Love leads the way
“Character Builds Community” was the theme of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. prayer breakfast held at the Coshocton Village Inn & Suites on Monday morning, Jan. 20. Pictured are Tim Ross, representing the Governor’s office, Rev. Cliff Biggers, Coshocton City Council President and President of the Greater Coshocton Community Development Corporation, who hosted the event, Jon Husted, Ohio Secretary of State, guest speaker Honorable Mayor Eugene W. Grant, Seat Pleasant, MD, and Honorable Mayor Steve Mercer, City of Coshocton.
COSHOCTON – Speaking with a level of passion and spirit, guest speaker Mayor Eugene W. Grant from Seat Pleasant, Maryland, kept the audience on the edge of their seats at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. prayer breakfast, held Monday morning, Jan. 20 at the Coshocton Village Inn & Suites.
As local officials, business and community leaders and interested citizens listened, Mayor Grant used words from Dr. King’s speeches and his own enthusiasm, telling the audience that love will build a community.
Linda Weber provided special music and Brad Fuller served as event emcee. Rev. Cliff Biggers quoted from Dr. King’s writings in his opening remarks saying, “Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve.” He asked the audience, “How can I make Coshocton a little better?” and thanked those in attendance for their support.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted presented a proclamation from Governor John Kasich at the event and Tim Ross also issued a proclamation. Husted said that it takes “leadership and courage. We are here to honor one of America’s great leaders that showed leadership and courage.”
Mayor Grant spoke from the heart, “Today we come together in commemoration of the life, legacy and love of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today marks the 28th anniversary of the federal holiday. Dr. King, if he were alive today, would be 85 years old.”
“It is great to build, but brick and mortar, . . . infrastructure development, businesses and services alone is not enough. To have a successful and thriving community it must have character. Its people must have character. Character builds a community.”
“Dr. King spoke specifically in his dream about character. He urged us to make judgments based on a person’s character and not their skin color. The advancement of our society, or building of our community, must be done with a particular type of character, and, I believe, a character motivated by love will move us in that direction and sustain our existence.”
Mayor Grant received a standing ovation following his remarks.
(Editor’s note: this represents a portion of Mayor Grant’s speech)
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Very nice article. Thank you for sharing. Coshocton is a wonderful city.