The 25th annual Martin Luther King Day celebration in Columbia on January 15 began at 11 a.m. on the steps of the Tyrrell County Courthouse in 34-degree weather and a brisk northeast wind.

Led by Mark Mixon, vice president of Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, the audience sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” followed by Ray Blount, mayor of Creswell, reciting Dr. King’s famous speech, “I Have a Dream.”

Escorted by the Tyrrell County Sheriff’s Office, the group then marched along Main Street to Madge L. VanHorne Auditorium, singing “We Shall Overcome.”

Theme is this year’s celebration was “Keeping the Dream Moving Forward.”

Inside the auditorium Mixon spoke, the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church gave a musical presentation, former county commissioner Larry G. Hill introduced the principal speaker, and Commissioner Nina Griswell spoke.

Minister Elizabeth Spencer led the congregation in a Litany for King, “Let My People Go,” written by the Martin Luther King Center for Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia.

The massed choir, led by Chris Baum, sang “Victory is Mine,” and Minister Louis Griswell prayed the benediction.

All in attendance were invited to a free luncheon in Hill’s Game Room on Railroad Street.

The civil rights leader was born on January 15, 1929, and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.