Story & Photos by Cheri Tishman
The City’s 24th Annual Martin Luther King, Junior celebration kicked off Friday, January 17 with a business luncheon at the Coral Springs Marriott at Heron Bay and continued with the evening festivities at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts. The theme for this year’s celebration was “Living the Dream through Service.”
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee did another outstanding job organizing the event. To a sold out crowd, the Abundant Life Christian Academy, directed by Stevyn McCaw, performed musical numbers at both the morning and evening events. The Dance Theatre Company, directed by Diane Elliott, performed at the evening event with several high energy routines. Devonne Rahming, the MLK Scholarship Winner, spoke about her experience in college and what the scholarship has meant to her. The highlight of the day was the keynote speech by Mr. Haygood.
Haygood has been a Washington Post journalist since 2002 and is more recently known for his front page story for the Post in 2008 about a longtime White House butler, Eugene Allen, the inspiration for the recently released movie, “The Butler.”
In his speech, Mr. Haygood told how he wanted to find someone who had worked inside the White House back when it seemed a black man couldn’t become president. He was searching for someone who had been there as the country changed, and who was a witness to history. Eugene Allen was that man. Being the best butler he could be, he moved up in the ranks and served for more than three decades in the White House. He even met Dr. King himself and witnessed the inauguration of President Obama. Mr. Allen passed away in 2010 at the age of 90.
The event was truly an inspiration for everyone to reach for the goal in 2014 of “Living the Dream through Service.”
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