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CARLISLE — A Jonesville native and member of the WSPA Weather Team will serve as Grand Marshal for the Carlisle Christmas Parade this afternoon.

Mayor Mary Ferguson-Glenn announced Friday that Malachi Rodgers, meteorologist for 7 on Your Side Daybreak and Noon, will be grand marshal for the parade which begins at 2 p.m. today. She said the town is fortunate to have Rodgers as grand marshal, describing him as a role model for the community’s youth.

“I look at him as a role model for our young people,” Ferguson-Glenn said. “He is someone the kids can look up to and inspire them to stay in school. He’s an example of what you can accomplish if you stay in school, get an education and apply yourself.”

According to his WSPA biography, Rodgers grew up in Jonesville and was a standout at Jonesville High School where he was class salutatorian, student body president, and varsity basketball team captain. Rodgers earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Furman University where he also work as an admissions counselor after graduation.

He graduated from the Broadcast Meteorology program at Mississippi State University. Rodgers is a member of the American Meteorological Society and earned his seal from the organization.

His television career began in Columbia where Rodgers work as a weather anchor, news anchor, and reporter for WIS-TV, WOLO, and WACH before moving to FOX Charlotte. In 2007, Rodgers began working at an NBC station in Orlando, Fla., and remained there until this year when he joined the staff at WSPA.

The lineup for the parade will be at 1 p.m. and the parade itself begin at 2 p.m. It will travel down King-Kennedy Highway and then onto Fish Dam Avenue.

The parade will be followed by an open house at the Carlisle Town Hall where refreshments will be served.