[slideshow_deploy id=’40204′]
Kenneth Armstrong photos
By: Erin Smith
While the temperatures were frigid, spirits were high for parade goers on Monday in Elizabethtown. Several celebrations are taking place today (Monday, Jan. 18) in the region to mark the celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In Elizabethtown, a parade was held in the downtown at 11 a.m. The parade had 107 entries that included horses, local businesses, a bevy of beauty queens, elected officials, dancers and baton twirlers and fire engines.
Children were delighted at the brightly colored floats and squealed with delight as they tussled each other in an attempt to outdo each other catching the candy that was tossed their way.
Folks young and old alike braved the cold and lined up along Broad and Poplar Streets to watch the spectacle and wave at friends and neighbors who were walking or riding on one of the many floats in the parade.
Other celebrations to mark the occasion included, a program in the Presbyterian Activities Center of the Elizabethtown Presbyterian Church by the Rev. Delton Farmer of the College Heights Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville. Farmer spoke on a “Life with Possibilities.”
In the region, on Tuesday, Angela Davis is set to speak at UNC-Wilmington as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. The event is free and will begin at 7 p.m. at Kenan Auditorium on the campus of UNC-Wilmington.
Todd McFadden, a UNCW instructor and director of the Upperman African American Cultural Center at UNC-Wilmington, told the Star News newspaper that all of the tickets for Davis’ event have been taken.
About Author
