MOSES LAKE — The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. program will take place Jan. 20, according to MLK Committee President Miranda Bridges, celebrating the life and legacy of the civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968. 

“It's a chance for the community to come together and be supportive to one another, recognize Dr. King’s life and his dream and his vision for all of us,” Bridges said.

The free event will start at about 5 p.m. with a peaceful march from the Surf ‘N Slide parking lot downtown to the Moses Lake Civic Center, Bridges said. For those who would rather not walk, the doors will open at the Civic Center auditorium at 5 and there will be some refreshments available. Attendees will see a film about King’s life at the auditorium, followed by presentations and performances. 

As he has done in the past, Pastor Plasido Lindsey of Galilee Missionary Baptist Church will read King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, originally delivered during the March on Washington in 1963. 

“We have reached out to the school district, and we are going to get between seventh- and ninth-grade students to write an essay about (whether) they see Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream alive today,” Bridges said. “Those essays will be hung around the auditorium so people can take a look and see what the students have written.” 

The Dream In Action children, part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, will sing and offer a tribute to King as well.  

There will be a silent auction as well, offering items donated by local businesses, during the event, Bridges said. The silent auction is something the committee has done in the past, although not every year, she added.  

This year’s event will also contain one melancholy note, a recognition of longtime committee President Charlie Jones, who passed away in July. Jones had been the committee president for more than 20 years, he told the Columbia Basin Herald at a previous event. 

“We are definitely just trying to fill his footsteps,” Bridges said. “We are going to have a moment where we're going to recognize him and all of his hard work over the many years that he has served as the president.” 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been a national holiday since 1986, celebrated on the third Monday in January to get as close as possible to King’s Jan. 15 birthday. 

“I think this is going to be a good event … bringing education and awareness about who (King) was and what he represents,” Bridges said. 

An earlier edition of this story incorrectly identified Pastor Placido Lindsey's church. It has been corrected above.

    Members of the Dreamers in Action youth group let freedom ring during last year’s commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
  

    The Rev. Plasido Lindsey reads Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech at last year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in Moses Lake.
  

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks during a stop in Birmingham, Alabama on May 8, 1963. King was arrested later that day for demonstrating but a local business owner posted bond for him in the amount of $5,000.