The Martin Luther King Celebration Committee has announced its schedule of events designed to honor the memory of Dr. King and promote the equality, peace and brotherhood that he worked to achieve.
Committee co-chairs the Rev. Danny Mason, pastor of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and Jamey Brogan, Wheeling University director of Campus Ministry, Mission and Identity, said the events span nine days beginning Sunday, Jan. 12. They invite the community to attend the events. All are free, but a $5 donation is suggested for the dinner that follows the MLK March on Sunday, Jan. 19.
The Rev. Mason said that the MLK observation continues to be relevant more than 50 years after Dr. King’s death. Racism and religious persecution continue today.
“It’s important that we keep the dream alive,” he said. “The dream has seemed to die down recently, and we need to reactivate Dr. King’s purpose.”
This year’s events include:
Sunday, Jan. 12
• 6 p.m. — “A Celebration of Music, Liberty & Knowledge,” featuring Ezra & the Reletivs, Wheeling University Troy Theater
Wednesday, Jan. 15 (Dr. King’s birthday)
• 6:30 p.m. — Upper Ohio Valley Ministerial Alliance Prayer Service, Fourth Street United Methodist Church (UMC), 1060 Chapline St., Wheeling. The preacher will be Rev. James M. Agnew, pastor of the Tree of Life Apostolic Church; a Community Choir will perform.
Sunday, Jan. 19
• 2 p.m. — MLK March, beginning at the Windmill, 470 Stone Blvd., Wheeling (at the top of Wheeling Hill). Park by the Windmill or at Fourth Street UMC, 1060 Chapline St. Buses will take marchers to the top of the hill
• 3 p.m. — Interfaith Prayer Service, Fourth Street UMC, 1060 Chapline St.
• 4 p.m. — Community Banquet, YWCA Wheeling, 1100 Chapline St.; Keynote speaker is Chief Ivin B. Lee, West Virginia’s first African American female police chief. The Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks Award winners will be honored.
Monday, Jan. 20
• 9 a.m. — Children’s Breakfast, YWCA Wheeling, 1100 Chapline St.
• 9:30 p.m. — Local MLK winners award presentations, YWCA Wheeling
• 10:30 a.m. — Special children’s programming (5- to 12-year-olds) in honor of Dr. King
The MLK celebration events are planned and presented by a committee of clergy and lay volunteers representing dozens of houses of worship. Sponsor organizations include the Upper Ohio Valley Ministerial Alliance, Wheeling University, Fourth Street United Methodist Church, New Life United Methodist Church, Temple Shalom, Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church, The Windmill, the Woman’s Club of Wheeling and YWCA Wheeling.
For more information, call Jamey Brogan at 304-243-2168 or email jbrogan@wju.edu.
