By Mike Chambers
Correspondent
TRENTON, Ga. — Charlie Ivey was 12 when he rode into Trenton on July 4, 1945, with the wind slapping his face as he peered over the sideboards of his father’s pickup.
It was a historic day — the day that Dade County marched back into the Union.
Residents voted to end 85 years of secession and become part of the United States once more. The Dade youngster and his six brothers and sisters witnessed history in the making.
The ceremony was broadcast live around the world on radio. President Harry S. Truman sent a telegram via Western Union: “Welcome home pilgrims.”
Mr. Ivey, now 76, says it was a day of “extreme patriotism, knowing we were full-fledged Americans. … We were puffed out with pride.”
Those moments will be recreated today and Saturday at the State of Dade Heritage Festival in Trenton.
Mr. Ivey and other witnesses — including Grace Moore Johnson, Jack and Pat Murphy, Flora Dean and Joyce Hankins — will be grand marshals for the parade.
Dade County Commissioner Peter Cervelli, Better Hometown program manager for Trenton, said the story of the State of Dade is “the most identifiable part of Dade County’s history” and a suitable focal point for the annual spring festival.
Mr. Ivey, a retired preacher, recalled hearing a speech by Herman Talmadge, who went on to become governor and a U.S. senator.
“He was some more orator,” Mr. Ivey remembers. “I don’t remember a word he said, but I will never forget the impression he made on me that day. I thought we had heard an oracle from heaven.”
IF YOU GOWhat: State of Dade Heritage FestivalWhen: 6-10 p.m. today, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. SaturdayWhere: Downtown Trenton, Ga.Key events: 8th Regiment Band, 8 p.m. today; parade, 11 a.m. Saturday; play, 6 p.m. SaturdayContinue reading by following this link to a related story:Article: Cherokee Heritage/Birchwood Crane Days Saturday
Even in 1945, Dade was isolated. Signs on the dirt road into town, now U.S. Highway 11, read, “You are now entering the State of Dade.”
Dade resident Donna Street said her father was in the U.S Navy and stationed on a warship in Mobile, Ala.
“He used to tell shipmates he was from the State of Dade,” she said, but no one believed him until he piped in the live radio broadcast from Trenton.
Mr. Cervelli said future potential festival themes range from the area’s rich history of saddlemaking and coal and iron production to the history of the Cherokee people in the region.
Mike Chambers covers Dade County. Contact him at chambers@tvn.net.