Martin Luther King Celebration!

Bluffton on Monday will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the civil rights leader’s visions of community building.

The theme for the 28th annual celebration is “The Great Initiative of Change.”

Events honoring King begin with a 1 p.m. Memorial Service in the auditorium at Town Hall, 20 Bridge St.

A parade/march will follow at 2 p.m., starting at and circling back to Town Hall for the conclusion, a cookout.

“Everyone is invited to participate in this event,” said organizers in the MLK Observance Committee.

That includes joining the parade/march, said Anne Cooke, committee vice president/acting chairman.

“We don’t want any spectators. We want everybody to be marching or driving a float,” she said.

For the Memorial Service, the program will consist of performances by youth from Campbell Chapel AME, First Zion Baptist and St. John’s Baptist churches and the Boys & Girls Club, Cooke said.

Also, the Observance Committee will present the annual Drum Major Award to an honoree for service to the community.

From Town Hall, the parade/march route will go north up Pritchard Street, head left down Bruin and May River roads, turn left on Thomas Heyward Street and then go left on Bridge Street back to its starting point.

While the parade is open to all who show up, groups entering a vehicle or float are asked to contact Cooke or Connie Atkins, treasurer/program coordinator, in advance. Reach Cooke by phone at 757-3417 and Atkins at 248-390-1798.