Bartholomew Orr, pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, will give the keynote address Monday in culmination of the local observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Orr, who has served as senior pastor at Brown for 20 years, will speak at 11 a.m. in the auditorium at Batesville Intermediate School at the conclusion of the commemorative march that morning.

Events commemorating the life of Dr. King will begin this evening with a basketball jamboree at the Batesville Junior High gym at 5:30. The event will include a “pastors vs. pastors” game. Teams must register for the jamboree by phoning coordinator Dennis Hoskins at 934-6474.

On Saturday a Black Business Expo will be held from 1-6 p.m. at the Patton Lane Community Center. Marlon Coleman and committee members will host the event. If your business would like to participate contact Pastor Marlon J. Coleman at 662-267-8611 or pastorcoleman@thefirstunitedchurchms.org. Registration is free and the event is open to the public.

On Sunday a musical program commemorating the life of King will be presented at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Sardis at 6 p.m.

MLK Day events on Monday, January 19 will begin with a breakfast at Mt. Zion Church (corner of Panola Ave. and Hoskins Road) at 7 a.m. followed by a prayer service hosted by the Sardis District Ministerial Alliance.

All clergy and community leaders are invited to participate.

At 9 a.m. church groups, community organizations, business representatives and community leaders are asked to assemble at Mt. Zion for line formation for the march.

The march will begin at 10 a.m. and will proceed down Panola Ave. to the Downtown Square, to Boothe St. to Atwell, ending at the Batesville Intermediate School auditorium where Pastor Orr will speak.

He began preaching at age 11 and has served the 4,000-member Brown M.B. Church since 1989.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in humanities from Christian Brothers University and a master of divinity degree from Mid-America Baptist Theological seminary.

He and his wife Valarie have four sons.

The commemoration committee is requesting that each group participating in the march prepare a banner stating the event’s theme and identifying the group.

The theme for this year’s observance is “Remember! Celebrate! Act! Commemorating the Legacy of a Dream Fulfilled.”