About 200 people gathered in the early morning hours for the seventh annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, held by the Rockdale Branch NAACP and the Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce at the Longhorn Steakhouse this morning.
Keynote speaker Oz Nesbitt, Post 1 County Commissioner, acknowleged that many of the things King spoke about had come to pass.
He extolled the audience to "lay aside petty-differences, negative emotions and join hands together to tear down walls and barriers that serve only to separate us from unlimited potential and unlimited possibilities."
Church Groups
Pastor Eric Lee was the keynote speaker at the fourth annual MLK celebrating, "Celebrating the Fulfillment of a Dream, an ecumenical service that brought together members of St. Pius X Catholic Church, Epiphany Lutheran, St. Simon's Episcopal Church and Springfield Baptist on Jan. 17. Lee reminded congregants that King's message was one of love and that they might be one day using the policies they opposed.
Nehemiah Empowerment Group Ministries visited the Westbury Health and Rehabilitation Center on Jan. 18 to deliver Dr. King's famous "Mountaintop" speech. Nehemiah Senior pastor Rev. Smith delivered the speech to residents.
Schools
Sims Elementary School held their annual Community Service Day on Jan. 18 with faculty, parents, students and community members volunteering to assist with school beautification projects.
A springboard for this year’s event was a $3,000 Home Depot gift card which was awarded by a grant sponsored by the Home Depot USA Inc. The monetary donation, along with time and services donated by local volunteers, was used to repair the cafeteria in Sims school colors, to apply mulch to playgrounds and to buy new pavers for walkways. Librarian Mandy Anderson rakes fresh mulch on the playground.
