Starting with a breakfast gathering, where local students sang and read poetry, and continuing through a pair of variety presentations by local musicians and actors, Albert Lea found numerous ways to commemorate Dr.

Tuesday, January 22, 2002

Starting with a breakfast gathering, where local students sang and read poetry, and continuing through a pair of variety presentations by local musicians and actors, Albert Lea found numerous ways to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Monday.

The noon and five p.m. variety programs were added this year to provide more opportunities for members of the community to come together to learn about peace and justice issues, said Colette Turcotte, Community Action director and one of the organizers of the local King Day activities.

&uot;Even the little kids that come to the program go back to their classrooms filled with questions about what’s going on, and start learning about having friends that are different,&uot; Turcotte said.

&uot;The point is to make people more aware. We need to be more aware that tolerance has to be taught,&uot; said Nancy Hockenberry, organizer of the variety presentations.

&uot;It’s a great thing and I’d like to see even more people from the community come,&uot; said Sally Chesterman, who attended both the morning and noon programs with her husband John and son Tim.

This year, the morning program was dedicated to late Albert Lea Mayor Marv Wangen, who died later Monday, in honor of his longstanding support of the King Day commemoration and peace and justice issues. Wangen was unable to attend due to his illness, although family members were present in his place.

At the morning program, held in Bethany Hall at First Lutheran Church, students from Southwest Middle School and fourth graders from Halvorsen Elementary School sang songs about peace and justice. A youth choir from Grace Christian Church, accompanied by George Marin, also sang some spirituals.

A number of poems written by students were also read by Tess Hinnenkamp and Dennis Dieser. A senior at ALHS, Dustin Cline, read one of his own poems, about equality and acceptance of diversity.

The variety presentations at noon and 5 p.m. began with a recitation of a portion of King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. It also included the reading of poems by Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou, a Spanish hymn sung by the Rev. George Marin, a scene from the play &uot;Master Harold and the Boys,&uot; by South African playwright Athol Fugard, and the song &uot;You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught&uot; from the musical South Pacific.

The presentation ended with a pledge to do more to erase prejudice and racism from our community, and with a reminder from speaker Linda Lares.

&uot;Our children learn from us,&uot; she said.