Holiday brings new parade route, evening fireworks show
By Laura Kleiss Hoeft
Chamber Director
The Freedom Festival will take place in the Historical Courthouse Square 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4.
The music for the festival will be provided by Ron Harrell. Harrell, a resident of Clay County, grew up in middle Georgia. Since the age of 15 he has played with several bands in the local middle Georgia area.
About 12 years ago with the advancements of music technology he created a full band sound with only one person. Ron Harrell - The One Man Band was formed.
Ron has more than 600 songs in his repertoire including, ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s beach music, country classics, today’s country, top 40 classics, easy listening hits and many more.
Folks from the Carolina Christinan Academy and First Freewill Baptist Church are helping the Chamber of Commerce with many kids’ games and relays. Aero Jump Inc. is providing the bounce house for kids’ jumping pleasure. Hayesville Q, Triple B Pushcart and Heyman Kettle Corn will be at the festival providing food. There will be several booths sharing information and selling raffles.
The parade will start at 10 a.m. The big news with the parade is that there is a new parade route. The parade will begin the First Freewill Baptist Church and Carolina Christian Academy, then run down Ritter Road and then around the Hayesville Square and back to the First Freewill Baptist Church.
There are sidewalks along this parade route for people to view the parade throughout the entire route. None of our major roads will have to be closed on this parade route. A thank you goes to the Clay County Sheriff’s office, EMS and Fire and Rescue for the support in this event.
Awards will be given to the parade entries that are most interactive, most patriotic and most original. The judges for the parade will be coming from the American Legion Auxiliary, Advantage Chatuge Realty and Highway 69 Storage.
The Grand Marshal for the Fourth of July parade is Veteran Sam Davis Jr. from the Vietnam War. Jacky Jones Dodge is providing the vehicle for the Grand Marshal. This parade is led by the veterans from the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign War.
Becky Long, editor from local newspaper, Clay County Progress, and Harry Baughn, city councilman, will be the Master of Ceremonies for the parade. Visit: www.claychambernc.com under the Festival and Events tab or come to the Chamber of Commerce 96 Sanderson Street, downtown Hayesville. All are invited to this small town Fourth of July celebration.