​Ocean City Honored Community Members On MLK Day

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a virtual ceremony on Monday.

“It’s a great honor for me to be a part of this tradition and it saddens me that we can’t be here together today,” Mayor Jay Gillian said during the virtual ceremony conducted at the Tabernacle. “It would have been hard to imagine last year at this time that a global pandemic would keep us apart. It also would have been hard to imagine that our world would be even more divided.”

"Let’s remember that we are friends and neighbors and we are all a part of the same great country. And let’s think of all the small things that we can do to make the world a better place. That was Dr. King’s dream, and that is what will carry us forward," Gillian continued.

During the hour-long program, three Ocean City residents were honored with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Services Award. Kathy Thompson, Jennifer Bowman and Mike Morrissey were honored for their volunteerism.

Gillian said the three award recipients have helped the community in many ways. Thompson and Bowman have provided meals to those in need at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church. Morrissey, as commander of the VFW Post 6650, has always helped the community whenever he is called upon, Gillian said.

State Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, a former Ocean City councilman, introduced four students from the Ocean City Intermediate School who were winners in an essay contest.

Seventh-graders Joseph Heng and Gabrielle Henry and eighth-graders Danna Ramirez and Catie Brooks each read their essays about the impact Dr. King has had in their lives. After the students finished reading, McClellan said, “Thank you very much. Your heartfelt words have meant a lot.”

To conclude the ceremony, Rev. Greg Johnson of Shiloh Baptist Church recited Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech from 1963.

The full ceremony can be viewed below:

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