(Seguin) — The MLK Freedom Week is officially underway. The five-day celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. kicked off Thursday night with a church service at New St. James Baptist Church. The service was the first in a long list of events being hosted by the Seguin MLK Day Planning Committee over this long holiday weekend.
The MLK schedule continues on Friday, with a pair of events. The very popular Seguin ISD Choir and Talent Showcase will be held at 6 p.m. Friday in the Performing Arts Center at Seguin High School. Committee member Joe Patterson says this event will feature students from each Seguin ISD campus.
“The kids love it. They love it. And they do all this within an hour. So, you’re not going to come and sit and be there a long time. Those teachers and those instructors move right through, and they do a great job as a performing arts group,” said Patterson.
More activities continue on Friday with the first ever Black Entrepreneurs Network. The network will be held at 8 p.m. Friday at Court Street Coffee. Committee member Terrance McClain says they are excited to host this networking opportunity.
“It’s going to be a good time for us to really network and really start establishing some groups and connections, and even find opportunities for people to enhance their businesses and find resources. So, it’s our first time doing it. Court Street Coffee agreed to host us in their area. I’m super thankful for that, and I’m really excited about this. So, if you are a black entrepreneur or you are considering being a black entrepreneur…, come on out because I think it’s going to be a great time for us all to really start getting together and making things happen in our community,” said McClain.
Saturday morning, the schedule includes a story time event at the Seguin Public Library. The MLK Storytime event is for all children ages three to 11, and will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the library. McClain says this is a great partnership with the library, and families are invited to come and enjoy a story or two Saturday morning.
“It was such an effortless partnership and collaboration with them. We just simply reached out and they were extremely excited about it. They had been wanting to do something as well. It was really good to just see the openness and the willingness (by the library) to collaborate,” said McClain. “We talked a little bit, and we came up with some ideas. I think this is good going back to the education piece. Not only are we getting children involved, but we’re also educating them, which is super important. We’re educating them in a fun way. We’re reading books by black authors, we’re talking about the legacy and the struggle, and the things that Doctor King fought for.”
The crowning jewel in the weekend schedule will be held on Saturday night. The annual MLK Banquet and Dinner Show will begin with a social hour starting at 5 p.m. in the Seguin Coliseum. The program, including dinner served by 1838 Grill and a live performance by the Divas of Eastwood, begins at 6 p.m. This is the only paid MLK event. Tickets for the dinner and show are $50 each and tables can be purchased for $500. You can get tickets from any MLK Committee member, or you can get them online. A link to purchase those tickets can be found on the MLK Seguin Facebook page and on the Seguin Radio and Seguin Daily News website, seguintoday.com.
The schedule resumes on Sunday, with the MLK Gospel Fest, featuring the Seguin Community Choir. The Gospel music festival begins at 4 p.m. Sunday at New Life Fellowship Church. MLK committee member Herman Lampkin says this will be the first official performance by the community choir.
“Much of the event is going to be sort of identical to the way it was in previous years. However, for the past decade or so, we’ve been trying to put together a Seguin Community Choir — a choir that looks like Seguin, and that is of Seguin. And so, we have finally kind of got some traction on that. And so, we’re welcoming all those who want to come join us in the future. We’ve already kind of started rehearsing. So, we’re set (for this year). So, we have a community choir and that is a step in the right direction. We’re excited to see what they’re going to bring. And we’ll also have other groups and soloists. It’ll be a night full of music,” said Lampkin.
Meanwhile, there’s a big schedule change on Monday. Due to the freezing weather that’s expected on Monday morning, MLK Committee members say they have canceled this year’s MLK Freedom March.
Temperatures are expected to be in the lower 20’s on Monday morning, with highs only reaching 35 degrees on Monday afternoon. The committee says they know many people will be disappointed by this news, but they don’t want to have people exposed to the elements, especially when you consider that it will feel much colder than the actual temperature. Wind chill readings are expected to be around 10 degrees early Monday morning.
Although, the march has been cancelled this year, the MLK Day Program will go on. Instead of it being hosted in Central Park, Monday’s program is being moved indoors into Wupperman Little Theatre at Texas Lutheran University. The doors will open around 10:30 Monday morning, with the program set to begin around 11 a.m. Monday.
Patterson says this weekend’s lineup tries to offer something for everyone. He says whether you come to one or all of the events, he hopes that the celebration will appeal to our better angels, and help us all move towards a better world.
“I’ve always been one that has been of the belief that we don’t do anything just for the sake of doing it. Nobody wants that. We’re doing this so that we can keep our contribution to society alive. We’re not just here existing. You know, anybody can just exist and move on. But life is a struggle. Not just a black struggle. It’s a struggle. And what we have to do — as people, not just black, not just white, but as a combined people — is try to come up with a mechanism by which we can live together, share together and love together, and be one. We’re going to do that. With all of the negatives that’s going on in the world today, we need to try to do something positive and be a part of a positive movement to say, ‘we are tired of that, and we want to get beyond it.’ That’s what the MLK Committee is trying to do — is to show that we can get beyond it. Just get with us and come on,” said Patterson.
A full schedule of events can be found on the MLK Seguin Facebook page, and under the events tab on seguintoday.com.
