Flurries and freezing wind were no match for the warm spirits found at each of the three Martin Luther King Jr. Day events held Monday in Athens.

Community leaders and members of the public gathered together at The Square in downtown Athens for a prayer and a march to the future Alabama Veterans Museum & Archives, formerly the Limestone County Event Center. Athens High JROTC led the march while members of the Limestone County NAACP led marchers in song.

“We thank God for all things Dr. King was able to do for civil rights, humans, civil and social justice, here in the country and beyond,” Limestone NAACP President Wilbert Woodruff told those in attendance at the group’s annual program. “We can’t say how much we appreciate it.”

The celebration continued with songs performed by Drake Toney and Ashley Thornhill, as well as dancing from Madison “S” Trio. Winners of this year’s essay contest read their entries onstage.

Younger entrants were asked to explain why their life matters. Mallori Sterling, who won second place in her division, said her significance can be found in part through her faith.

“I am a quirky and quick-witted, dark brown-skinned, springy-haired young lady,” Sterling said. “… I am not useless. I was never useless. My life is significant because God can and will use me.”

Laney Gough, who won third place in the same division, said purpose is also found in family, school and community.

“My life has significance in my family, at school and in the city of Athens, and I hope to continue having significance in all of those areas forever,” Gough said.

Entries in the art contest were displayed to the left of the stage. Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks noted it was the third year for the art contest and the importance of allowing people to express themselves in a variety of ways.

“Our community can only get better when we express ourselves through art and other activities,” he said.

Following the NAACP event, the public was invited to singing, sermon and worship at Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church in Athens. The Lincoln-Bridgeforth Park Committee again hosted the annual event in honor of King, who served as a Baptist minister in addition to being a civil rights activist. Limestone County Commission Chairman Collin Daly said as a public servant, the celebration is something he looks forward to each year.

“I feel like I’ve been at a revival,” Daly said. “(King) had so many quotes to help so many people. Today I was looking through and I saw he said, ‘We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.’ I’m glad to be a brother here today.”

Nearly every seat in the church was filled. People stood along the walls as the Round Island Creek Male Chorus performed and various speakers took their turn at the microphone. The keynote speaker for the event was Pastor Harold Goodloe, a Trinity School alum and native of Athens who serves as lead pastor of Ephesus Seventh-Day Adventist Church in New Orleans.

Contest winners

The following students received awards for their entries in the essay and art contests hosted by the Limestone NAACP. Students are listed in order of first, second and third place, except for high school essays, which only had first and second place.

• Art, high school — Kyndall Crutcher, Kenna Rogers, Hannah Lynn;

• Art, elementary — Eli Henson, Karlianne Holcomb, Brinlee Landtroop;

• Essay, grades 2–3 — Tori White, Kole Peterson, Kurt Marshall;

• Essay, grades 4–5 — Torriente White, Mallori Sterling, Laney Gough;

• Essay, grades 6–8 — Will Anderson, Malea Wiggins; and

• Essay, grades 9–12 — Aaron Nichols, Cheyenne Jackson.

Jimmy Gill Park

Marks said he received questions from several attending the day’s events, so he took a moment at both events to provide an update on the status of Jimmy Gill Park. The park, named for the late Athens City Councilman Jimmy Gill, a leader in Athens’ black community, was removed to make room for the $55-million Toyota Boshoku plant.

At the time, plans were announced to move the park to a different location but keep it as good as before, if not make it better. However, it’s been nearly a year since the park was removed, and city officials are at odds over what to do about it.

“There really is no excuse for this,” the mayor said at the former event center. “I am committed to my friend Jimmy Gill not only as a person but because it’s the right thing to do. We have a location, and we have the money to do this. It needs to move forward.”

He apologized at each location for politicizing the otherwise nonpolitical events, but said “it’s important to the community and important to our future.”

“(King) said it is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people, and that’s one of the things I want to stress to each and everyone of us,” Marks said. “… We will make every effort to move this park, and I think with your prayers and your thoughts and our action, we can prove we are here for the right reason, to do that.”