Community Remembers Life Of Martin Luther King Jr.
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
WINONA LAKE – Hundreds of Kosciusko County residents and government leaders gathered Monday to honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Committee to Commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. held its 26th annual ceremony, titled “The Power Of One,” at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College. Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Excellence and Community Service Awards were presented to recognize two minority students for supporting King’s legacy. Dr. Craig Hintz, Warsaw Community Schools superintendent, presented the awards to the students’ mothers as the students were unable to attend the ceremony. Each recipient received a $1,000 cash award and a plaque. The awards went to Daniel Luna and Jennifer Walker-Crawford, both Warsaw Community High School 2013 graduates. Luna’s mother, Adrianna Luna, and Walker-Crawford’s mother, Beth Anderson, accepted the awards on behalf of their children. They each read letters from their children. “Receiving this award in the name of Martin Luther King Jr. is truly an honor. His life and legacy both truly mean a great deal to me,” Anderson read. Daniel’s letter read, in part, “Because of Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for equality I feel very fortunate to be one of 15 and the only Hispanic student in our community to be attending Purdue University as a pre-med major.” A freshman at Purdue University, Daniel’s goal is to obtain a major in biology and minor in psychology and to become a pediatrician. He said he plans to take the MCAT to assure a spot in medical school. Being bilingual, he also plans to help the growing Hispanic community. He said his mother is the most influential person in his life. Coming from an Hispanic family of three siblings, his mother worked herself to become a first-generation college student. He said like his mother, he strives to do his best. Walker-Crawford is a freshman at Kentucky Wesleyan College studying business and accounting. She said the person who has been most influential in her life is her grandfather. Her grandfather played basketball at Iowa state and was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame there. He also furthered his basketball career playing professionally in the first African-American league. Also during the ceremony, John Lowe III, Committee president, announced Joe Banks, co-founder of the committee, received the Legacy Award. The award recognized Banks for starting the Committee with Lynn Pulliam 26 years ago as well as the program each year. Don Roulo, CEO of Life Quest, was the featured speaker. He is a career and business coach and co-owns a catering and cake business, The Cake Lady, with his wife Peggy. Roulo’s speech was titled “The Butterfly Effect” and addressed the topic of how the community can focus on impacting the lives of others as their lives have been by King. Roulo said King had mentors such as Dr. Benjamin Mays, then professor of Morehouse University, and Ghandi. “I believe he understood the butterfly effect. He knew through his life he was changing others and encouraging them to carry on,” he said. Roulo said the heart of King’s message was civil rights. “When men made obstacles that would stop anyone no matter what color they were, all he wanted to do was level the playing field and remove some of those obstacles from people’s lives so they weren’t stopped from achieving their God-given destiny to make a difference in this world,” Roulo said. Dr. Bill Katip, Grace College president, spoke about the life of King. Katip said it took a strong leader, a person who believed in peace and justice to win more freedom for all Americans and that man was King. “Between 1955 and 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. helped change America. He brought to the world’s attention how unfairly blacks were treated. He had the help of millions of Americans, but his strong leadership and unprecedented power of speech gave people the faith and courage to keep working peacefully even when others did not,” Katip said. Tiler Reese, Grace College student body chaplain, recited the speech “Where Do We Go From Here” that was given by King. Warsaw Community Schools orchestra performed under the direction of Carolyn Stalcup, orchestra director.
