The dream lives on in Lake City

When an assassin's bullet struck down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of a Memphis motel on April 4, 1968, his legacy had already been firmly established.

His passionate speeches calling for racial equality and an end to segregation changed the way people of different races perceived each other and led to laws protecting the rights of minorities and women.

King's death at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:06 p.m., 65 minutes after he was shot, silenced the 39-year-old civil rights leader's voice forever. But the bullet filed from assassin James Earl Ray's rifle failed to kill the dream.

For thousands of people who lined the Lake City parade route honoring King on Monday, it was an opportunity to remember his legacy.

The parade began at the Department of Transportation office on South Marion Avenue, led by two Lake City Police patrol cars with sirens blaring and lights flashing.

Hundreds participated in the march along the more than a mile-long parade route, including public officials, bands from both high schools and Richardson Middle School, junior ROTC units and church groups from the area.

Floats were filled with children waving signs such as "We are the Future," "From the Outhouse to the White House. The Power of a Dream," and "We Remember Your Labor of Love."

Watis McNeil, of Lake City, said Monday was a paid holiday from his job at the Veteran's Administration Hospital but he chose to watch the parade as it passed in front of his workplace as a way to pay tribute to King.

"I came here because of history and pride," McNeil said. "If we forget our heritage, we'll lose our soul and what we can be in the future."

McNeil said he has seen great improvements since King's death.

"We have evolved as a society," he said. "You get God to lead you and you'll get to where you need to be."

Mike Goodyear, of Lake City, said he was watching the parade for the second time. But it was the first time for his 6-year-old daughter, Nicole.

"It''s a good thing for people to do," he said of the parade. "It reminds everyone what Martin Luther King Jr. stood for."

Daphne Jones, of High Springs, said she was happy so many youths participated in the parade or stood on the parade route.

She believes King, who died when she was 2 years old, helped people realize that everyone, regardless of race, has much in common.

"You take away the skin color and we're all the same," Jones said. "It [the parade] makes me think of the entire struggle everyone went through."