There’s much more to Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations than parade

The parade is the one you know about.

The other events -- those that precede and follow Las Vegas' annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade -- are the ones you might want to get to know.

This year's parade marks the 30th anniversary of the first event here. But when marchers and floats begin their procession along Fourth Street on Monday morning, it will actually mark the culmination of a weeklong roster of King Day events that includes everything from a roundtable discussion to community social activities.

This year's parade is scheduled to include about 145 floats, bands and marching entities, but Wendell P. Williams, King Week co-founder and parade chairman, can recall when it wasn't nearly so big.

Before the parade's creation, there were no large-scale King observances here, Williams noted. Then, in December 1981, Williams and a group of organizers obtained a state charter to form the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee. The next month, in January 1982, the first parade took place.

With, Williams recalled, all of, maybe, 13 entries participating.

"It was more like a funeral procession than a parade, to be honest with you," Williams joked, that followed a "very short" route through West Las Vegas and featured "a firetruck and about 12 other entries."

The following year, the parade route moved to a then-uncanopied Fremont Street. "I loved the parade on Fremont Street," Williams said, although spectators for those events included probably as many tourists as locals.

When construction of the Fremont Street Experience prompted another move, the parade took up residence on Las Vegas Boulevard, Williams said. That, in turn, ended when improvement of the medians led to yet another move, this time to the current downtown route.

Williams said he's been told by people who keep track of such things that Las Vegas' Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade now is the largest parade in Nevada.

This year's parade begins at 10 a.m. Monday. The parade route will take marchers and floats along Fourth Street, from Charleston Boulevard to Stewart Avenue.

However, Southern Nevada's observance of the holiday actually began Sunday with a Gospelfest at Victory Missionary Baptist Church and a Young Dreamers Awards program Tuesday at Second Baptist Church.

While the parade remains the most high-profile event of Southern Nevada's annual celebration, Williams said the community increasingly has become aware that it's just one event out of many that are celebrated each year in honor of the slain civil rights leader.

Williams is pleased about that, and he's just as pleased that other organizations now are using the holiday to sponsor other King-related observances here.

"What I've always wanted to do, and what finally is happening, is that other groups in the community will sponsor" an event, he said. "I've always felt that the King committee shouldn't have the exclusive (in) how we celebrate the holiday."

Remaining scheduled events include:

■ "Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline," an education forum hosted by the Education Committee of the Las Vegas NAACP, will begin at 6 p.m. today at the West Las Vegas Library Theater, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

■ A family resource event sponsored by the Nevada Black Caucus, Clark County Family Services and Family Court judges will run 9 a.m.-noon Saturday at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.

■ The 30th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet will be Saturday at the Flamingo Las Vegas, 3555 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Cocktails are at 6 p.m., the program is at 7 and the guest speaker will be Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

■ The fourth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Candlelight Vigil will be 5:30-7 p.m. Sunday at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue. The keynote speaker will be Sonya Douglass Horsford, senior resident scholar of education with The Lincy Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

■ The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday along Fourth Street, from Charleston Boulevard to Stewart Avenue.

■ The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Fest and Car Show will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Edmond Town Center, 1061 W. Owens Ave. The event will include food and cultural vendors, a car show, entertainment and family activities.

■ A Directions Breakfast and presentation of parade awards will be 8-11 a.m. Jan. 21 at Nevada Partners, 710 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

For more information about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day events here, visit the King committee web page (http://kingweeklasvegas.com).

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.