MT. VERNON — The Mt. Vernon Branch of the NAACP held their 35th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Monday at the DoubleTree in Mt. Vernon. This year’s theme for the event was “Together, when we fight, we win.”

The local branch’s president, Reverend Erie Patton hopes that the spirit and message of Dr. King can bring people together in Mt. Vernon.

This year’s keynote speaker was Reverend Ronald Johnson, a Mt. Vernon native that now serves as the pastor of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Centralia.