CRESTVIEW — A pair of community organizations have partnered with Mayor JB Whitten and the city to assure the Crestview Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Observance will proceed.
To avoid conflicts with other cities’ observances, the Crestview event will be Saturday, Jan. 16.
The Carver-Hill Community Coalition and the Crestview Youth Coalition have taken on the task of organizing the city’s recognition of the late civil rights leader in a program that will include music and video of Dr. King.
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“I’m grateful that these organizations have decided to come along with the city to accomplish this event,” said Crestview City Manager Tim Bolduc.
“We found a way to get the community involved but to do it safely,” added CYC founder Dr. Karen Brown. “We were also worried about a hundred or more people walking shoulder to shoulder up Main Street.”
The procession will now be a motorcade rather than a walk, and the ceremony will be a drive-in event in Spanish Trail Park, such as the family movie drive-ins held during the past year.
Viewers are encouraged to socially distance and wear masks for health and safety as they watch the procession drive up Wilson Street, down Main Street, then up Industrial Drive to the Stilwell Boulevard park entrance.
Residents and community organizations that wish to participate in the vehicle procession may begin lining up 11:30 a.m. Jan. 16 at the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church parking lot, 603 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. for the 12:30 p.m. motorcade start.
The ceremony in Spanish Trail Park begins at 1 p.m. with audio broadcast on car radios. It will include remarks from community leaders and clergy.
“Dr. King’s work touches every American,” Whitten said. “We hope everyone in our community can join us Saturday as we observe his legacy.”
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Community Observance
WHAT: Vehicle procession and ceremony honoring the civil rights leader
WHEN: 12:30 p.m. vehicle procession, 1 p.m. ceremony
WHERE: Procession begins at Wilson Street at Martin Luther King Avenue; ceremony is outside the Spanish Trail Park ampthitheatre
NOTES: Vehicle procession line-up begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, 603 Martin Luther King Ave. The route is north on Wilson Street to Pine Street; right on Pine to Main Street. North on Main Street to Industrial Drive/Brett Street, then Industrial Drive to Stilwell Boulevard, turn right then enter Spanish Trail Park and park facing the side of the amphitheatre.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Martin Luther King Jr. observance to proceed as a motorcade