Clark State Community College and the City of Springfield will host the 29th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon on Friday, January 18 at 11:30 a.m. in the Grand Hall of the Hollenbeck Bayley Creative Arts and Conference Center, 275 South Limestone Street in downtown Springfield.
Marya Rutherford Long, vice president at Fifth Third Bank of Dayton and Cincinnati will be the featured guest speaker for the event, and the City of Springfield will present a Giving Citizen of the Year Award.
Springfield City Schools will honor Girl Scouts of Western Ohio and Shawnee Oak Wind as outstanding youth programs, while musicians Dean Simms and Par Tolliver provide the entertainment.
Local high school students will be presented with the Peacemaker Awards at the luncheon. Clark State and the City of Springfield started the Peacemaker program in the 1980s. The City of Springfield gives each Peacemaker a motivational book selected by John Young of Wittenberg University.
“High schools in Clark County nominated a student from their school to be recognized as Peacemakers for exemplifying a zeal for social justice and service to others," said Kanesha Scott, director of Scholars program for Clark State. "The students were nominated by a school counselor or their peers."
“We must continue ‘living out the dream’ Dr. King envisioned for us by turning inward and radiating harmony through our actions,” said Clarissa Beavers, admissions specialist for Clark State. “In a time where it seems we are divided in our efforts to combat social issues, the MLK Birthday Celebration serves as a space to ignite our call to action and value the connections that make us all one.”
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon will officially denote the early start of Clark State’s February Black History Month celebration. Tickets for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon can be purchased for $25 from Cheryl Dover at 937-324-7379.