Northfield Community MLK Event on Monday evening

Northfield Community Martin Luther King Day Celebration: The Dream Continues!

Northfield’s 13th annual community-wide celebration honoring Dr. Martin Luther King will be held on Monday, January 15.  This year’s event will be held at the Northfield Middle School.

(Editor's note: a full schedule of related events running from Friday the 12th through Friday the 19th can be found in the previous post.) 

The theme of this year’s event will be “The Dream Continues.”  Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. with musical selections by the Carleton African Drumming Ensemble under the direction of Jay Johnson.

The program begins at 7:00 p.m. The Master of Ceremonies is Charles Cogan.  Father Dennis Dempsey will provide the opening invocation and the benediction. 

Carleton College Dean of Students Hudlin Wagner will give a brief presentation honoring the life and legacy of Coretta Scott King.  Gabriel Merigala, Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Madras Christian College in India and current Kierkegaard House Foundation Fellow at St. Olaf, will briefly discuss Mahatma Gandhi’s influence on Martin Luther King.

This year’s featured speaker is former Minnesota Governor Al Quie.  Al Quie was born on a farm near Dennison, MN and graduated from Northfield High School in 1942.  He joined the Navy, and started in the Navy V-5 program at St. Olaf College.  Governor Quie served in the military until 1945, and graduated from St. Olaf in 1950 with a degree in Political Science.  After running the family farm until 1954, he began a career in politics, serving in the Minnesota Senate (1954-58), the U.S. House of Representatives (1958-79), and finally serving as Minnesota Governor (1979-83).

Since leaving office, Governor Quie has been involved in numerous national and local charitable and religious organizations, including his involvement with Prison Fellowship Ministries since its inception 30 years ago.  Governor Quie currently resides in Minnetonka with his wife Gretchen.

Governor Quie will be introduced by St. Olaf College President David Anderson.

The 2007 Human Rights Award will be presented to LaNelle Olsen.  Ms. Olsen has been involved in numerous causes during her years of service to the cities of Des Moines, Chicago, and Northfield.  In Northfield, she served on the Northfield City Council for six years, and was a founding member of the Northfield Human Rights Commission.  She has chaired the Northfield Planning Commission, and is a past board member of the Community Action Center.  In addition, Ms. Olsen served as a board member of the Northfield Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth Committee (PFLAG).  She has also worked closely with prisoners in Faribault as an active member and host of the Twin Cities Non-Violence Team.

Also included in this year’s celebration will be musical performances by the Northfield Youth Choirs.  The Concert Choir, directed by Elizabeth Shepley, will present two musical selections during the program.  The selections are “Cantate! Sing!” by Wayland Rogers and “O Colored Earth” by Steve Heitzig.

Artwork by students from ARTech and Prairie Creek Community School will be on display at the event.  The entirety of the program will be ASL interpreted.

Refreshments, including birthday cake, will be served following the event.

The public is welcome to attend and celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.  Children are welcome!

Helene Haapala is a member of the Northfield Human Rights Commission.