LEONARD GRAY

HAHNVILLE – Inclement weather didn’t keep more than 200 people from attending the annual Martin Luther King pilgrimage march and program Monday to hear award-winning essays and the words of guest speaker, the Rev. Dwight Webster. Webster, senior pastor of Christian Unity Baptist Church, reminded his audience of the words of a Republican Congressman when George W. Bush Jr. was certified and the Black Caucus walked out in protest of the vote-counting procedure. Webster said the Republican leaned across and told the Caucus members to “get over it.” The speaker linked that to such events in African-American history as the holocaust of 40 million slaves who died in the Middle Passage, where only one in five survived the trans-Atlantic crossing. Who would, he continued, tell Jews who survived the Nazi Holocaust to “get over it?” Webster challenged the young people in the audience to dream of a better future, but be prepared to work for it and earn it. The march began 20 minutes late from the Hale Boggs Bridge due to the rainy weather, but march coordinator, the Rev. Dan Washington, led a small band of marchers, accompanied by a convoy of vehicles, to Hahnville. Leading the way with Washington were Chase Fletcher, 11, of Ascension of Our Lord School in LaPlace, and Jarvis Lewis, 11, of George Washington Carver Middle School in Hahnville, along with 2001 Grand Marshal, the Rev. Charles Johnson. Normally, the King Day program is held outside in front of the parish courthouse, but due to the inclement weather, the program was moved inside to the Eual Landry Sr. Middle School gymnasium. Once inside the audience members listened to the first-place winners in the annual essay contest conducted by the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Organization of St. Charles Parish. First-place winners each received a $100 U.S. Savings Bond. First-, second- and third-place winners all received trophies. Winners included: Grades K-Third: first place, Yolanda Fiffie, third grade, Carver Elementary; second place, Jemyra Butler, third grade, Carver Elementary; and third place, Keyada Porter, third grade, Carver Elementary. Grades Fourth-Sixth: First place, Kailee Adams, sixth grade, Lakewood Elementary; second place, Terrion Jones, fifth grade, Schoeffner Elementary; and third place, Jey Dah Lewis, fifth grade, Carver Elementary. Grades Seventh-Eighth: First place, Karla Carter, seventh grade, Landry Middle; second place, Lynwood Walker, eighth grade, Landry Middle; and third place, Tiffany Allen, seventh grade, Landry Middle. Grades Ninth-12th: First place (tie), Kendrell Coleman, ninth grade, and Alicia Johnson, 12th grade, both Hahnville High; second place, Nataria Joseph, 12th grade, Hahnville High; and third place, Donna Weber, ninth grade, Hahnville High. “We’re trying to help the kids do better,” commented Leslie Carter. “It’s a challenge.” President of the organization is Margaret Marshall. The mistress of ceremonies was Landry Middle School principal Yvonne Gaspard. If Dr. King had not been assassinated in 1968, he would have been 72 years old this year.