People across this nation celebrated the 88th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in many ways, and in O’Fallon, about 200 people gathered at New Life in Christ Interdenominational Church for the Eighth Annual O’Fallon-Metro East NAACP Community Martin Luther King breakfast where Msgr. William Hitpas spoke. Msgr. Hitpas is pastor of St. Nicholas in O’Fallon and St. Joseph in Lebanon.

It’s no small feat to keep a newspaper up and running for 110 consecutive years, so we decided it was a good idea to make this a year of celebration.
As part of that, we will run “A Look Back” in every issue, with something pulled from a past Messenger and run as a column in present issues.
Here’s our first example: an article from the Jan. 27, 1939 issue.

The Messenger marks the year 2016 by recalling people, places and events of the past year. Parishes and Catholic schools celebrated milestones with beginnings and endings. People were also celebrated for their gifts, their talents, their generosity and their faith. Following is our “year in review.”