WEST CHESTER TWP. - Gray skies and a cold wind didn’t stop about two dozen people from gathering at noon on Monday at West Chester’s Union Day School to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with the annual March for Unity in Our Community.

Event organizer Gail Webster smiled as she passed out buttons and handed out lyric sheets to “We Shall Overcome” for the marchers to sing as they walked the half-mile route to the West Chester Presbyterian Church. Just before the march, Webster huddled the tight-knit group together to offer a prayer of thanks for bringing everyone together and to ask for help to continue to spread King’s dream of peace and equality.

Lisa Smith of West Chester was there her husband Alex and two sons Alex, 12, and Parker, 8. Smith said the entire family recently started reading more about King as her youngest son, a student at Seven Hills Elementary School, began working on a school project.

“We are so glad the community offers something like this, because we never had it where we were from in Georgia, “Smith said. “So, once I found out about this, I said we are coming no matter what.”

Parker Smith said his school greeting card project focused on what would happen if everyone worked together the way King encouraged.

“I think if everyone did that, there would be peace in the world,” he said. “There would be no war and people wouldn’t have to die. It would be a lot better than it is now.”

Fifteen-year-old Lakota West student Nina Williams held a sign which said “We are living his dream.” She has attended the March for Unity event for five years. This year, she and her friends Makayla Davis and Marckia Brogen, also 15, wanted to spend part of their day off from school reflecting on the importance of King’s legacy.

“I come back every year because I feel like each person can make a difference and be part of the dream,” said Williams. “For kids like us, Dr. King’s is more about reading things in a textbook than living it. I wish we would talk about it more and live it more. Coming here is part of that, I think.”