Community members came together at the banquet hall of the Clarion hotel in Dunkirk on Monday despite blistering cold weather outside to honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The annual luncheon is organized by the MLK Luncheon Committee and the Juneteenth Celebration Committee. Loretta Slaton Torain, chairperson of the annual the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon Committee, welcomed guests just past noon Monday. This year’s theme was “We Won’t Go Back … Unity = Strength.”

The community showed its strength in numbers despite chilling temperatures outdoors, with snow falling through gusts over 30 miles per hour. The 13-degree temperature felt like 14 below zero.

Poor weather is becoming part of the tradition for the annual luncheon, as a year ago, travel bans impacted guests from outside the region, including last year’s guest speaker.

Nearly every seat at the banquet hall at the Clarion hotel in Dunkirk was full at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon on Monday.

“This is MLK weather,” Torain joked before the event began. “We’ve had a foot of snow at times. The weather could be wonderful all winter, and on the day of, it will snow.”

Still, even with the weather providing an extra hurdle to clear, many prominent members of the community were in attendance, including Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz, Fredonia Mayor Mike Ferguson, County Executive P.J. Wendel, Assemblyman Andrew Molitor, and Frank Puglisi on behalf of Governor Kathy Hochul.

“The best thing we can all do is live by Dr. King’s words and teach that to future generations, so that they can share his words,” Ferguson said prior to the event.

The event also included local police officers along with County Sheriff Jim Quattrone, as well as the Dunkirk High School JROTC program and members of the My Brother’s Keeper program – Davian Alvalle, Jareese Gaines, and mentor Frank Torian. The guest speaker for the luncheon was Kisun Peters, Principal of Dunkirk School 3 and the Director of Early Learning (UPK) for the Dunkirk City School District.

For the first time this year, the event featured a scholarship presentation to an HBCU graduate student. Speeches were also given by Alvalle and Gaines from the My Brother’s Keeper program.

Jareese Gaines, a Dunkirk senior in the My Brother’s Keeper program, smiles while holding notes for a speech he prepared for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon in Dunkirk on Monday.

“It means a really good amount to me,” Gaines said of being asked to speak at the event. “There’s a lot of important people here, a lot of people that have power here. I’m just honored to be able to speak in front of them, for them to give me my time to speak my mind. I’m really honored. It means a lot because they are important people in Dunkirk, and not just Dunkirk, but everywhere else too.”

Gaines spoke to the power of a positive mindset. As a standout wide receiver at Dunkirk High School with dreams of continuing his football career beyond high school, Gaines knows firsthand what a positive mindset can do. His final high school game was a win at Fredonia, a feat the Dunkirk program had not accomplished in close to a decade.

“A positive mindset can take you so far. I’ve seen it, especially through sports — a negative mindset impacts a team. It is detrimental every single time,” Gaines said. “It’s not just sports, it’s everyday life. A positive mindset can get you really far and a negative mindset stops you from progressing.”

As part of the My Brother’s Keeper program, Alvalle and Gaines have met other young leaders from across the state over the past two years. Gaines is grateful for opportunities to refine his public speaking skills which he hopes will come in handy as he pursues a football career at the next level. He is in the process of deciding on a college to study marketing next fall while hoping to play football.

Torain is excited to follow the careers of Alvalle and Gaines in the years to come. Many former scholarship winners and others recognized at previous events play a large part in coordinating and participating in the event each year.

“We try to let people know where their money is truly going. It’s really helping our young people go on and get a college degree and get a good job,” Torain said.

Prior to the guest speakers and recognitions, each mayor in attendance gave an official proclamation signifying the importance of celebrating Dr. King’s legacy.

In an official proclamation, Ferguson stated, “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a courageous leader in the Civil Rights Movement, who fought tirelessly for equality and justice for all Americans.” Ferguson also stated that King was an inspiration to millions across the world and that his dream of a society free from discrimination and prejudice “continues to guide us towards a more perfect union.”

Wdowiasz stated in a proclamation immediately preceding Ferguson, “Dr. King’s message of unity, hope, and equality remains as relevant today as ever, reminding us that true justice can only be achieved when we come together as one community, bound by love, respect, and understanding.”

Wdowiasz concluded her proclamation by encouraging all residents of the city of Dunkirk to embrace the theme of this year’s luncheon and to “participate in service, community and action that will advance the cause of justice and equality for all.”