Local officials, Mount Olive College to sponsor events for King holiday
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on January 14, 2007 10:51 AM
Wayne County residents will join the nation Monday in remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with at least two public ceremonies observing the holiday and most government agencies and services shut down for the day.
The Martin Luther King Holiday Committee, along with Goldsboro and Wayne County governments, is sponsoring a Martin Luther King Day breakfast at 9 a.m. Monday at the Goldsboro-Raleigh District Assembly on Hooks River Road.
And Mount Olive College will hold a King Day celebration at 11 a.m. in Rodgers Chapel on campus. The keynote speaker at the Mount Olive event will be Dr. Ron Poulson, a native of Goldsboro and a professor of psychology at the college. The Mount Olive College gospel choir, Praise Ensemble, will perform, and there will be poetry readings by faculty members Lenard Moore and Dr. David Rigsbee. There will also be a special presentation by Irving Glenn II, a freshman at Mount Olive College.
The college event is free and open to the public. It is being sponsored by the Praise Ensemble and Fellowship of African American Students. Organizers said they hope the event will become an annual memorial service.
A majority of government offices in Wayne County will be closed Monday in honor of the holiday.
Goldsboro and Wayne County offices, along with all state and federal offices, including the postal service, will be closed. Town halls in Mount Olive and Fremont also will be closed. Pikeville's town offices will be open during regular business hours.
Public transportation will still be available for some residents on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Goldsboro-Wayne Transportation Authority will provide bus service from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Any trash pick-ups scheduled for Monday by Waste Industries will be collected on Tuesday. Goldsboro sanitation services scheduled for Monday will be picked up Wednesday, officials said.