A long weekend to remember

Local communities are gearing up this weekend for celebrations and remembrances in honor of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day festivities will kick-off Saturday in Fayetteville, though most of the annual holiday events will be held on Monday. Cities from Coweta and Fayette counties have organized events to honor veterans, and locals are encouraged to participate. Celebrations range from morning ceremonies to all-day festivals.

Senoia

Senoia’s Memorial Day celebration will kick off on Monday at 10 a.m. with an all-day event for the whole family. The third annual Memorial Day Street Festival, meant to honor veterans from wars past and present, will include a parade and festivities and will cap off with fireworks.

Hosted by the Downtown Development Authority and the City of Senoia, the event will include entertainment, food, children’s activities and shopping from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Street vendors will be on hand selling antiques, arts and handmade crafts and kids will have plenty to entertain them as well.

A parade through downtown Senoia will begin at 2 p.m. featuring the U.S. Army Ground Forces Band, which will perform a concert after the parade. “The Car Guys” Scott Sargeant and Charlie Filkins of will emcee the celebration.

A barbecue fund raiser, hosted by the Senoia Masonic Lodge #82 F&AM, will coincide with the Memorial Day celebration. Barbecue plates will be served at the masonic lodge on Main Street in downtown Senoia beginning at 10 a.m. The barbecue is a semi-annual event fund raiser for the Senoia masons. The lodge will be open to all veterans and anyone wishing to visit with them during the day's celebration.

Downtown festivities will continue until 5 p.m. and will lead into an evening fireworks display at Leroy Johnson Park on Howard Road.

Peachtree City

Peachtree City will host it’s 10th annual Memorial Day celebration on Monday. This year’s event will once again start at 9 a.m. Event organizers said the new start time was introduced two years ago and has led to higher attendance numbers, estimated at nearly 1,000 people last year.

The Kiwanis Club of Peachtree City, VFW Post 9949, American Legion post 50 and the City’s Leisure Services Division jointly sponsor this patriotic event which aims to honor those service men and women who gave their lives for our freedom.

The Memorial Day Celebration unofficially begins at 8:30 a.m. with the traditional patriotic golf cart procession from the Gathering Place around Lake Peachtree to City Hall Plaza, the site of the official celebration. The public is invited to join the procession. More than 200 golf carts, many patriotically decorated, are normally involved and will leave the Gathering Place parking lot about 8:30 a.m. heading for City Hall.

Singing groups will begin performing introductory music at City Hall/Library plaza at 8:30 a.m. At 9 a.m. when the golf cart procession arrives, honors to the flag will commence, followed by a memorial wreath presentation by the local VFW Post 9949 and American Legion Post 50.

The top winner of the Kiwanis-sponsored Memorial Day student essay contest will read their winning entry and all top finishers will receive awards. This year’s theme is “The First Duty Is To Remember,” the motto of the Beirut Veterans of America (BVA).

“The BVA exists to ensure that America does not forget that, in total, 270 of her finest died in Lebanon in the name of peace between 1982 and 1984,” said event coordinator Randy Gaddo. “For us, every day is Memorial Day.”

Gaddo will also be the featured speaker at the Memorial Day ceremony. A retired Marine, Gaddo will talk about the connection between the 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut with the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and the current Global War on Terror.

As national president of the BVA, Gaddo represents more than 1,000 service members and surviving families of the 220 Marines, 18 sailors and 3 soldiers killed in that bombing and the other 29 servicemen killed in Lebanon during a multi-national peacekeeping mission between 1982-84.

“There is a direct connection between the terrorists responsible for the Beirut bombing and the murderers responsible for September 11, 2001,” said Gaddo, who was founding vice president of the BVA in 1992. “We have come to realize that the Beirut Bombing was the first major shot fired in the Global War on Terror. We made it our life’s mission to never let America forget that 270 good men died in Lebanon in the name of peace and freedom.”

Gaddo was a Marine Corps staff sergeant serving in Beirut with the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit at the time of the bombing.

The 2007 co-winners of Peachtree City’s VFW Post 9949’s annual essay contest, the “Patriots Pen,” will read their winning entries as well.

Spectators at the celebration will also be treated to a one-of-a-kind rendition of the national anthem.

A 13-year-old Peachtree City soloist is teaming up with a men’s a cappella group for a unique and motivating performance.

Local teen singer and song writer, Lindee Link, whose first album “New Kid In Town” just came out this spring, will sing along with the backing of Southern Nights Chorale, a local men’s precision a cappella ensemble which has been singing together for about four years.

Also performing will be Music Alive!, under the direction of Linda Hooper. This group has been performing in the metro Atlanta music scene for more than a decade and has brought a bright and lively patriotic music style to patriotic events in Peachtree City and Fayette County.

The event will be held outdoors at the VFW Memorial in City Hall/Library Plaza. In the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved across the street to the First Presbyterian Church. People are encouraged to come out, rain or shine.

“It’s a fitting way to honor the true meaning of Memorial Day before spending leisure time with family and friends,” Gaddo said.

For more information, call 770-631-2542.

Fayetteville

As part of the long weekend, Fayetteville will play host to a Saturday evening concert by the U.S. Army Ground Forces Band. The free concert, sponsored by Main Street Tourism Association, will feature patriotic music starting at 7:30 p.m., with gates open at 6:30 p.m., at the Villages Amphitheater in downtown Fayetteville.

Headquartered at Fort McPherson, the Army Ground Forces Band has twice been awarded the internationally acclaimed Colonel George S. Howard Citation of Musical Excellence for Military Concert Bands. The musicians of the concert band are among the finest in the Army Band Program, with many having studied music at some of the finest universities and conservatories, both in the United States and abroad.

The concert band is the musical showcase for U.S. Army Forces Command, performing for local, national and international audiences throughout the year. This ensemble presents dynamic and entertaining performances that include a wide variety of selections from the standards in symphonic literature to Broadway, big band jazz and many popular styles.

For further information about this and other concerts scheduled this summer, visit www.villagesamphitheater.com or call 770-719-4173.

The American Legion, Fayette County Post 105, in cooperation with the City of Fayetteville, will sponsor a public Memorial Day Ceremony for the citizens of Fayette County on Monday, May 26 at 11 a.m. at the Fayetteville city cemetery.

Speakers will include Fayetteville Historian John Lynch, who will share information about many of the veterans resting at the historic cemetery and State Representative Matt Ramsey, whose legislative district includes the Fayetteville city cemetery. A Memorial Day theme message will be delivered by Knox Herndon, retired U.S. Army Chaplain.

Special music will be provided by members of the Fayette County High School Band and well-known bagpiper Brian Forsyth.

The ceremony will end at noon with the playing of "Taps" and the always-popular musket volley by the Sons of the American Revolution in continental uniforms.

Those attending are asked to bring a blanket or lawn chairs to sit on during the ceremony.

In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will take place at the nearby Log Cabin of the American Legion, 180 Glynn Street South, on Ga. Highway 85 South, just across the street from the Fayette County administration complex.

For more details, call 770-631-0771.

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