VALDOSTA – Standing at the podium, in a packed room full of dignitaries and residents, Dr. John W. Culbreath took a trip down memory lane. 

Culbreath is a retired superintendent of Dougherty County Schools, an educational consultant and was the keynote speaker for the 35th Annual MLK Founders’ Banquet Saturday.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Committee sponsored the banquet at the James H. Rainwater Conference Center.

Guests gathered to reflect on the work of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Culbreath offered memories of King and more.

He first recalled being in his hometown of Monroe in the 1970s with others and watching television broadcasts on King and his efforts.

Culbreath said he was always waiting for the “good part.”

“The good part was excerpts from Dr. King’s speeches like ‘I Have a Dream,’ ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail,’ ‘A Knock at Midnight’ and ‘I’ve Been to the Mountain Top,’” Culbreath said.

He remembered a showing of a call to worship at Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. Otis Moss Jr. pondered “What if Dr. King came back and asked what have you done with my dream?”

Culbreath said King would ask this question to the likes of civil rights activists Rosa Parks and Ralph Abernathy.

“That call to worship captured my imagination,” Culbreath said. “ … I begin to ask out loud to everyone in attendance what have you done to help build the beloved community.”

The way to build the community is to break down barriers that divide, respect the dignity and work of all people, invest in young people and stay focused on the prize, he said.

Culbreath later centered his speech on the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also known as the African-American Smokejumpers and the Triple Nickels.

Following closely were the narratives of the Montford Point Marines, the first African-American recruits in the Marine Corps, and the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-female unit to deploy overseas during World War II.

Earlier in the banquet, Dr. William C. Morgan received “A Candle in the Dark” award for his community involvement through multiple organizations.

Morgan is a former soldier and a postal service retiree and is the pastor of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, according to a biography provided during the banquet.

He has been the chairman of the Eastern Division Union and moderator of the South Georgia Missionary Baptist Association. He’s spent seven years as a volunteer chaplain at South Georgia Medical Center.

The annual observance continues Sunday, Jan. 19, at the St. Paul A.M.E. Church where Dr. John Manning Sr. will be the guest speaker and Jacqueline Crawford will receive the humanitarian award.

A youth program is scheduled 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at Mathis City Auditorium. A fellowship dinner will follow the program, and guests are asked to bring canned goods for donations.