By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD — The Sunday night/Monday morning storm wasn’t nearly as bad as predicted, which allowed the streets and Galvin Middle School parking lot to be plowed and the annual Martin Luther King Day ceremony at Galvin auditorium to proceed as planned Monday, January 20, albeit with a smaller crowd than usual.
“I knew it would be over by dawn, but I contacted everyone participating,” Human Rights Commission chair Sherri Oken said.
“The DPW and the School Department work together very well and knew clearing the streets and parking lot was a priority,” Town Administrator Steve Maio said. “I’m very happy with how it worked out.”
The day has evolved to also recognize the life and legacy of Coretta Scott King and the King Center in Atlanta. Oken said the HRC will follow the theme of the Center for the year of “Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence 365.”
She also showed slides of a recent visit to National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.
In his invocation, Reverend Glenn Mortimer of the Wakefield Lynnfield United Methodist Church and head of the Wakefield Clergy Association said, “On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as the struggle for civil rights continues, we pray for a renewed commitment to love and nonviolence. We pray for the resistance of hate and the liberation of the oppressed. We pray for the poor to be lifted up and the vulnerable to be protected. We pray for King’s dream, which he said was deeply rooted in the American dream, that all are created equal, all are deserving of opportunity and all have a seat at the table of freedom and justice. Let freedom ring for us, for all and for the future of promised peace.”
The annual Community Service Award was given to police officer Amy Rando for making significant, tangible and meaningful contributions that promote civil and human rights. She was a founding member of the HRC in 2015 and is the current Police Department liaison to it.
Unbeknownst to her, she was nominated for the award by Police Chief Steve Skory. “I didn’t know,” she said with a smile.
Skory cited her work with the HRC, the elderly, distributing food and clothing to people without housing and with women in self-defense classes as examples of her merit. “When I saw the nomination papers, she was the person who came to mind; her name just popped into my head,” he said. “She has dedicated her life to helping others and is relentless in helping people in need.”
“It’s been an honor to serve the Town of Wakefield, those visiting and those who live here,” she said in a brief acceptance speech.
Music was provided by the Dolbeare Elementary School Choir and the gospel choir Kingdom Voice of Glory.
The Dolbeare students sang “What the World Needs Now,” written in 1965 by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and a hit recording for Jackie DeShannon. The students had been given the lyrics and music by music teacher Christopher Zini, but rehearsed for the first time together in the Galvin gym before the ceremony, with some help from the gospel choir and Dolbeare parent and HRC member Jill Dyment, given Zini’s absence.
Her son Charlie said learning the song and rehearsing it went well.
Student Matthew Menon also enjoyed the experience. His mother Debbie said she remembers when the song was a hit years ago.
Kingdom Voice of Glory sang Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” and the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” among other numbers.
Monday was also presidential Inauguration Day, a fact not lost on State Senator Jason Lewis. “For each of us our identity is made up of many different things,” he said. “I’m an immigrant. I was born in South Africa in 1968 and lived there until 1980. I grew up with a racist, apartheid government and my parents saw the United States as a place where they could raise their children in a country with opportunities for all people. Immigrants have made Massachusetts and the United States a place where diversity is a cultural and economic strength, but immigrants are not just important to our workforce and economy. They contribute to our culture in many ways, but as we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, we are inaugurating a president that demonizes immigrants and is threatening to impose cruel policies like deportation and separating families. We need to live up to the spirit of Massachusetts and speak up for our neighbors who will be targeted. I’m sure if Dr. King was alive, that is the message he would be delivering.”
“Our nation is involved in a peaceful transition of power,” State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian added. “Dr. King emphasized how out actions or lack of action affects other people. Let us not allow our ideological differences to foster demonization.”
In other elements of the ceremony, 7th grader Audrey Elise Crain recited a poem, residents Chris Gervasi and Benny Wheat previewed the Wakefield Black History Walk planned for the spring and Youth Council Representative Ava Serino outlined the HRC 2025 Community Service Project, Give the Warmth of Winter Care. It was hoped people brought new or gently used/clean hats and gloves, and new socks to the Galvin on yesterday. Through February 7, however, there will be additional donation drop off locations around Wakefield including at the Galvin Middle School and Memorial High School (60 Farm Street), Americal Civic Center (467 Main Street), McCarthy Senior Center (30 Converse Street) and Town Hall (1 Lafayette Street). The project will culminate with an all-ages community event on the morning of Saturday, February 8, at the Americal Civic Center, to sort and package, and help us deliver the donations.
HRC member Jessica Sutich read a Land Acknowledgement in which she said the Town is on conquered land, its current residents are settlers and the Town celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day in lieu of Columbus Day in October.