MAMIE GARNETT Citizenship Award Winner The annual Lincoln County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance was held Sunday, January 17, in the LCHS Auditorium.

The theme for the event was “Make It a Day On, Not a Day Off.”

The guest speaker for the occasion was Rev. Jane E. Thomas, the first female presiding elder of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church. She currently serves the Central Georgia Region’s Macon/Barnesville District (The Sixth Episcopal District).

The focus of Rev. Thomas’ message was on striving to keep Dr. King’s dream alive.

Titled “Behold the Dreamer,” her address was based on Psalm 40:8- 11.

“Dr. King was a dreamer,” said Rev. Thomas. “He fought for racial equality, the elimination of poverty, and for an end to the Vietnam War.”

She went on to point out that some dreamers, like Dr. King, Joseph, and Jesus, have faced persecution and death.

“Still, the dream lives on,” stated Thomas. “We must work to support the dream. Must has been accomplished but there is much that needs to be done.”

The guest speaker was introduced to those present by Rev. George Glenn, pastor of Mulberry C.M.E Church.

Bringing greetings to the audience were Lincolnton Mayor Henry Brown, representing both the city and Lincoln County Government, and Dr. Randall Edmunds, superintendent of the Lincoln County School System.

Another highlight of the program was the presentation of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance Committee’s “Outstanding Citizenship Award” by Welcome Mason, former principal of LCHS and Westside High School.

This year’s recipient was Mamie Garnett, a retired English teacher, who was a student at Westside when Mason was the principal.

In presenting the award to Garnett, Mason said that throughout the years, he has been most impressed by the recipient’s dedication to making the community a better place through her work with a variety of organizations such as her church, the Twilight Improvement Association, Inc. (TIA), and the Lincoln County Chapter of the NAACP.

In closing, he read a poem for Garnett, written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,

Whose deeds both great and small

Are close-knit strands of an unbroken thread,

Where love ennobles all.

The world may sound no trumpets, ring no bells,

The Book of Life the slurring record tells.

They love shall chant its own beatitudes,

After its own like working. A child’s kiss

Set on thy singing lips shall make thee glad;

A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;

A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;

Thou shalt be served thyself in every sense

Of service which thou renderest.

In addition to the Outstanding Citizenship Award, the birth observance featured special music provided by pianist Marcene Powell and vocalists Brittney Leverett and Marguerite Williams.

Others taking part in the observance were Maygen Hogan, an eighth-grader at LCMS, and Roger Elam, a junior at LCHS, who led those present in a litany commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. King. The litany was titled “Let My People Go.”

Moreover, Rev. Matthew Harden, pastor of New Tabernacle Baptist Church, gave the invocation, and Rev. Willie J. White, pastor of Newberry Missionary Baptist Church, delivered the benediction.

Presiding over the program was Howie Gunby, assistant principal of LCMS.

The event is sponsored each year by the Lincoln County Chapter of the NAACP, the Twilight Improvement Association, Inc., Lincoln County Government, and the City of Lincolnton.