Several events taking place in Covington this weekend will affect traffic, including the square being closed to cars Saturday evening and other roads having temporary interruptions and congestion.

Former Covington city councilman Charles Wilborn’s visitation is Friday afternoon and evening, while Saturday is packed with a bike ride beginning in the morning, Wilborn’s funeral at noon, and the Community on Our Knees prayer event on the square from 7-8:30 p.m.

Remembering Wilborn

Wilborn’s visitation will take place from noon to 9 p.m. Friday at Lester Lackey & Sons Funeral Home, 1163 Reynolds St. in Covington. A funeral home employee said there will be no viewing as both the visitation and funeral will have a closed casket. Friends and family will be allowed to come by and sign the register book. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Wilborn’s church, LifePointe Church of the Nazarene at P.O. Box 1338, Covington, Ga. 30015.

Wilborn’s funeral will take place at noon Saturday at Covington First United Methodist Church, 1113 Conyers St. Friends and family will assemble at Wilborn’s home at 11 a.m. for the procession, the funeral home employee said.

As of late Thursday evening, details of where the procession would travel had not been finalized, and the procession may go around the square.

Covington Police Capt. Ken Malcom said the city has no limit on the number of cars that can be involved in a procession, and he said police expect Wilborn’s to be a long one.

The Newton County Sheriff’s Office normally leads a procession, with Covington Police handling traffic control along the route, Malcom said.

Covington Police will provide an honor guard at the beginning of the funeral service.

Covington First United Methodist has a large parking lot, and additional street parking is available on Church, Conyers and Monticello streets, said Serra Phillips, chair of the Main Street Covington program. Malcom said parking is allowed on most streets as long as there isn’t yellow curbing.

 Bike ride

The Covington Century Ride kicks off at 7 a.m. Saturday morning with an expected 1,500 bicyclists leaving Georgia Piedmont Technical College’s Bob Williams Parkway campus. Most of the riders will then make their way down City Pond Road and take a right onto Alcovy Road toward Covington and split off in different directions on Floyd Street.

Malcom said no roads will be blocked off for the event, but police may block traffic intermittently in the city. Police will also provide an escort for the start of the ride.

For more details on routes, go to covingtoncentury.com.

 Prayer event

Finally, the square will play host to a 90-minute community prayer event Saturday evening.

The square and surrounding streets will be blocked off from 6-8:30 p.m. for the Community on Our Knees prayer event, which is from 7- 8:30 p.m. There will be prayer events throughout the day on the square beginning at 9 a.m., but the streets will not be blocked off at that time.

For more details, go to CovNews.com and search for the event.