Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
"Keeping the Dream Alive in Kosciusko County" was the focus of the ninth annual commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., held Monday at Center Lake Pavilion.
Approximately 140 participants at the luncheon were challenged to work for a community that resists bullies and seeks harmony in the areas of gender, race, nationality, culture and social standing.
The celebration featured Lynn Pulliam and Warsaw Mayor Jeff Plank as speakers; Amy Delp in a dramatization of a Christian confronting racial prejudice; and soloist Kim Shade and pianist Becky David. It was hosted by Joseph Banks, chairman of the Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Inc.
Mothers and preschoolers from First Presbyterian Church led the participants in the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Rev. Robert Redden offered the invocation and meal blessing.
Keeping with tradition, everyone sand "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the Negro National Anthem by James Walden Johnson. At the closing, everyone joined hands and sang "We Shall Overcome."
Participants received "Dream Challenge" cards to prompt prayer, outreach, family and church help for the needy and for inclusion of different races and cultures. They were challenged also to discourage jokes or insults to gender, race, nationality or culture.
