Martin Luther King Jr. Day was about "a day on" not "a day off" and volunteers throughout Newton County proved that mantra Monday.

Hands on Newton County partnered with several community organizations for a day of service, and plenty of citizens were there to lend a hand.

The event began at Newton High School, before spliting off to several locations. Included in the cleanup was local volunteers and students of Eastside and Newton High schools cleaning up a burial site widely believed to be a slave cemetery at Gaithers Plantation.

Among the locations were:

Newton Trails – Oxford Trail Cleanup

Newton Trails – Porterdale Trail Cleanup

Gaither Cemetery Cleanup

Path Project – prepare teaching materials

Little Free Libraries - Refurbish

Teen Event Planning – planning for event to educate teens about risky behaviors

Hard Labor Creek Trails- Trail building

Oxford College Organic Garden – prepare garden

Horsetime – Trail building

Fairview Elementary Book Project – label books