SPRINGFIELD — A full slate of activities celebrating the life and achievements of influential civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is planned in Effingham County on Monday.

The Homer L. Wallace Unity Breakfast will kick off the events at 7:30 a.m. at the Effingham County Recreation and Parks Department Community Room, Hwy 119 South, in Springfield. The breakfast is named after the only African-American to serve as an Effingham County commissioner and one of the co-founders of the Effingham County Branch of the NAACP.

The Martin Luther King Day Jr. Parade will start in Downtown Springfield at 10 a.m. St. Matthews Baptist Church Deacon Roy Griffin Jr. of Springfield was named the parade’s grand marshal by the Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Day Committee.

“He was selected for his community involvement based on the principles and morals of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and being concerned about his fellow man,” said the Rev. Lon Harden, a committee member. 

The focus will return to the Effingham County Recreation and Parks Department at noon for the annual Youth Award Celebration in the gym.

At 6 p.m., Royal Temple Holiday Church on Samuel Smalls Drive in Guyton will conduct a program in honor of King.