Events slated to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.

ORONO – An annual breakfast and several other events have been scheduled over the weekend and on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to honor the life and legacy of the slain civil rights leader.

The 12th annual “Keeping the Dream Alive” breakfast will be held 8:30-10:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 21, at the University of Maine’s Stodder Hall. The event is hosted by the Greater Bangor Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the university.

The keynote address will be given by professor Douglas Allen who, as a longtime civil rights activist, describes King as having been a “major influence in [my] life.”

Women with Wings and the university’s Renaissance singers are slated to perform.

Tickets are $15, $10 for students, $5 for children 12 and under, $5 for seniors 65 and over, and can be obtained by calling 947-4625.

On Sunday:

. Bangor – The Rev. Brad Mitchell of the Unitarian Universalist Society and James Varner, a local NAACP member, will be hosts for a “Keeping the Dream Alive” service at 10 a.m. at the church, located at 120 Park St.

On Monday:

. Bangor – The Rev. John McCall, pastor of the First Congregational Church, UCC, of South Portland, will talk about his experience as a college student marching with King in Selma, Ala., at 1:30 p.m. at the Hammond Street Congregational Church as part of the Bangor Theological Seminary Convocation. For more information, call 942-6781 or visit www.bts.edu.

. Waterville – 22nd annual community breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m. at the Muskie Center, 38 Gold St. Cedric Bryant, the Lee Family Professor of English at Colby College, will speak. Tickets are $5 for adults, $2 for children age 12 and under and may be obtained from the Muskie Center or from members of the Waterville Rotary Club. For information, call Stephen Collins, 859-4352, or the Muskie Center, 873-4745.

. Machias – The University of Maine at Machias will be host of the 27th annual “Peace and Justice Sing-Along” from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Music Room at Powers Hall. Music professor Gene Nichols will lead the free musical event. For information contact Katherine Cassidy, UMM public relations, at 255-1327.

. Belfast – Waldo County Peace and Justice will be host for a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at 4:30 p.m. at Post Office Square. For the 20th consecutive year, people will meet at the post office and march by candlelight to nearby First Church for an indoor program. There will be singing, readings from King’s speeches and a presentation by Dr. Josephine A. Bright, secretary of the Greater Bangor Chapter of the NAACP. Children are welcome to take part, and participants are urged to dress warmly and to bring a candle if possible. For information, call 338-3142.

. Orono – The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine will sponsor the “Keeping the Dream Alive Spoken Word Cafe” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Keith Anderson Community Center on Bennoch Road, just behind the post office. A potluck community supper will be followed by presentations by anyone who wants to “read a poem, the lyrics to a song, or a piece that you feel conveys your experience and dreams for a better society in the future,” according to a press release. The theme for the evening is race, injustice and our vision for a better tomorrow. For information, call 942-9343.

. Bangor – Maine Human Rights Coalition Inc. will hold a vigil from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Society church at 120 Park St. The event will include presentations by several religious and community leaders, including Rabbi Darah Lerner for Congregation Beth El; the Rev. Brad Mitchell, Unitarian Universalist Church pastor; the Rev. Lorna Stuart from the Church of Universal Fellowship in Orono; the Rev. Joan DeSanctis of the Old Town United Methodist Church; and the Rev. Jo Anne Hall of the University of Maine Newman Center. The event is free and open to the public. For information, call James Varner, Maine Human Rights Coalition Inc. president and CEO, at 827-4493.