Silver Springs Reunion Club holds park day reunion

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A parade and community picnic were held Friday at Silver Springs Park as part of their annual reunion day.

Silver Springs was once the only public park that allowed black residents during the segregation period.

Visitors today said the purpose of the reunion is to celebrate family, the Ozarks and Springfield's black community.

"These people that are here today, they're all families. They've come from near and far," said Silver Springs Club president Leslie Hardin. "Some of them have traveled as far as California. Some just up the block."

Events are being held by the club all weekend like a dance, a car show, and a golf tournament.

For many, showing up to the reunion every year is a long-standing tradition.

Ozarks native Bria Hardin-Boyer says her family has been coming to this reunion for four generations.

"After I graduated high school, I moved away to Georgia and then New York, and I can't believe I'm back," said Hardin-Boyer. "It's the same thing that I remember when I was a little kid."