Celebrations Around The Bay Area On Martin Luther King Jr. Day
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - From breakfast all the way through to the end of the day, the Bay Area is holding events to commemorate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., including parades, rallies and opportunities for service.
MLK Day was established as a federal holiday in 1983, and Congress designated it a National Day of Service in 1994. In the Bay Area, as in many other states, people looking to volunteer have many opportunities.
The Caltrain NorCalMLK Celebration Train will provide free service from San Jose to the Martin Luther King Day celebration in San Francisco.
The Celebration Train is meant to commemorate the 54-mile march between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama that was led by the civil rights pioneer in 1965. The train leaves the Diridon Station at 9:45 a.m. with stops in Palo Alto and San Mateo.
Once the train arrives in San Francisco at 11 a.m., thousands of people are expected to march 1.5 miles through the city. They'll cross the Lefty O'Doul Bridge, stopping by Willie Mays Plaza at Oracle Park and end at Yerba Buena Gardens.
In Oakland, the 5th Annual People's Marcg will begin at 11 a.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza. There will be events at the plaza from 7:45 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Berkeley Adult School offers a chance to kick off the day with the eighth annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast. The event begins at 8 a.m. at the school, 1701 San Pablo Ave.
Another 8 a.m. breakfast, this one in San Francisco -- the labor and community breakfast held at the Marriott Marquis Ballroom, 780 Mission Street.
The City of El Cerrito is holding its 30th annual MLK parade and rally, starting with an 8:30 rally at City Hall Plaza, Manila and San Pablo avenues. The march ends at El Cerrito High School.
In Santa Cruz, a march and rally held by the city's police department and the NAACP Santa Cruz County Branch kick off at 9 a.m. at Cathcart Street between Cedar Street and Pacific Avenue.
Cities all over the area are spotlighting volunteer activities, including the fourth annual East Palo Alto mayor's tree planting and MLK Day of Service at 9 a.m. in MLK Park, 435 Daisy Lane.
Moving into the afternoon, Carolyn McKinstry, a civil rights advocate and witness to the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, will speak at the Hayward Annual MLK Birthday event.
The event will take place at Chabot College's Reed L. Buffington Visual & Performing Arts Center at 4:30 p.m.
Many places and services will be affected by the holiday.
Banks and other financial institutions are closed, as well as post offices.
BART will run on its Saturday schedule with free parking. Service from Richmond starts an hour earlier than usual for a Saturday and additional early trains will run from Richmond to Daly City.
Muni is on a Satuday schedule and AC Transit is on a Sunday schedule.
Parking meters in San Francisco will be enforced, but Monday through Friday street sweeping will not.
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