A ceremony commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Jan. 16 at St. James the Greater Catholic Church, 2502 11th St., Eau Claire.
Earlier in the day, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students will lead volunteers in an afternoon of service to area nonprofit organizations.
Students and faculty from area elementary, middle and high schools, along with UW-Eau Claire students and community members, will participate in the evening remembrance ceremony. Also participating will be faculty members from UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout and Chippewa Valley Technical College, and representatives of business, government and education in Eau Claire.
State representatives Warren Petryk and Dana Wachs will be among the featured speakers.
“During this year’s event, we are speaking to the racial divisions that are apparent in our American society and looking to Dr. King for ways that we can heal them and to move forward to his ‘Beloved Community,'” said Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, UW-Eau Claire professor of history and director of the event.
The ceremony will include readings from several of King’s works (including his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and his speech “How Long, Not Long”), music and multimedia presentations on the history of the civil rights movement. The CollECtive Choir, directed by Michael Rambo, the Chippewa Valley Youth Chorus, led by Cathy Reitz, and soloist Christopher Jorgenson will perform.
Dr. Frank Watkins, conductor of the UW-Eau Claire’s Women’s Concert Chorale, Women’s Chorus and Symphonic Choir, is the event’s musical director, and Dr. Ryan Jones, UW-Eau Claire associate professor of music, is the assistant director.
Uniting Bridges of Eau Claire, Inc. is organizing the event. Other sponsors are St. James the Greater Catholic Church; the UW-Eau Claire Chancellor’s Office, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education and Human Services, and Office of Multicultural Affairs, and Blugold Beginnings program; the city of Eau Claire; the Eau Claire Police Department; Schmitt Music; and Speed of Sound.
Also on Jan. 16, UW-Eau Claire’s AmeriCorps ECLIPSE program invites volunteers of all ages to participate in a day of service from noon to 4 p.m., to honor Dr. King’s legacy. After meeting at The Community Table, 320 Putnam St., for a meal together from noon to 1 p.m., volunteers will break into groups for service projects until 4 p.m., at various nonprofit organizations throughout the Eau Claire area.
Community volunteers can register either by emailing ECLIPSE@uwec.edu or by signing up at The Community Table on Jan. 16.