MLK celebrations coming this weekend
Several events are coming up this weekend and at the start of the coming week to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day, including the annual march down Main Street in Cedartown and a nighttime celebration at the Cedartown Performing Arts Center.
Opening events for the weekend celebration kick off on Thursday at the Youth Working Together for a “Speedy” Awareness (YWTSA) start a youth and adult book fair in Cedartown.
From 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. starting on Thursday and continuing on Friday and Saturday, the YWTSA will be sponsoring a Free Book Fair for adults, high school and elementary age youth at Last Minute Convenience Store located at 411 East Gibson Street in Cedartown.
Free books include but not limited to Gardening, Counseling, Fairy Tales, Educational, Religion, Animal Care, Magazines, Cooking, Dieting, Novels, History, Fitness, and more.
The festivities get underway celebrating King this weekend on Saturday morning with the
annual Polk County Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, to be held at Ledbetter Hall at Cedar Lake Christian Center, 1890 Rome Highway, Cedartown. It’s set to start at 9 a.m., and tickets are $10.
Anyone interested in attending can still purchase tickets ahead of the breakfast by calling either Jennifer Hudson at 706-346-5494, Pastor DC at 678-471-6420, Lynda Kelley Dave at 770-375-0144, Forrest McCombs Sr. at 770-546-9199 or Minister Donnarae Bradley at 706-238-2457.
On Sunday, the YWTSA continues their King celebrations with their annual Youth Infusion celebration.
Sunday’s celebrations get underway at 4 p.m., and features keynote speaker Apostle Trixie Morgan of Rockmart, author of the book “Everyday Prayer for Everyday People.”
She’ll be joined by State Rep. Trey Kelley along with Cedartown City Commissioners who will read from the annual proclamation passed in December, as well as the annual Trailblazer award.
This year, the YWTSA is honoring Cedartown native Frank Kenneth Jones, who operates F.K. Jones Funeral Home in Rome.
The mistresses of ceremony are Coy Frasier and Kayla Ragland. Youth participants include Ballet Ritmo Latino Dance Group, Drummer Zane Pasley and soloist Dontavious Harris. The theme this year is “Discover to Recover the Dream!”
YWTSA is also asking everyone to bring canned food and old coats to help with their annual drive to the church, located at 321 MLK, Jr. Blvd. in Cedartown.
On Monday afternoon, organizers are asking people to join in the 14th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Walk and Celebration, which gets underway at 1:30 p.m.
The walk begins at the corner of Thompson and Rock streets and continues down Main Street to the front of Polk County Courthouse No. 2.
New Bethel Baptist Church’s pastor Rev. Edward Houston will be speaking at a rally following the walk in front of the courthouse, and guests are invited to return to the Turner Street Center for hot chili to be served afterward.
The annual walk and celebration is Sponsored by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Organization of Cedartown, founded by Letitia Morgan and headed up by executive director, Bernard Morgan.
The celebrations during the weekend will conclude on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019 with the 30th Annual Martin Luther Jr. Celebration at the Cedartown Civic Auditorium starting at 6 p.m.
The speakers will be Pastor Blake Dodd, Youngs Grove Baptist Church of Cedartown and Elder Tony Davis of Glad Tidings Church of God In Christ in Cedartown. This celebration is free to the public.
The theme for the 2019 celebration is “United We Stand.”