Community Day celebrates diversity

BY JENNIFER BAILEY
Commercial-News

DANVILLE July 03, 2009 11:42 pm

— While most people get a chance to talk and visit with a lot of other people at each year’s Community Day, volunteer Carolyn VanPelt is often too busy.
“I take care of the ice cream,” she explained. “It’s too fast, too furious. It’s just a constant flow of people.”
Not that VanPelt is complaining.
She said Community Day is a nice event in which she enjoys volunteering.
The 16th annual Community Day will be from 2:30-5 p.m. July 12 at Lincoln Park.
There is free food and beverages, including chicken, pork butt sandwiches and ice cream, and lots of entertainment.
The event is sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee and the City of Danville’s Human Relations Commission.
MLK Jr. Celebration Committee Chairwoman Mary Thompson said there will be plenty of food, most of which is donated.
There also again will be fun activities for children ages 4 to 12, including an inflatable.
Entertainment will feature: The France Family, members of First Presbyterian Church; Carter Metropolitan CME Church Choir with director Brett Dupree; The Danza Matachines; Danville Barbershop Chorus; and Homeward Bound, a gospel group.
“The main thing is, Community Day is a wonderful opportunity for the people of Danville to come together and celebrate our diversity,” Thompson said.
She said the day is also the committee’s way to thank the community for supporting the committee with its scholarships.
The event is open to the public. There is no admission fee.

COMING UP
The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee and the City of Danville’s Human Relations Commission will sponsor the 16th annual Community Day from 2:30-5 p.m. July 12 at Lincoln Park.