From the kick off of the Warren County Children’s Shelter Penny Harvest to finding love in the most unexpected places, Vicksburg had many positive happenings to celebrate this week.

Jamie Hill, 57, and Marvin Howard, 88, both residents of Shady Lawn Health and Rehabilitation off Porters Chapel Road tied the knot on Friday.

The couple met about a year ago and have dated ever since, Howard said.

A few months later Howard proposed to Hill, but she said she wanted to wait three to six more months before giving an answer.

And like clockwork, Howard asked again and three months later, she accepted.

After talking with the social workers and the nursing home administration, everyone gave their seal of approval of the marriage, and at 2 p.m. the Rev. Phillip Burks of Belmont M.B. Church in Utica performed the nuptials.

Later on Friday, Vicksburg High School helped kicked off the 25th Annual Warren County Children’s Shelter Penny Harvest fundraiser with a kickball game between teachers of the school.

In addition to the sporting event, the school’s art teachers and the honors art students also showed off the piggy bank mascot costumes they designed. Mascots are scheduled to visit all the local schools to encourage contributing to the children’s shelter for the duration of the fundraiser, which will run through Dec. 16.

“This year, we are embracing our Penny Harvest in a more festive manner,” program director of the Warren County Children’s Shelter Cindy McCarley said. “Thanks to Dr. Tameka Henderson, assistant principal at Vicksburg High School, and the creative genius and hard work of the VHS art teachers and the honors art students, we are introducing the Penny Harvest mascots.”

More positives this week in Vicksburg:

• On Wednesday, the Kansas City Southern U.S. Holiday Express train stopped in Vicksburg. The train brings Santa and his helpers to stops on the company’s U.S. rail network and guests get to spend a moment with Santa and take a small tour through three of the six train cars.

• The newly renovated pavilion at City Park celebrated its reopening Thursday night.

The event kicked off with music, health screenings, food and fitness equipment for the community to enjoy under the new awning and bright lights on the updated pavilion.

“It’s a major improvement from what it was,” Alderman Willis Thompson said. “We think our constituents deserve the best, and it’s a step in the right direction to do something positive in the city.”