'You'd be surprised what a great mass of people can do in a short amount of time'

It was touch and go there for a while Monday morning, between the weather and a little misunderstanding about whether or not the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service event would be canceled down at The Spot in Iowa City.

But they got it figured out, and by the time it was over as many as 200 people had come to donate some time to local organizations at this community gathering place in southeastern Iowa City. "Good food, good works and a really good turnout despite the beautiful snowstorm," as Sue Freeman, program director for the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, put it to me. She was right to be proud.

AmeriCorps workers coordinated the event, the second annual ("The main point is to do something for the community," organizer Sylvia Smith said). By the time I got there, volunteers already had finished assembling lunches, sewing pillowcases and had wrapped up projects for the Iowa City Animal Shelter.

"You'd be surprised what a great mass of people can do in a short amount of time," organizer Trent Orris told me. I think we all probably need a reminder every once in a while.

And then, the celebration -- with the help of local musicians like Voices of Soul and Iowa City institution Kevin Burt -- and a hundred-plus people singing and clapping and stomping the verses of "If You're Happy and You Know It." They were; they did.

Happy birthday, Dr. King.