LOXLEY, Ala. — It was a beautiful day for marching as a large crowd gathered at Loxley Church of God on Hwy. 59 at 9 a.m. on Monday to celebrate the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They marched down Hwy. 59 to the Loxley Civic Center where the Loxley Area Action Group headed up by Mrs. Gloria Autry and Mr. Ronnie McBride, Jr. put on a program.

With the theme “Living the Dream Today, Tomorrow and Forever,” there were several area churches represented as readings from the words of Dr. King were recited and Master Adrian (A.J..) Fowler , Jr. of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church performed an inspirational song and the “Divine Dancers of the Master” performed a praise dance.

Dr. Laticia McCane, Dean of Instructional Services at Bishop State Community College in Mobile, gave the keynote address and challenged those in attendance to “have a dream and live out your dream.”

A native of Mt. Vernon, Al, McCane holds numerous degrees from Alabama State University, Texas Southern University, University of Alabama and LaCrosse University. A trained organic chemist, McCane has worked for three Fortune 500 companies and held positions at Miles College, Jefferson Davis Community College, Faulkner State Community College and Faulkner University. Married to Howard McCane, Jr. and the mother of two daughters, McCane also does motivational speaking and workshop presentations.

“We have to get back to raising and training our children to be leaders in society. To talk about dreams and make dreams happen. See our children for who they are and show them they have a purpose and plan for what they are doing,” Dr. McCane explained.

She went on to say” drug dealers should not be the heroes in our community and parents need to give your children a role model in their house. It takes everyone to make a dream happen and just because you have a college education doesn’t guarantee you a great job. You have to have skills for jobs.”

In closing, McCane said it takes an entire community to take back a generation of children to get the skills they need for a job.

After McCane’s speech, the crowd was led in a chorus of “We Shall Overcome” and then a prayer. The program ended with a lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers, chips and drinks.