More than 100 Valley residents came out to the Snoqualmie United Methodist Church for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, “Live the Change we Seek,” on Monday, Jan. 16.

Organized by Snoqualmie resident Kim Ewing, the event was a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy and message. The event featured music from Harley Brumbaugh and the Chancel Choir, as well as speakers including Gary Schwartz of Valley Center Stage and Tod Marshall, Washington State poet laureate.

Ewing, who has lived in the Valley for seven years, said the event was inspired by the recent political climate and her observations about the local community. While there were MLK Day events in Seattle, Ewing said it is important to have an event in smaller cities like Snoqualmie.

“I think it’s important that we have celebrations like that in this county, and even more, we have celebrations like this in small towns like this,” she said. Small towns give people a chance to get to know each other, she explained. “It’s towns like this that are predominantly white and other towns with predominantly people of color living away from each other… we need to start to understand our needs and struggles.”

Ewing said, with help from other community members, the event was organized in only two months.

Pastor Lee Carney Hartman of the Snoqualmie United Methodist Church offered Ewing space in the church to host the event.

“It was something she had a vision for and she knew she had a gathering space, and the church isn’t in any way responsible for the event, other than we are a community space and this is something in line with our mission,” Hartman said.

After the success of the event, Ewing said she has already begun planning for next year’s event and will be forming an organizing committee to help with the process. With more time to prepare, it will be even better, she said.

“Really the goal is to have this type of event at least once a year and on the day of Dr. King’s birthday seems most appropriate. It’s his legacy,” Ewing said. “Part of the whole concept of ‘Live the Change we Seek,’ is to look inside ourselves, and if we have a certain vision of the kind of change we want to see in our communities and our world, we have to embrace that change some way.”

Gary Schwartz, of Valley Center Stage, was a guest speaker at Monday’s event. Mary Miller Photo

Participants attempt to mimic each other in an empathy-building exercise introduced as part of the Martin Luther King Day celebration Jan. 16 in Snoqualmie. Mary Miller Photo

Musician Reggie Garrett performed for the event. Mary Miller Photo

Suzan Zoey opened the event by performing a song with in both the Samish and English languages. Evan Pappas/Staff Photo

Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall spoke at the Snoqualmie United Methodist Church’s “Live the Change we Seek” Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Jan. 16. Evan Pappas/Staff Photo