State Sen. Coleman set to speak at King breakfast

Missouri State Sen. Maida Coleman will be the guest speaker at the 18th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast on Jan. 20 at the Show Me Center.

The breakfast buffet will start at 8 a.m. with the program scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Admission will be $7 for the public, $3 for children ages 6 to 12, free for children 5 and under, $3 for Southeast students without a meal plan and free for Southeast students with a university meal plan.

Tickets won't be sold at the door, but will be available in advance at Schnucks in Cape Girardeau from Jan. 2 to 16, and at the Southeast Bookstore and the University Center information desk from Jan. 2 to 17.

Prepaid sponsored tickets for elementary and high school students will be available upon request.

Service scheduled

At 7 p.m., the 13th annual Community Celebration will be held at the Livingway Church, 1224 Bloomfield Road. The ecumenical worship is open to the public and is co-sponsored by the Downtown Council of Churches of Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Bob Towner will preside.

Coleman, the breakfast speaker, represents the 5th Senate District which covers part of the city of St. Louis. She is an assistant Democratic floor leader, the first woman and the first black to hold that position.

Coleman was born in Sikeston, Mo., on July 1, 1954, the oldest of eight children.

After graduating from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism, she moved to St. Louis and worked for the St. Louis American newspaper.

As part of the breakfast activities there will be a display of mittens and winter items collected recently to be distributed to foster children throughout Southeast Missouri.

The M.L.K. Jr. Celebration Planning Committee and the National Pan-Hellenic Council at Southeast coordinated the drive.

"As a planning committee, we felt it was extremely important to do more than just remember Dr. King on Jan. 20 at the breakfast, so we are trying to follow his example by providing a way for each individual, regardless of race, creed, color, religion or financial means to make a small difference for our community," said Gretchen Weber, assistant director for student involvement at Southeast.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123