TRENTON, Ga. — Residents lined Main Street here Saturday morning to see veterans parade past, some in trucks some in jeeps.
Children chased candy thrown to the crowds as the Dade County High School and Soddy Daisy High School marching bands played patriotic tunes.
June Rake and Heidi Fowler got an early seat along the side walk to see family member Kelsi Sims, a member of the group Soldiers for God, ride past.
Mrs. Rake said parades and community involvement help keep people aware of veterans sacrifice.
Shriners rode by circling and snaking around the street in tiny red car replicas, almost like go-carts. A train of area fire trucks and emergency vehicles gleamed in bright reds and yellow as the cruised along.
The Fort Payne (Ala.) Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps stepped along in between bands and vintage World War II-era military trucks and jeeps rumbled behind two men dressed in era uniforms.
The parade has been held around Veterans Day since the 1950s, said Bill Lockhart, one of the event organizers and senior vice commander of American Legion Post 106 here.
The milelong parade marched through town in just under an hour, finishing its path at the old Legion post, which opened as the Dade County War Memorial Museum on Friday.
Standing at the entrance to the museum following the parade, Navy veteran Charlie Bryant remarked at how the parade had grown over the last five years.
“You should have seen the first parade, it was three guys and two trucks,” he said.
Oscar Ellis, an Army veteran and commander of the group Soldiers for God, said local veterans hope to continue to grow the parade in an effort to honor reach out to the public and honor the military.
“Hopefully we’ll make this the most patriotic town in Georgia,” he said.
Todd South covers courts and the military for the Times Free Press. He has worked at the paper for three years and previously covered crime and safety in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. Todd’s hometown is Dodge City, Kan. He served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq before returning to school for his journalism degree from the University of Georgia. Todd previously worked at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. Contact Todd ...
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