NAACP saves King celebration

MARIETTA - The NAACP pledged to save a banquet in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after a citizen&#39;s group that organized the yearly event canceled it. <br> <br> The group, MLK Support group, put on the banquet over the last three years. <br> <br> But this week, the group told Cobb County north of Atlanta it couldn&#39;t put together an event worthy of the holiday. <br> <br> ``It was a bombshell to us,&#39;&#39; said Deana Bonner, president of the Cobb County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. <br> <br> Last year, about 400 people attended the banquet, which for several years has been the county&#39;s most visible tribute to King. <br> <br> Cobb County residents flooded the NAACP with phone calls complaining that the banquet wouldn&#39;t be held this year, said county government spokesman Robert Quigley. <br> <br> ``That&#39;s why we will not allow it to be dropped,&#39;&#39; Bonner said. ``We are going to have a program in place.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Specific plans for the banquet, which will be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Jan. 20, haven&#39;t been set.