The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration on January 19, 2026 will honor Dr. King and other civil rights proponents when people gather in Lewisburg for the event which will take place from 11:00 AM until about 2:00 PM. It is also an opportunity to show one’s support for that movement which is still so important.
As usual, the event will begin at 11:00 AM with a short ceremony in front of the Greenbrier County Courthouse followed by a march to the Lewisburg United Methodist Church. Along the way, marchers will sing a traditional civil rights song about their determination to ensure liberty and justice for everyone.
A free community lunch will be served in the church’s Wesley Fellowship Hall. That meal will be catered by Smash Pots and will feature beef chili, veggie chili, veggie wraps, chicken wraps, roast beef sandwiches, and turkey sandwiches.
The program in the church sanctuary will begin at 12:30 PM. Near the beginning of the program, everyone will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, and featured musicians will perform at other times.
James Wilmer will be the emcee for the program as he was a few years ago. He will introduce Rev. Beverly Colombo who will welcome everyone to the church and make them feel at home. Lewisburg Mayor Beverly White will read a moving proclamation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Week which will begin on that day.
One highlight of the program will be readings of their essays by MLK Day essay contest winners. That contest has been expanded this year to include entries from students in grades from kindergarten to 12th grade in Pocahontas, Monroe, and Greenbrier Counties. That includes students at private schools and home-schooled students. The winners in four categories based on grade levels will be awarded cash prizes provided by the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine Chapter of the Student National Medical Association. Art work entries created by students in the youngest category who chose to enter them instead of essays will be on display.
The essays and pictures entered by the students will be based on each student’s choice of one of Dr. King’s fourteen quotations that are engraved on the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, DC. On the other hand, the theme for the entire celebration was derived from his words “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him”.
The keynote speaker for the event will be Jeremiah A. Jasper, pastor of Woodford Memorial United Methodist Church in Elkins, West Virginia. He has been featured in Martin Luther King, Jr. Day programs at Davis and Elkins College and also West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon.
Originally from Oak Hill, Rev. Jasper has a B.S. in Education from West Virginia Institute of Technology and a Masters of Divinity from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
Two months ago, Rev. Jasper and Mike Brooks, both from the Woodford Memorial Methodist Church, were among the local winners of Extra Mile Heroes national awards, presented by Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco. This was primarily due to the church’s weekly Common Ground Meals program and also their Backpack Program. Rev. Jasper had previously won that award for public services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional information about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration is available on the Facebook page: MLK Celebration in Greenbrier Valley. Two or three days after the event, a video of the program at the church prepared by the church’s audiovisual expert, Darren Campbell, will be accessible via that Facebook page.
Anyone wishing to be a sponsor for this event may make out a check to Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation and write Greenbrier Valley MLK in the memo line. The foundation’s mailing address is GVCF, PO Box 1682, Lewisburg, WV 24901.
Special thanks to Larry Davis for compiling this information and providing photos.
