Norwich — The Norwich Branch of the NAACP and Norwich Free Academy will host the 34th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration events in January with the theme: “Restoring the Soul of Our Nation.”

The King birthday celebration luncheon will be held at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18 in the Sidney Frank Center Ensemble Room at NFA, 305 Broadway. The keynote speaker is Cheryl Sharp, deputy director of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. State Comptroller Kevin Lembo will be honored with the 2019 Robertsine Duncan Memorial Award given to an individual or organization for outstanding efforts to ensure quality education for children while being an advocate on behalf of the community, city and state.

In 2017, the Norwich Branch NAACP established the Terell T. Wilson Scholarship Award in memory of the past vice president of the NAACP Robertsine Duncan Youth Council and president of the NAACP Connecticut State Conference of Youth and College Division. The scholarship award will be given to a senior who is active member of the NAACP youth council. This year’s recipient will be Luckensley Paul.

Tickets to the luncheon are $30 for adults, $15 for students.

On Monday, Jan. 21, the annual Martin Luther King Day march will begin at 1:15 p.m. in the David Ruggles Freedom Courtyard at Norwich City Hall, 100 Broadway, and proceed to Evans Memorial AME Zion Church at 2 McKinley Ave., where the King birthday celebration program will begin at 2 p.m. The Rev. Marcus Luter Jr. will deliver the celebratory reflection.

For more information and tickets, visit www.norwichbranchnaacp.org/mlkluncheon or call (860) 886-1686 or email mlkluncheon@norwichbranchnaacp.org.