Florida Tech to Celebrate Martin Luther King Day with Tuskegee Airmen, Award to Local Minister

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Florida Institute of Technology will celebrate the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr. on Wednesday, Jan. 13. The commemoration event is 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the hangar of F.I.T. Aviation’s Emil Buehler Center for Aviation Training and Research at Melbourne International Airport. The event is hosted by Florida Tech’s Office of Alumni Affairs and the Department of Humanities and Communication.

Florida Tech President Anthony J. Catanese and Dean of the College of Aeronautics Winston Scott will welcome guests, including the Tuskegee Airmen, who will be honored with a road named for them.

At the commemoration, Rev. Harvey Riley, pastor of Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Palm Bay, will be the 2010 recipient of the annual Julius Montgomery Pioneer Award.

A pastor for 53 years, Riley has served Baptist churches throughout Brevard County. He has been moderator of the Mt. Zion North East Coast Missionary Baptist Association Inc. and has held the position of chairman of the annuity board and state board of directors of the Florida General Baptist Convention. On Oct. 17, 2009, a ceremony was held in Palm Bay renaming the street in front of his church: Dr. Harvey Riley Street.

Melbourne resident Julius Montgomery was one of Florida Tech’s first African American students. An associate of Florida Tech founder, Dr. Jerry Keuper, Montgomery was a technician and co-worker of Keuper’s at RCA at Cape Canaveral in the late 1950s.

The public is welcome to attend this event, which includes light refreshments. To get to the Emil Buehler Center, turn onto Woody Burke Road—a continuation of Dairy Road—at Hibiscus Boulevard. Cross NASA Boulevard onto Grumman Place and turn right onto Tower Access Road. The next right turn leads to the Buehler Center. Please RSVP to Debra Wolfard at (321) 674-6143 or send e-mail to dwolfard@fit.edu.