Stetson University once again will host the annual DeLand MLK Breakfast in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 21.

This year marks the 51st anniversary of the assassination of King, the pillar of the Civil Rights Movement.

The breakfast, which is open to the public, will be held Monday, Jan. 21, at the Hollis Wellness Center’s Rinker Field House. Doors open at 8 a.m., breakfast is available at 8:30 a.m., and ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. Chief Judge Raul A. Zambrano of the Seventh Judicial Circuit will be the keynote speaker. Stetson is collaborating on the event with the Volusia MLK Committee and the Greater Union Life Center.

The breakfast is free for Stetson students, faculty and staff, although seating is limited and tickets are required. Attendees must register online by noon Friday, Jan. 18, at stetson.edu/mlk. See the list of MLK events below for ticket prices and on-sale locations for the public.

At 11 a.m., breakfast attendees will walk to Woodland Boulevard to participate in the annual MLK Day march through downtown DeLand. The march will run from the Stetson campus to Earl Brown Park, which will be the site of the annual Community Festival from noon to 4 p.m.

“We are honored to continue our decades-old commitment of hosting the annual MLK Breakfast,” said Savannah-Jane Griffin, Stetson’s Executive Director of Community Engagement and Inclusive Excellence. “Dr. King had a dream of bringing citizens and stakeholders together to discuss and take action on the most pressing challenges facing our communities, and it is each of our responsibility to fulfill that dream.”

This year’s theme is “Dream Forward Together,” said Mario Davis, executive director of the Greater Union Life Center, a DeLand-based, nonprofit community service organization which is organizing the DeLand breakfast and march.

“With all the challenges happening nationwide and with the blatant racism and separation of understanding, we wanted to have a theme that could unite the community and bring all different walks of life together,” Davis said.

Davis noted that Stetson has participated in MLK Day celebrations “for roughly 30 years. Stetson has been phenomenal. They have essentially been the catalyst for making it possible to have this event on such a large scale. Being partners with Stetson truly has been a remarkable experience as it relates to its investment in the minority community as well as the MLK celebrations.”

Members of Stetson’s Black Student Association will be attending the MLK Day Breakfast, said BSA president Kala Diltz. The Stetson organization is publicizing the event on its official social media pages, and it also has invited the BSA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach to attend.

“The importance of MLK Day is to not only acknowledge Dr. King himself but the other men and women who worked alongside him to attain equal rights for people of color,” Diltz said. “As a young person, I feel that Dr. King’s story has overshadowed other figures and voices that played crucial roles in the success of the Civil Rights Movement.

“If more stories such as those of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, and the Children’s March of Birmingham could be put at the forefront of the discrimination and violence African Americans faced and still face, I believe the impact would be better understood as to why racial inequality and inequity are still a sensitive subject for many African Americans.”

Volunteers are needed for both the breakfast and the festival, said Kevin Winchell, Stetson’s Associate Director of Community Engagement. Anyone interested in volunteering should email him at [email protected].

For more information on MLK Day events in Volusia County, go online at volusiamlk.com.

Here’s a look at some of the events in DeLand:

Saturday, Jan. 19

• Kings Feast, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Electrolytes Charity Club, 240 S. Clara Ave., DeLand. Cost is $12. Sponsored by the Volusia MLK Planning Committee, this event will feature local civic leaders and change-makers who commemorate the legacy of King through direct action in local communities.

• Sanctuary Gospel Concert featuring gospel recording artist Beverly Crawford, 6 p.m., Sanctuary Church, 401 E. Taylor Road, DeLand. Free admission.

Monday, Jan. 21

• Annual DeLand MLK Breakfast with keynote speaker Chief Judge Raul A. Zambrano of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Rinker Field House on the Stetson University campus, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand. Doors open at 8 a.m., breakfast is available at 8:30 a.m., and ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. The event is open to the public.

The breakfast is free for Stetson students, faculty and staff, although seating is limited and tickets are required. Attendees must register online by noon Friday, Jan. 18, at stetson.edu/mlk.

Admission for the public is $10 in advance, $15 at the door, children free with adult with advance ticket. Advance tickets are available at Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida, 204 S. Woodland Blvd. and 1500 N. Spring Garden Ave., DeLand; Greater Union First Baptist Church, 240 S Clara Ave., DeLand; the West Volusia Beacon Newspaper, 110 W. New York Ave., DeLand; and the Lacey Family/Spring Hill Boys & Girls Club, 935 S. Adelle Ave., DeLand.

• Historic March Downtown DeLand, 11 a.m., from Stetson University to Earl Brown Park, 750 S. Alabama Ave., DeLand (park is between S. Alabama and S. Amelia avenues).

• Community Festival, noon-4 p.m., Earl Brown Park, 750 S. Alabama Ave., DeLand (park is between S. Alabama and S. Amelia avenues). Activities include live music by the band Vibe, sporting events, food vendors, children’s performances, and a nonprofit and business community expo. Admission is free and open to the public.

• In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Museum of Art – DeLand will offer free admission from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, at its venue at 600 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand. On exhibit are “African American Art: We Too Dream America” and “Purvis Young: Overtown’s Visual Poet.”

— Rick de Yampert