Southland Martin Luther King Jr. Day events

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King

Updated: February 16, 2012 8:20AM

Here is a look at Southland events for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

SUNDAY

Riverdale

St. Mary Queen of Apostles Parish, 207 W. 15th St., will hold a special sermon honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at 11 a.m. The service also will feature a guest gospel soloist and will be followed by a reception with refreshments.

Matteson

The village will hold a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in conjunction with its Good Neighbor Awards ceremony at 3 p.m. at Solutions Church, 4818 Southwick Drive. The ceremony will celebrate the life and legacy of King and acknowledge the contributions of outstanding residents.

Orland Park

The Prayer Center of Orland Park, 16550 S. 104th Ave., will host a town hall meeting titled “The Lowe’s Incident: Helping Businesses and Communities Eradicate Hate.” It is being presented as an interfaith response to the recent Lowe’s decision to pull sponsorship of The Learning Channel’s “All-American Muslim” reality show. The program, from 5 to 7 p.m., is timed to honor King for his work to promote tolerance. Speakers will be of Christian, Muslim and Jewish backgrounds.

MONDAY

Chicago Heights

Habitat for Humanity Chicago South Suburbs will honor King with a day of service benefiting another nonprofit agency, SouthSTAR Services in Chicago Heights, which provides vocational training and programs for developmentally disabled adults. Volunteers will give the SouthSTAR Services facility a fresh coat of paint. Anyone interested in this community service project can show up at 8:30 a.m. at SouthSTAR Services, 1005 West End Ave., Chicago Heights. All materials will be provided.

Chicago Heights

The city will host its 15th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at 10:30 a.m. at city hall, 1601 Chicago Road. The featured speakers will be Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and state Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields). The Bloom High School choir will perform, the winner of the Bloom High School Martin Luther King Essay Contest will be present, and there will be a martial arts performance.

Oak Lawn

The public can attend the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at Christ Medical Center and Hope Children’s Hospital. Rebecca Skloot, the author of The New York Times best seller “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” which required more than a decade to research and write, will keynote the event, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the auditorium on Kilbourn Avenue just south of 93rd Street in Oak Lawn. The story is expected to be made into an HBO movie by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball. The celebration also will feature the Brown Sisters, whose first radio single, “Awesome God,” made the top 20 on Billboard magazine’s gospel chart. After the formal portion of the program, there will be a multicultural lunch buffet in the dining area just outside the auditorium.

Olympia Fields

Pastor Samuel E. Hinkle and the COJ Family Life Center, 20401 Western Ave., will host “Committing to Greatness” at noon to honor King. U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd) will be a guest of honor. The free event also will feature a musical performance by the Turner Sisters and a VIP reception.

— Compiled by Jessie Molloy