Boston Scenes

During “Charting New Pathways to Participation & Membership,” a two-day conference held Oct. 17-18 at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, Harvard law professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr. (left), the institute’s founder and executive director, presented Charles Hamilton Houston Awards to this year’s honorees (from left): Dolores Huerta, co-founder and first vice president emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America; retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice the Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor, and the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of the Anglican Church of Cape Town in South Africa. (Don West photo)

Mel King (front row, third from left) and his wife Joyce (front row, second from left), along with members of their family, thank the hundreds of friends, guests and well wishers from across the country who attended the Boston civil rights legend’s 80th birthday celebration at the South End offices of City Year on Monday evening. (Tony Irving photo)

Boston College women’s basketball players visited the Winthrop Elementary School in Dorchester last week. The players talked about how they prepared for college as part of a program organized by the Step UP Initiative, which partners BC and other leading universities with Boston Public Schools. (From left): Brittanny Johnson, Veronica Wilson, LaShaunda Pratt, Carolyn Swords, Victoria Jones, Jasmine Gill and Corey Rusin. (Photo courtesy of Boston College)

Mayor Thomas M. Menino welcomes the young ladies of the Jeremiah Burke High School soccer team to the new state-of-the-art playing field at Ceylon Park in Dorchester, which opened Oct. 2. The new facility is part of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s $2.2 million overhaul of the park, located on the Dorchester/Roxbury line. (Isabel Leon photo)

Just in time for Halloween: the “Barack-O-Lantern.” Boston resident Domingo-Martin Barreres, an ardent supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, paid tribute to the Illinois senator at the recent Boston Pumpkin Festival by carving Obama’s likeness into a pumpkin. (Photo courtesy of Domingo-Martin Barreres)

Daniel Roman of Roxbury (left) and Aunnakalia Boyce of Dorchester (right) join Daphne Griffin (center), executive director of Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF) at the recent “Neighborhood D.I.S.H.” event, held at Madison Park High School and Community Center. Part of the city’s Food and Fuel Campaign, this multi-department effort showcases neighborhood resources, builds community capacity by connecting neighbors and provides a nutritious meal for all attendees. Roman and Boyce won a raffle at the dinner, which will give them the opportunity to join Mayor Thomas M. Menino for a meal. (Photo courtesy of BCYF)

Joan Wallace Benjamin (left), president and CEO of The Home for Little Wanderers, and Joanne Y. Jaxtimer, senior vice president of Bank of New York Mellon, were in attendance at the Boston Children’s Museum for last Thursday’s Celebrate Kids 2008 Gala Benefit. Jaxtimer and Harvard’s Jack Shonkoff, M.D., were honored as “Champions of Children” by the Bessie Tartt Wilson Children’s Foundation (BTWCF) for their work in support of children and families. (Photo courtesy of BTWCF)

Boston native Philip F. Mangano (left), executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, earlier this month became only the sixth person in the 54-year history of the International Downtown Association to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. Mangano was awarded for his 27-year crusade to end homelessness. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness)

The Rev. Dr. Floyd Flake will deliver the keynote address at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church’s 20th Anniversary Celebration tomorrow at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. At the celebration, the Rev. Drs. Ray Hammond and Gloria White-Hammond will be feted for their two decades of service to the Jamaica Plain church and the city of Boston at large. (Photo courtesy of New Image Associates)