City Council Presents Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Achievement Awards
Wednesday, January 18th, 2023
The City of Dalton annually honors one of the city's residents with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Achievement Award. The award is presented to an individual who has worked in the community to promote unity and togetherness and to make the community a better place. At Tuesday night's meeting of the Mayor and Council, the award was presented to co-recipients: the Bishop Nicky Starling and also Mayor David Pennington who was surprised by the Council and staff with the honor.
Caption: Bishop Nicky Starling (center) and Mayor David Pennington (right) pose together after being named co-recipients of the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Achievement Award
Mayor Pennington presented Starling with the award, saying that "no one has done more in this community with respects to Martin Luther King’s memory than what Nicky Starling has done. Besides to pastor his own church, he’s been a tremendous help with the community center and rebuilding the community center. Nicky’s meant a lot to this community for a long time."
"First of all, I want to thank God for this wonderful blessing," Starling said in accepting the award. "It’s been a privilege to work in this community for 40 years. Right after I got hurt as a police officer I went right into community service and I just thank God for the privilege and opportunity."
Starling served as a police officer with the Dalton Police Department for more than four years before being injured in an accidental shooting that ended his career. From there, he entered the ministry following in the footsteps of his grandfather Bishop C.H. Ellison. He became pastor of Greater St. James Overcoming Church of God in 1986.
After the presentation to Starling, city administrator Andrew Parker and city clerk Bernadette Chattam asked Mayor Pennington to stay at the front of the council chamber for another presentation. City Councilmember Tyree Goodlett then announced that the City Council and staff had decided to honor Pennington as a co-recipient of the 2023 award in recognition for his leadership and work towards community unity while serving as mayor.
"In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, 'life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?'" Goodlett said. "Mayor Pennington, on behalf of the city council and city staff we are happy to recognize you as the 2023 CO-recipient of the MLK, Jr. Award based on your contributions to others while being the mayor in the city of Dalton. During your term as mayor, your leadership has been invaluable for key projects and initiatives that have been truly transformative in bringing our community together. And one of the best examples of those that you have under your belt would be the Mack Gaston Community Center which is one of the most used recreational centers in North Georgia."
After the meeting, Mayor Pennington said he was thankful for the award and the surprise, but was mostly happy to see Starling receive the honor and proud to be recognized alongside him.
"Number one, Nicky has been very valuable to this community for a long time, particularly the community surrounding the community center itself, going all the way back to his grandfather," Pennington said. "So I think that it’s something that I’m very proud of, I’m glad that it was done."
Below: After presenting the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Achievement Award to Bishop Nicky Starling, Mayor David Pennington was honored as a co-recipient of the honor by City councilmember Tyree Goodlett
