The city of Ames is joining the Ames/Story County MLK Celebration Committee to honor the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. with a celebration on Monday, Jan. 20 (6:30 p.m., Ames City Auditorium, 520 Sixth St.). Toyia Younger, senior vice president for student affairs, will be the keynote speaker.
The winner of the fourth annual essay contest for Story County high school students will read their winning essay at the celebration. Students were asked to share how King impacted their life or the lives of family, friends and community. Additionally, this year's recipient of the Ames Human Relations Commission's Humanitarian Award will be honored. The award is presented to an Ames resident whose contributions to the community demonstrate an effort to promote diversity, fairness and equality.
Come early for birthday cookies, served at 6 p.m. in the adjacent city gymnasium.
The celebration will be available virtually via Facebook Live or YouTube.
On campus that day, the Workspace in the Memorial Union will host a free drop-in crafts session from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Options include mountain paintings and Martin Luther King Jr. coloring pages. Everyone who stops in will receive an MLK Day button.
The federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday (Jan. 20) is a university holiday, with offices closed and spring semester's first day pushed back to Tuesday. King's birth day was Jan. 15, 1929. The civil rights leader and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize recipient was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
