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Woodbridge News
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Woodbridge Celebrates Martin Luther King Day with Music, Prayer
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January 12, 2005
The memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be honored in Woodbridge Township with an interfaith salute on Saturday, January 15 at 2 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Woodbridge at 130 Sewaren Avenue in Sewaren.
“Dr. King’s work in the Civil Rights movement shaped our nation’s conscience and destiny,” says Mayor Frank G. Pelzman. “His insistence on the need for social and economic justice for all Americans has as much relevance today as it did nearly four decades ago.”
Dr. King’s birthday is January 15 and was declared a national holiday in 1983. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968, at age 39.
The salute to Dr. King is titled “The Dream Continues” and features Rev. William Rutherford, pastor of Greater New Point Baptist Church of Irvington, as the keynote speaker. Rev. Rutherford is immediate past president of the New Jersey NAACP and the current moderator of the Christian Fellowship Association of the General Baptist Convention of New Jersey.
Musical entertainment will be provided by the First Baptist Church Anniversary Choir under the direction of Robert Arrington, keyboardist and arranger.
The event includes the reading of the winning essay from the Township’s annual school essay contest sponsored by the Woodbridge Township Human Relations Committee, under the direction of Lieutenant Thomas “Skip” Garley of the Woodbridge Township Police Department. This year’s winner is Julia Tamburello, a 3 rd grader at Claremont Avenue School #20, for her essay “Reflections on Dr. King”.
Rev. Neva Lawson, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Woodbridge, believes Dr. King’s message resonates even more strongly with each passing year. “The lessons he taught were timeless,” says Rev. Lawson. “He preached tolerance and racial equality but also put to rest centuries-old beliefs about race.”
“I encourage residents to join us at the First Baptist Church of Woodbridge for our tribute to this great American,” says Mayor Pelzman.
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©2000
MIS Department
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