York County celebrations go virtual and in-person to celebrate MLK Day amid COVID-19
Several York County events in York, Fort Mill and Rock Hill are planned to honor the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. and his lifetime of service to civil rights.
Some celebrations will be in-person while others are virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.
York parade
The Western York County Branch of the NAACP’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade is at 1 p.m. Saturday through downtown York with singing, dancing and live music. Check-in to participate is at 11 a.m. in the Trinity United Methodist Church parking lot at 22 E. Liberty St.
Due to the coronavirus, there will be no vendors this year.
Fort Mill donations
Fort Mill will host the town’s annual MLK Call to Service Day on Monday.
“The town’s always looking for good ways to foster community pride, we wanted to pair that with an effort to honor Dr. Martin Luther King,” said town spokesman Chris Sardelli.
The following donations are requested:
▪ The Adult Enrichment Center is requesting gift cards to Lowe’s Home Improvement or Walmart for supplies to create a project room for clients with dementia.
▪ The Bethel Men’s Shelter is requesting boxers in sizes medium and large and sweatshirts in size medium, large and extra-large.
▪ Classroom Ready is looking for headphones that can be plugged into a headphone jack, not wireless.
▪ Fort Mill Care Center needs toilet paper and paper towels.
▪ Historic Paradise Foundation has requested science kits and gift cards to Walmart or Amazon to buy supplies for the Historic Paradise Foundation Learning Center.
▪ Palmetto Women’s Center is looking for diapers size one and larger and baby wipes
▪ York County Council on Aging is asking for laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid and blankets
Donations can be made from 8 a.m. to noon at 200 Tom Hall Street in Fort Mill.
For children
York County is hosting its annual iDream 10-day MLK Day Celebration for children in the Rock Hill area. Events will follow social distancing guidelines, according to the program’s website.
The iDream Vision Board Workshop is from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The iDream Day of Service is from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday at Emmett Scott Recreation Center.
A cooking class is on Monday at Sweet Tea Café at 125 Elk Ave. in Rock Hill.
Virtual events
Two virtual events are planned.
The United Men’s Club in Clover will host a free virtual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at 7 p.m. Monday live on its Facebook and YouTube channel.
The city of Rock Hill Community Relations Council will hold the 18th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Interfaith Prayer Breakfast on Monday streaming live at cityofrockhill.com/MLK and on CN2 Xtra and Comporium City Channel 115. This year’s theme is “The Fierce Urgency of Now.”
The prayer breakfast will include speakers Maggie Wallace Glover, the first African-American woman elected from the 6th Congressional District to the South Carolina House of Representatives and the first Black woman to serve in the South Carolina senate.
Rock Hill’s Poet Laureate Angelo Geter also will perform with Vision Elite Royalty Dance Company and members of the Martin Luther King Choir.
The Dream Keeper award will be announced. The annual award is given to a community members who shows “exemplary displays of committed service to the tenets of Dr. Martin Luther King, the ultimate dreamer,” according to the council.
