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Working to keep the dream alive

The spirit, legacy and dreams of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. remain alive in our area and will be on display again this holiday weekend.

Pupils, parents, business leaders, civic and community leaders, senior citizens and others from across the Tri-State Area will have the chance to come together and remember King’s visions of equality, racial justice and nonviolent approach to bringing about social change.

There are many events planned by the Steubenville Martin Luther Jr. Association, beginning Saturday, with the MLK Youth and Children’s Day. Scheduled to run between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. at the Sycamore Youth Center at 301 N. Fourth St. in Steubenville, the event will feature keynote speaker Angelita Forte at 10:30 a.m. The morning will include a student service project, a pancake breakfast and performances by hip-hop artists MoTruth, Elisha Fletcher and CBE 180; the Kingdom Kids Youth Choir and the Mighty Disciples Mime Team, featuring the all-male mime team from Mount Zion Baptist Church.

On Sunday, the 47th-annual ecumenical service will be held at 6 p.m. at Mount Carmel Community Baptist Church at 708 N. Fifth St. in Steubenville. The Rev. John C. Welch, senior pastor of Sixth Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, will be the guest speaker for the event.

On Monday, the focus shifts to the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center at 905 Market St. in Steubenville. There, the Rev. Vaughn Foster, pastor of First United Presbyterian Church of Mingo Junction, will offer a reflection of King’s life and accomplishments beginning at 9 a.m.

MLK association members have been busy putting final touches on their events and placing banners that celebrate the life of King, who was born in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929. Those banners can be seen at several intersections around the area.

All of the local events are built around the local theme of Keep the Dream Alive and the national theme of Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice and Democracy in the spirit of Nonviolence 365. Working to make the remembrance possible are members of the MLK association. Its board includes President Jim Baber, Vice President Paul Rue, Treasurer Cydnie Howard and Secretary Carol Simmons. Joining Simmons as co-chair of publicity is the Rev. Benjamin Calvert II. Their dedication to ensuring King’s message is passed to new generations can be seen in the quality of the events, which are free and open to the public. Bobbyjon Bauman, director of the Sycamore Center, also plays an integral role in the commemoration.

With the weather forecast calling for frigid temperatures on Monday, the annual walk held in King’s memory in Weirton has been canceled, according to Earlean Jones, president of the Dunbar Recreation Center. Area residents will be able to reflect on King’s legacy by attending the production of “The Battle for MLK Day,” which will be performed at the center by members of the Ohio Valley Cloak and Dagger Company. The play, which will be performed in the style of reader’s theater, offers a dramatization of the obstacles faced by the supporters of the federal holiday in King’s honor.

Doors to the center will open at noon Monday, with the presentation scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. A luncheon will follow, center officials said.

Each year since 1983, the third Monday in January has been recognized as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s a chance to reflect and recognize his many contributions.

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