MA Honors the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is being celebrated on the actual day of his 94th birthday, Monday, January 15th. This is a federal holiday to commemorate the slain civil rights activist who was born on January 15, 1929. The annual holiday is observed on the third Monday in January.

Dr. King, a Baptist minister, was instrumental in leading the Civil Rights Movement in by emphasizing nonviolent protest. His best-known address, the 1963 speech "I Have A Dream", was presented in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to a crowd of 250,000 who also participated in the March on Washington. He also received the 1964 Nobel Prize. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was only 39 years old, but his legacy lives on to this day.

He has ties to Massachusetts, earning his doctorate from Boston University. He also met and married his wife, Coretta Scott, in the capital city of Boston. Back in the 1970's. The Bay State's U.S. Senator Edward Brooke sponsored the first bill to declare a holiday. MLK Day was first observed as a federal holiday in 1986 as the observance took effect during Ronald Reagan's Presidency, but a number of states, particularly in the South and West, did not add it to their list of state holidays until years later.

Here is what will be closed in The Berkshires and throughout The Bay State on Monday:

ALL Federal, state and local offices  There will be NO mail delivery.
Banks
The Stock Market will NOT conduct trading on Wall Street

Public colleges and schools, most private schools
Public libraries
Some offices and businesses
BRTA is not running. Bus service will resume on Tuesday, January 16th

A reminder: If you are OFF on Monday: This is a day where Massachusetts residents should take time in giving back to their respective communities in Dr. King's honor.

Northern Berkshire Community Coalition is holding their annual Day of Service on Monday and they will also present the annual Peacemaker Award in MCLA's Venable Hall gym.

Berkshire Community College on West Street in Pittsfield will begin its annual Day of Service event with a keynote speaker and breakfast at United Methodist Church. This event is co-sponsored by the NAACP'S Berkshire Branch.

Kripalu will hold an all-day Martin Luther King Jr. Liberation & Rejuvenation Retreat in Stockbridge from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm.

A Martin Luther King Day celebration will take place at The MassMutual Center in Springfield on January 15th from 11 am to 1 pm.

In the capital city of Boston, an open house will be presented at The Museum of Fine Arts on Huntington Avenue in Boston. the public is invited to attend this special get-together.

AmeriCorps team members will bring several special programs at Old Sturbridge Village on Monday from 9:30 am to 4 pm. The public can participate in story time activities at the Quaker Meetinghouse. There will also be a FREE hearth cooking workshop for youth ages 6-17 in the Museum Education Building. Old Sturbridge Village is offering FREE standard daytime admission for residents of the towns in the Old Sturbridge Academy school district which includes Brimfield, Brookfield, East Brookfield, North Brookfield, Holland, Monson, Palmer, Southbridge, Spencer, Sturbridge, Wales, and Webster. Adults must provide proof of town residency. 

Bottom Line: Use this time to remember a trailblazer who envisioned a world of peace and harmony. Dr. King's memory ALWAYS remains eternal and everlasting.

(Some information obtained in this article, courtesy of www.iberkshires.com, www.google.com and www.osv.org)

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