An annual community breakfast will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with food, live music and guest speaker Col. Gary Steele.
The MLK Jr. Community Breakfast is returning for its 16th year, according to its Facebook event page. A breakfast buffet by Maceli’s Banquet Hall & Catering staff will be served, followed by a program in honor of King.
The program will begin with a welcome by Jayhawk Breakfast Rotary Club President John Robertson and then an opening prayer by Pastor Verdell Taylor, according to the event page. As tradition, local vocalist Vanessa Thomas will perform live.
Steele, the keynote speaker, will share sentiments during the program. He is a U.S. Army veteran and was the first Black player on the United States Military Academy’s Black Knights football team in 1966, according to an article on Military.com.
Additionally, a Lawrence high school student will be awarded the Winn Minority Scholarship and $1,500, sponsored by the Jayhawk Breakfast Rotary Club, according to the event page. Member Christy Blanchard will present the award, which recognizes a student with a spirit of service.
At the beginning of each school year, the Jayhawk Breakfast Rotary Club sends a call out to Lawrence high with information on several scholarships they offer, spokesperson Charlie Hermann said via email. Student applicants complete a generic scholarship form as well as write an essay describing what “Service Above Self” — the Rotary Club’s principal motto — means to them, how they have demonstrated it in their lives, and how they hope to follow that ideal in the future. A club committee then reviews the applications and votes on scholarship winners.
Finally, Rev. Leo Barbee of Victory Bible Church in Lawrence will give the closing prayer. Bernie Kish, who led the start of the MLK Jr. Community Breakfast in 2007 as an original member of the Jayhawk Breakfast Rotary Club, will give final remarks to conclude the program, Herman said via email.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 16 at Maceli’s Banquet Hall & Catering, 1031 New Hampshire St. in downtown Lawrence. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m., and the program will begin at 8 a.m. Organizers recommend attendees arrive early to be seated by the time breakfast begins, according to the event page.
Visit this link to purchase online tickets ahead of time, which cost $10 per person. All ages are welcome. A free livestream will also be available on the Rotary Club’s YouTube channel for those who would like to watch the program virtually.
Co-sponsors for the event are Jayhawk Breakfast Rotary Club and Ecumenical Ministers of Lawrence, according to the event page.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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