be a speaker; she and District 1 Councilwoman Vivian Miller-Cody had a part behind the scenes of the celebration.

She hasn’t written her speech yet but said she knows how she wants it to go.

“I was just going to talk about unity and changing, and how we have to adjust and change to keep going forward,” she said.

“If we stay stagnant, we’re not going to go anywhere as a city,” Davis said.

The celebration ceremony is scheduled from 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30, Valdosta Fine Arts Building, 3101 N. Forrest St. Nick “Big Nick” Harden will be the host.

The event includes a car show, food trucks, vendors and a kids zone featuring face painting, pumpkin carving and painting, bounce houses, pinata stuffing, a cupcake walk with prizes.

In addition to speakers, there will be award presentations, live music and choir performances.