Several events are planned this month in Hunt County to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Greenville Dr. Martin Luther King Day Parade is scheduled for Monday, January 16, in partnership with the Greenville Ministerial Alliance, the Greenville chapter of the NAACP, and the Greenville Corporation for Cultural Diversity, according to Rev. Samuel Dew, pastor of Mount Olive Monastery. Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville.
“We’ll meet at 10 a.m. to line up at Bethlehem Baptist Church on the side of Washington Street,” Dew said. “We’ll start the parade at 11 a.m., drive around the Farmer’s Market, and end the parade at the Bethlehem Baptist Church on Lee Street.”
At noon at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, 4707 Washington St.
“During this service, we will honor the memory of our Grand Marshal Betty Franklin and Junior Grand Marshal Cheston Henry,” Dew said. The theme is the connection of generations.
Dew said that the best floats in the parade would be awarded. The prize for first place is $100, second place $50, and third place $25.
“Floats are welcome as long as they’re not offensive,” Dew said.
The 13th Annual MLK Awards, sponsored by the Hunt County African American Leadership Conference, is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, January 15 at Mount Moriah Baptist Church, 202 Champion Lane in Commerce.
The keynote speaker for the free event will be Dr. Cephas Archie, vice president of integration at Texas A&M University.
The 2023 Laureates are Dvala Thompson, Dr. Dimitra Smith, Dr. Martha Mercado-Sierra, Miaya Love, Sarah Stillwell, James Wilkins, Amanda St. Germain-Ser, Samantha Culbertson, Pastor C.P. Courtney, Damien Franklin, Keyston Champion, Chiquita Wilburn. , Pastor Roy Gaffney, Christian Henry, Valerie Reina, Madiha Ashraf, Dr. James Devlin, Sejal Bhasin, Deborah Parra, Lance Neal, Denise Neal, Tony Henry, Stan McKee, Jeremy Dicken, Wyman Williams, Gerald Woodberry, Lisa Flores Tisdale, Anthony Rigueroa, Elaine Hathaway, Latown White Brown, Project 1619, Tori Johnson, Sharri Sheets, Christian Standifer, Carlondra Smith, Rocío Lopez, Randy Starks, Lataria “Birdie” Harris, Garon Bergin, Jason Stephenson, Sarah Alderman and John Walker
The Texas A&M University Cross-Cultural Engagement and Leadership Group is also hosting a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration beginning at noon on January 16 at Rayburn Student Center, Conference Room A&B, 2200 W. Neal St.
For more information, please contact Jay Guillory at 903-468-3042 or email [email protected].
King, leader of the civil rights movement and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. Since 1986, the third Monday in January has been celebrated as a federal holiday in honor of King.
For more than a decade, the stretch of Interstate 30 through Greenville has been named after King.
In May 2010, signs were unveiled at both ends of the Greenville city limits officially renaming a section of the Interstate as the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway.
