Lake Worth Beach's MLK commemoration is now a 4-day extravaganza, but what is its future?

A small group of Lake Worth Beach residents have worked for decades to ensure the town has an annual Martin Luther King Day celebration. Now, as the event marks its 30th anniversary, that group is looking for a new generation of leaders to take the reins and preserve the now four-day event for years to come.

The federal holiday has honored Martin Luther King Jr. every year, on the third Monday of January, since the 1980s. Along with recognizing the contributions of Dr. King, the holiday offers a chance to reflect on lessons from the civil rights movement, the victories achieved since that time and all of the needs that still remain.

But it wasn't until the 1990s that residents in Lake Worth Beach began to observe MLK Day.

"They were never recognizing MLK, and we as a community said, 'Why? Why can't we do it? Every other city is doing it.' So we started this," said Retha Lowe, who became the city's first Black commissioner in 1995 before serving for more than a decade.

In the beginning, Lowe joined more than a dozen residents of a historically Black neighborhood in Lake Worth Beach, once known as the Osborne Colored Addition, to start organizing the annual MLK Day celebration.

They started with a one-day event at the local park. "It was like a big family reunion," Lowe said, recalling a day spent with neighbors, potluck meals, family-friendly activities and recordings of MLK's most famous speeches.

Thanks to the Lake Worth MLK Committee, which includes Lowe and a handful of dedicated residents, the event has grown into a multiday celebration that extends throughout the city and draws hundreds of people who hail from different backgrounds.

Residents look forward to bonding over free meals, musical programs, activities and community service projects, along with a candlelight march from City Hall to the Lake Worth Cultural Plaza. Lowe said she tried for years to get the city more actively involved in the planning and execution of the event, ensuring it remains long after the original organizers are gone.

That route has proven to be a dead end so far, she said, and now the organizers are engaging local youth and urging more residents to take ownership of the annual celebration.

"It's important to know the dream that Dr. King had, it's not just for us. It's for everybody," she said. "I would like to see us continue to grow like we are now. This city, when I first moved up here, was so divided. It was so segregated. Since we started this, we have brought this into a salad bowl of people — race, color, religion, everything. It's brought us together."

MLK Day in Lake Worth Beach offers a chance to reflect on history and build community for the future

Ted Brownstein, one of the event's longstanding organizers and a founding member of the Lake Worth Interfaith Network, a key MLK Day sponsor, said it was imperative to continue providing residents with a yearly opportunity to build community and learn about history.

That rings especially true in Lake Worth Beach, which has a robust immigrant population.

"A lot of these people came to the U.S. long after the civil rights moment, and they just don't have a really keen awareness of what Dr. King was all about," said Brownstein, who has memories of marching with MLK and a crowd of 30,000 others during the summer of 1966, when they rallied in Chicago and stood up for equality in education, housing and employment.

"There is power in activism, getting involved and really changing things, which Dr. King accomplished," Brownstein continued. "His emphasis on nonviolence and dialogue and forgiveness and reconciliation are important lessons, along with the recognition that there is still a measure of racial inequality in our society. There's still problems that need to be addressed."

Brownstein, who authored "Pioneers of Jewell: A Documentary History of Lake Worth's Forgotten First Settlement," said the event also offers a chance to highlight local history. And there's no shortage in Lake Worth Beach.

A sign at Bryant Park marks the approximate area where African-American couple Samuel and Fannie James lived and worked starting in 1885. They were among the first people to file claim for a homestead in the area. The Jameses erected a post office, earned the respect of their white neighbors and constructed the town of Jewell — before the existence of Lake Worth.

About 2 miles away, on the 1400 block of Wingfield Street, another reminder of the past — and decades of progress — still stands. The Wall of Unity, as it's now known, once separated Black and white neighborhoods before Lake Worth Beach integrated in 1969, and droves of people came together in recent history to paint the wall and feature important landmarks and community figures.

Brownstein said history can bring people together and remind residents not only of past struggles, but also of the strength, perseverance and accomplishments that lined the path forward. MLK Day, he said, creates a sense of unity that extends far beyond the once-a-year holiday.

"The dedication of the leaders to support this event year in and year out, and the energy they put into it, it helps build community," he said. "We build relationships and then we can collaborate with other things, other community needs."

Questions linger about future and Lake Worth Beach's involvement

Brownstein and Lowe are among just over half a dozen people who regularly plan the event every year, down from the original group of at least 15 people who started the local MLK Day celebration three decades ago.

"I can't do 30 more years," said Lowe, now 78 years old.

Lowe said the community built something special, and that Lake Worth Beach has a prime opportunity to take ownership of MLK Day. Currently she said, the city provides the stage and sound equipment for speeches and performances at the Cultural Plaza.

But the burden of planning and paying for the multiday event — offered free to the community — falls on the grassroots Lake Worth MLK Committee and a handful of sponsors. And when the event organizers collect donations, they go directly to scholarships for high school students.

Lowe said she has tried for countless years to make MLK Day an official event run by the city, to no avail, but she's staying hopeful. In the meantime, her group is trying to bring more residents and local youth into the fold — people who can carry the torch.

“We want people to come, enjoy the event and, if you feel like it, we welcome anybody and everybody to get involved," she said.

Commissioner Sarah Malega, whose district includes the Osborne Community, said she was confident the event would carry on regardless of whether the city takes charge. Plenty of local organizations, she said, can step forward and help.

"Ms. Retha and the community have done a great job," she said. "They started something that's amazing, and it's up to us to succession-plan everything in our city, from who's going to be the next city commissioner to how we're going to carry this event forward. We do have other organizations that could help spearhead it. It's just about getting the right community partners involved."

Anyone interested in getting involved with the Lake Worth MLK Committee can reach Lowe at 561-586-7276.

MLK weekend events schedule in Lake Worth Beach

In Lake Worth Beach, "Thirty Years of Truth, Love and History" will be the theme of the annual Martin Luther King Day Commemoration. All events are free and open to the public.

• Friday, Jan. 12, 7 p.m.: A musical theatre presentation, "Unbought and Unbossed," will recognize the lives of two African-American women: Sally Hemings, enslaved by Thomas Jefferson and mother of five of his children, and Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to run for president of the United States. A performance by Core Ensemble will include live music and poetry. Dessert reception to follow at St. Andrews Episcopal Church (Lucerne and Palmway).

• Saturday, Jan. 13, 8 a.m.: Volunteers of all ages are invited to meet at the Wingfield Street City Gymnasium for a community cleanup organized by Healthier Lake Worth.

• Sunday, Jan. 14, 10:30 a.m.: New this year will be Mindfulness and MLK at the Tiger Territory Urban Forest, 706 Eighth Ave. N., across from North Grade Elementary. The event organizer, Soil & Soul, invites teens and adults to a special session of Sunday Mindfulness Club. See how inner resources and mental models fueled the Civil Rights Revolution, including stillness, movement and song.

• Monday, Jan. 15, 8 a.m.: The annual MLK Interfaith Breakfast will be held this year at Barton Elementary, 1700 Barton Road. Breakfast will be served at 8 a.m. with the inspirational and musical program to follow. King’s coalition included people of all faiths (and no faith) working for civil and voting rights, and justice. A video short by Richard Jackson will premier. Representatives of more than a dozen Lake Worth Beach-area faith communities will participate.

• Monday, Jan. 15, 4:30 p.m.: The 30th annual Candlelight March will be a highlight of the day as hundreds march through downtown Lake Worth Beach with unity, dignity and respect to continue the struggle for a fuller realization of freedom and equality. Participants will gather at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall for a musical Sing-Along and parade down Lake Avenue to the MLK “Ball” Memorial. A brief commemorative program at the Cultural Plaza Memorial will recognize the accomplishments and unfinished business of King’s Dream.

• Monday, Jan. 15, evening: Following the march, a free fellowship dinner will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 402 North M St. Volunteers are needed. Please contact Retha Lowe at (561) 582-7276. For more information, including events planned for the remainder of January and February go to LWInterfaith.net.

Giuseppe Sabella is a reporter covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at gsabella@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: MLK Day: Lake Worth celebrates with weekend events; breakfast; march