Patriotic event invites whole community
Navy veteran Larry Turner knows what the American flag means.
“The flag is always very near and dear to my heart,” he said.
That’s one of the reasons he is at work on the Gilmer County America 250 Flag Day celebration.
America 250 is a bipartisan organization working to get Americans engaged in celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary.
To celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, America 250 volunteers will be unfurling a 75-foot by 150-foot flag at the Gilmer County High School Football Stadium.
It takes about 80 volunteers to unfurl this massive flag on the football field.
In addition, honor guards from the Knights of Columbus, the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office and the Civil Air Patrol will accompany the flag.
“Our premiere America 250 event highlights the importance of Flag Day,” Turner said. “Our flag is the representation of our values and freedoms.”
The Flag Day celebration will take place Saturday, June 13 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at 408 Bobcat Trail, Ellijay.
Entry is free.
Gates will open at 12 p.m. for those who want to get in early.
The event will include patriotic singing,
Country music star Lee Greenwood, Gov. Brian Kemp, and U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R) will all give video messages at the event.
Col. Gary Engel will speak in person.
Normally, Flag Day is celebrated every year on June 14.
But it’s often celebrated less than other major summer holidays like July 4 and Memorial Day.
“There are some communities that still put up American flags along their main streets, but there are very few that actually have a celebration for that event,” he said.
The American flag has a surprisingly eventful history. For the first two years after the American Revolution, Americans fought under a flag with 13 stripes and the British Union Jack in the upper left corner.
Only in 1777 did America adopt the 13 stars and 13 stripes.
When the American flag was created, Congress didn’t specify what its colors represented or how to arrange the stars and stripes. Their concern was getting a symbol that would help distinguish American forces on the battlefield.
Later, Continental Congress Secretary Charles Thomson said that “White signifies purity and innocence, red, hardiness and valor, and blue, the color of the Chief signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.”
Often, Americans designed and sewed their own versions of this flag for ships and military regiments.
Since these days, the flag has become a deep and abiding symbol of our country.
“It’s important that the flag was always there to remind us of the values that we hold near and dear,” Turner said.
Originally, the federal government added a star and a stripe for every new state to enter the Union.
But people soon limited the number of stripes to 13 in honor of the original 13 colonies.
“Our flag is the symbol that has united Americans through every chapter of our history, and more importantly, it is a promise about our future and our responsibility to keep it flying for another 250 years,” Turner said.