Multiple events are scheduled during the next week, in honor of the life of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
— The Corporation For Cultural Diversity For Greenville, Texas, Inc. (CCD) is sponsoring the 2016 Martin Luther King Celebration, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with a downtown parade and march. Participants in the parade will meet at the downtown Farmers Market at 9 a.m. for staging. The parade route is west on Lee Street, south on King and east on Washington Street, then returning to the Market Square.
There is no fee for entering the parade, although those wishing to participate are being asked to fill out a registration form, available on the Corporation For Cultural Diversity Facebook page and submit the form via email to jacksoncathy55@yahoo.com or by mail to Corporation for Cultural Diversity, PO Box 876, Greenville, 75403.
Those wanting additional information about the parade can call 903-454-6688.
— A community program commemorating King is scheduled following the parade, at 11 a.m. Saturday, inside the Landmark on Lee, 2920 Lee in Greenville.
— The United Way of Hunt County is hosting a 5K Fun Run/Walk in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Celebration. The race is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. Saturday and will begin and end at the Farmers Market. Participants are being invited to also march in the parade. Those wanting additional information can visit the event’s web site at unitedwayofhuntcounty.org/mlk-5k.html
— A Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Observance is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Mt. Moriah Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 1205 Champion Lane in Commerce.
— A community worship service in King’s honor is also scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday at Price Temple Church of God In Christ, 4905 Pickett Street in Greenville.
For almost six years, motorists driving through Greenville on Interstate 30 are actually driving along the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway.
Signs were unveiled in May 2010 to officially rename the stretch of the interstate, after the Greenville City Council entered into an advance funding agreement with TxDOT for the signs.
In November 2008, the council voted to reaffirm a 13-year-old resolution as the first step in obtaining official state highway signs to name the highway for King. The next move was to have State Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van) and then-State Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) to file bills with the Texas Legislature.
The council originally passed a resolution in July 1995 to name Interstate 30 in Greenville in King’s honor. The distinction had been sought by then-Council member Hattie Tennison.
The move was in response from a request by a group of local residents, who in November 1993 had sought to have Lee Street named for King, only to meet with protests from other Greenville residents who wanted the downtown thoroughfare to stay named for the Confederate General Robert E. Lee.