Bar Association celebrating Law Day; former commissioner to receive award
An actor portraying Abraham Lincoln, a speaker who will read portions of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and an award to a recently-retired county commissioner will be part of Law Day festivities at 6 p.m. May 1 at the Washington County Courthouse.
The free event, open to the public, marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the 50th anniversary of King’s famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The Washington County Bar Association has named former Washington County commissioner Bracken Burns as the recipient of its 2013 Liberty Bell Award.
First presented in 1967, the Liberty Bell is given by the Washington County Bar to nonlawyers for outstanding service in promoting a better understanding of our form of government, encouraging respect for law and the courts, encouraging individual responsibility, contributing to the effective functioning of government and developing an appreciation of the rule of law.
Burns was Washington County’s public safety director before serving as a county commissioner from 1996 to 2012.
The bar association will present the award to Burns at the Bar Association’s Law Day Celebration at the courthouse.
Reading parts of King’s speech will be the Rev. Charles Thomas of Atlanta, Ga., a native of the Washington County community of Houston. The bar association will also present its Law Day contest awards, and there will be a ceremony admitting new members of the bar, followed by a dessert reception.
The bar association asks those attending the event to register by calling 724-225-6710 or, via email, wcba@washcobar.org.