Annual walk set to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King
“Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday, Jan. 18, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, and the occasion will be observed in Big Spring with the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemorative Walk.
“We're going to start at the corner of Highway 87 and MLK, right across from Subway,” said event organizer Ida Hambrick. “Nalley-Pickle and Welch Funeral Home has allowed us to park on their back side, where it does not interfere with their business. Every year, they're very generous. We will start right there on that corner at 6 p.m. The Police Department has been notified and the Fire Department, so you'll see police cars and fire engines following the entire procession.”
Hambrick added that several streets along the route will be blocked off for the safety of the procession.
“For several years now, people just drive, plow right through parades and things like that,” she said. “I don't know why they do that, but they have blocked off those small streets going in and out.”
Hambrick said the procession will continue down the entire length of Martin Luther King Boulevard, past Scenic Mountain Medical Center, to FM 700.
“We will walk all the way up to 700 right past the hospital,” she said, noting that a short program will ensue at the intersection of MLK and FM 700. “That is where we will convene. You know, words of encouragement, and different city officials will just have something short to say. Then it will end in words of encouragement and prayer, and we will be released from that corner in front of the apartment buildings.”
Hambrick said the event was originally started by Mount Bethel Baptist Church several years ago.
“We've done that for years,” she said. “It was long before I