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Renaming of street highlights festivities
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK © St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2001 BROOKSVILLE -- Martin Luther King Jr. Day has special significance for celebrants in Hernando County this year. They finally will see a road named after the civil rights hero, more than a dozen years after activists first pushed for the recognition. The covers come off the signs for Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which runs from U.S. 41 to E Jefferson Street, as part of Monday's event. "That's the key focus of the day," co-organizer Stephanie Richardson said. "We started in 1988, and we brought it back again this year and it was very successful. It was a hard roadto get there, but in this millennium we finally got there. "Everybody finally did the right thing." For a while, the signs will read "Martin Luther King Boulevard, formerly Summit Road." Brooksville Mayor Joe Johnston III, the City Council's most vocal supporter of the change, said the two names will appear on the signs until road maps and phone books can be updated. "We've got a couple of years of transition" to signs without the name Summit Road, Johnston said. He said Monday's unveiling at 9:30 a.m. at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Josephine Street will symbolize what he hoped are improving relations between the city and its African-American community. "For a number of years, at least since I've been here, we've had a willingness to cooperate with all our citizens. This is symbolic that this is the case," Johnston said, noting that since the renaming, the number of residents attending council meetings and applying for city committees has increased. Richardson said the event is designed to bring all people together, as King aimed to do during his career. "We would love for everybody to come out and celebrate," she said. "It's open to the entire community." In past years, the celebration started in South Brooksville and headed to the old county courthouse. This year, the path is reversed. An MLK Breakfast will take place from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. at Frederick Kelly Elks Lodge 1270, 21262 Old Dade City Road. Marchers then will gather at the courthouse about 9 a.m. and walk up Main Street to the NAACP headquarters on Martin Luther King Boulevard for the unveiling. "With the street being renamed, we're going to put the focus down on that area," Richardson said. After the street ceremony, the activities will move to Kennedy Park. The official program will begin at 11 a.m., with guest speaker the Rev. Wilbur Bush. Community children also will perform and lead the Pledge of Allegiance. City and county officials will present resolutions, and veterans groups will present the colors. A fish fry, events for children and a bazaar will take place in the park after the program.
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