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MLK parade ‘means the world’ to grand marshal Frasier
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With Liberty County Commission Chairman Donald Lovette on his right, MLK Jr. Day Observance Parade grand marshal Rev. Henry Frasier stays bundled up against a cold day. Photos by Pat Donahue

Even at 93 years old, one of the founding fathers of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Liberty County was compelled to walk to his spot at the reviewing stand.

With cane in hand, the Rev. Henry Frasier braved the cold and stepped out of his grand marshal vehicle to walk the final block to the reviewing stand set up in front of the Historic Liberty County Courthouse.

“We started walking,” Rev. Frasier said. “This may be the last time, so I got out and walked. It means the world to me.”

Liberty County Commission Chairman Donald Lovette, the main speaker at Saturday’s annual leadership breakfast, held in the East End Complex’s John McIver Auditorium, noted the impact Rev. Frasier and Henry Relaford and Rev. Jimmie Smiley had on making the MLK Jr. Day celebration bigger. Relaford, Rev. Smiley and Rev. Frasier pushed to have a parade to help mark the day’s commemorations.

“Sitting next to our grand marshal, him being one of the founding fathers of the MLK celebration, it allows me to see what it means if you are inspired to start something, just get it started,” Lovette said. “Your calling sometimes it to just get it started. And because they did, we celebrate this day in Hinesville today.”

Frasier was also once mayor of Walthourville and the Frasier family has been active in Liberty County politics.

“I want to keep hope alive,” Rev. Frasier said. “I thank God I’m still here. I miss my brothers — we were so close together. Rev. Smiley’s dream is coming true. He said, ‘we’ve got to make it countywide.’ I am thanking God that he allowed me to see it.”

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