OCEAN CITY – The weekend of Jan. 16-18 prompted a number of events and programs designed to reflect the spirit of service and volunteerism embodied in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The official day commemorating his Jan. 15 birthday, life and achievements is the Jan. 18 federal holiday.
Ocean City got a jump start to showcasing its respect for King’s work by holding its annual event Jan. 16. The ceremony took place in the high school auditorium and began with introductions by City Business Administrator James Mallon followed by a musical selection, “Lift Every Heart Voice and Sing” performed by St. Paul Baptist Church in Vineland.
City clergy blessed the program with a Scripture reading by the pastor of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church, Rev. Stephen Donat and invocation by Rev. Anna Livingston of Shiloh Baptist Church.
Ocean City organized the first celebration of King’s birthday in Cape May County 26 years ago. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began shortly after his assassination in 1968 with President Ronald Reagan making the holiday official by signing it into law in 1983. It was first observed three years later.
Some states resisted observing the holiday and it was not officially observed in all 50 states until 2000. Some states still continue to combine the holiday with other designations such as “Civil Rights Day” or “Human Rights Day.”
According to a statement from Ocean City, the municipality’s first Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration was organized by Rozelia Cobb of the intermediate school who was interested in having her students learn about King’s message of peace and non-violence.
Allie McEntee, Regan Fredericks and Robin Altman, students from the intermediate school who were winners in an essay contest focusing on King’s message of civil rights, read their work at the event.
In his greetings to the participants, Mayor Jay Gillian said, “Ocean City respects diversity and love of community and we fully understand Dr. King when he said, ‘We all came over on different ships to America, but we’re all in the same boat.’”
Senator Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) echoed Gillian’s message by noting “Let’s honor Dr. King by loving one another, taking care of one another and helping one another.”
The program concluded with a showing of King’s “I have a dream speech” which drew hundreds of thousands of participants to the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington D.C. Aug. 28, 1963 and a performance of “We Shall Overcome.”
After the program, members of Shiloh Baptist Church, founded in 1912, hosted their annual and traditional “soul food dinner” to the community featuring Southern culinary items such as fried chicken, candied sweet potatoes and corn bread.
To give tangible support to remembering King’s legacy, during the morning of Jan. 18 Ocean City held its annual “Day of Service” which it has organized since 2008.
Volunteers from throughout the island and from the mainland grouped together to engage in a city-wide clean-up movement.
The city provides all supplies for the clean-up and then invited all participants for refreshments after the initiative. These volunteers traditionally collect each year hundreds of trash bags filled with debris, litter and garbage collected from the beaches, bay and other byways.
The national Martin Luther King Day of Service was started by former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford among others with formal federal legislation signed by President Clinton in 1984.
The legislation challenges Americans to transform the King holiday into a day of citizen action volunteer service in honor of Dr. King.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.
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