Mr. and Mrs. Tom Walden of Paducah will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Friendship Baptist Church in Lone Oak. All friends and relatives are invited. The couple request no gifts.

Mr. Walden and the former Nellie Sue Clayton were married June 9, 1962, at Chelsea Avenue Methodist Church in Memphis, Tenn., by the Rev. G.E. Clayton and the Rev. A.Z. Clayton. Their attendants were Elaine Clayton and Zolon Clayton Jr.

Mrs. Walden is a retired high school English teacher. She is the daughter of the late Rev. G.E. and Mildred Allcock Clayton.

Mr. Walden is vice president for academic affairs at Mid-Continent University and is a retired physics professor, having taught at Paducah Junior College, Ole Miss and Gulf Coast Community College. He is the son of the late Bob and Anna Robertson Walden.

Mr. and Mrs. Walden are also the co-owners and co-managers of the Clayton-Walden Apartments.

They have two sons: Clayton T. Walden of Ridgeland, Miss., and Alan K. Walden of Sanford, Fla.; and five grandchildren.