Manchester Schools Set For 54th Service Honoring Martin Luther King Jr

MANCHESTER, NJ — The Manchester Township Schools are set to honor the life and legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with the 54th annual celebration and gospel chorus concert.

The celebration is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13, in the auditorium at Manchester Township High School.

The concert was first held in January 1969, less than a year after King was shot and killed in a Memphis, Tennessee motel room, on April 4, 1968.

It was one of many celebrations around King's Jan. 15 birthday nationwide, held to help keep his message and his words alive.

In Manchester, the program annually has featured the performance by the school's gospel chorus, comprised of students in the Manchester Middle and High schools, along with inspirational speakers urging attendees to live up to the values King represented.

The concert is organized yearly by Joan Slater, a now-retired Manchester teacher, along with school district personnel, and is sponsored in part by donations from the Manchester Township Education Association and the Manchester PTA.

Selena Bullock, who directed the gospel chorus for more than 10 years and helped organize the concernt, passed away in October 2020.

Tickets for the celebration will be sold at the door. They are $5 for adults, $3 for students and children age 6 or older, and children age 5 and younger get in free.