AMERICUS - Pastors from several area churches led a march into the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, on Cotton Avenue, to remember Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. "It was beautiful, it was a way to continue the tradition," said Nadine Pope, chairperson of the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Community Celebration.

This year's MLK three day celebration began at Georgia Southwestern University on Jan. 13. The program included a keynote speaker, a Martin Luther King re-enactment and other activities.

On Jan. 14, the annual parade honoring King swung through the city, including bands from Americus High School and Fort Valley State University as well as entrees from area businesses and civic groups, including the Boy Scouts.

"I have attended most MLK Celebrations in Americus since the 1980's and this is one of the best ever. Reverend Elijah Smith's message was riveting and eye opening, says John D Marshall, MD, past president of the NAACP. He goes on to say,  "there are very few speakers who would have been bold enough to say what he said and he was speaking to a packed house."

The highlight of the celebration was at the worship service on Jan. 18, the date of the civil rights leader's recognized birthday - the third Monday of January.

The engaging speech of keynote speaker Elijah Smith, presiding elder of the Southwest Georgia Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, brought the house down with rousing applauds on several occasions. Smith talked about how the day should be more than just a celebration, and more than just a day off. "We shouldn't spend all our time celebrating, we need to do something that would benefit the work of King," he said. Smith also took the congregation through his growing up and going to school and how teachers told him he would never amount to anything. He said he chose not to allow their "doomsday predictions to come true."

"Don't you ever tell a young child what he or she cannot do," Smith said. "…The lesson is to keep going, and keep believing in you no matter what people say."