Jewel Cowart Owens has been selected as the grand marshal of the 2021 Christmas in Pembroke Festival and Parade, scheduled for December 11.

Owens has lived in Pembroke since the age of 10, according to a press release. The daughter of Carlos and Lillie Mae Warren Cowart of Ellabell, Jewel attended Bryan County High School and graduated in 1951. She then went on to Armstrong College and Warren A Candler School of Nursing, where she graduated as a registered nurse.

After graduation, she returned to Pembroke and began working as a public health nurse for the Bulloch County Board of Health, where she remained for 10 years. She then began working for the Bryan County Board of Health, where she remained for 25 years, retiring in 1992.

In 1972, Owens was appointed to the newly formed Pembroke Hospital Authority Board. The establishment of this Authority and Board allowed the City of Pembroke to apply for a grant from the Department of Rural Health to create a medical facility in Pembroke so that the community would have access to rural health physicians. She continued to serve on the Hospital Authority Board until 2021.

Owens was also appointed to serve on the Bryan County Board of Health and continued to serve until July 2021.

The Christmas Market opens at 11 a.m. on Dec. 11, and the lighted Christmas Parade steps off at 5:30 p.m.