A total of 150 people recited dozens of lines over a span of nearly 12 months — and many rolls of videotape — to honor the work of one man: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

WCTV's production of King's "I Have a Dream" speech is nearly complete, and will premier at the Boys & Girls Club's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration in January.

Produced by WCTV Executive Director Jay Heard, the project features many Wareham residents and community leaders reciting lines in various areas throughout town.

"We wanted a variety of people," Heard explained. "We have a diverse population in Wareham."

The project kicked off at this year's Community Celebration.

"People know about it. Everybody knows a few lines," Heard explained was among the reasons he chose the "I Have a Dream" speech for the production. "I don't think people know how eloquent the speech is."

Participants read from Onset Beach, the John W. Decas Elementary School, the Post Office, and even outside of town — at the very spot at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., where King gave the famous speech.

Heard tried to get First Lady Michelle Obama in the production, but said, "she was too busy."

Heard said he hopes the community will enjoy the production, and will perhaps be inspired to create one with WCTV's help.

"I thought, if we could get out in front of 150 people in the community, it makes us more a part of the community," Heard said of WCTV.

Heard and his crew only need to record a few more lines and finish editing the big project in time for January's celebration.

For a short time, however, Heard wasn't sure he'd be able to wrap it up by 2013.

"It got a little daunting over the summer," he admitted, "because I started to realize that time was running out and I still had 100 people to do!"

Heard likened the project to a cross-country motorcycle trip he took in 1998.

"It just seemed like there was so far to go," he said, before adding: "You just put one foot in front of the other until you get through 150 people. It was a fun project!"