THE FUTURE: Children, parents, caregivers and child advocates took to the streets of downtown Washington Friday for the Week of the Young Child parade before heading back to Festival Park and playing into the afternoon. Play stations set up to engage children’s hands and minds entertained children from across Beaufort and Hyde counties. The yearly event is designed to bring awareness to the importance of engaging children physically and mentally in the most critical learning phase of their lives: from age zero to age five. Many of the children wore blue Week of the Young Child T-shirts promoting early childhood education awareness. (Photos by Vail Stewart Rumley)