NEWS — 20th’s Annual MLK Celebration held during cold weather

By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times

More than 60 people attended Del Rio’s 20th annual Martin Luther King (MLK) celebration at the
local public school district’s Student Performance Center (SPC) on Monday.

Originally, the MLK Day celebration, which typically features a march along North Main Street,
was set to take place at 9 a.m. at Greenwood Park, with

participants then walking to the SPC.
Due to the cold weather conditions, the march was canceled, but the program was still held at
10 a.m. at SPC.

Esme Meza, the city’s community service director, began the program by introducing the guest
speakers, including Mayor Al Arreola, Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez, Councilman Jesus
Lopez Jr., San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District Board Secretary Jesus
Galindo, City Manager Shawna Burkhart, Sandra Fuentes, co-chair of The Border Organization;
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez and San Felipe Del Rio CISD Athletic Director
Frenchey McCrea Jr.

The program continued with a prayer, the pledge of allegiance and a duet by Amy Haynes,

school board trustee, and her mother Lonia Haynes, who both sang “Thank You Lord.”

Arreola was the first to speak. He thanked Dr. Carlos Rios for allowing the SPC to be used for
the celebration of a man who “fought for the rights for not only African-Americans, but for the
economically disadvantaged and laborer workers.”

Arreola said his favorite quote from King was, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see
the whole staircase.”

Arreola talked about his fond memories of growing up and attending an African-American
church on Rio Grande Street in Del Rio. He said attending the church made him into a better
person because of the “bonding family” atmosphere.

The next guest speaker was Gutierrez, who was one of the people to initiate Del Rio’s first MLK
March on Jan. 17, 2005. Gutierrez said she was glad to see the celebration continue despite the
cold weather.

“If (King) was still here, he would encourage us to continue to work peacefully together and
move towards acceptance of each other, and with that said, I leave you to that challenge,”
Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez talked about the passion King had for bringing thousands of people together for a
single movement, and she highlighted the community leaders who emerged during the nation’s

segregated era and graduated from the last class of San Felipe High School in 1971. The
school was then combined with the Del Rio High School to form one school.

Galindo was the next to speak, and he thanked everyone who attended the program and urged
then to honor King, whose words and beliefs continued to impact people decades after his
death in 1968.

When Fuentes spoke, she mentioned James and Tommy Bass, community leaders who
attended the program and were in the audience. James was a graduate of the Del Rio Tarver
High School (a school for African-American students), and Tommy was the first African
American student to graduate from Del Rio High School after the end of racial segregation.

After Fuentes finished speaking, everyone who attended joined near the stage for a group
picture, and Lonia Haynes sang a cover of “God is Good.” The program ended with a screening
of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
After the video, the attendees were invited to the meeting room of the SPC for refreshments and snacks.