FANNIN COUNTY, Ga. — Memorial Day celebrations kicked off in Fannin County with the Spring Arts in the Park Festival. Then, on Monday, a Memorial Day Ceremony was held at the Fannin County Veterans Memorial Park.

Spring Arts in the Park

Arts in the Park, held in Blue Ridge during the Spring and Fall, celebrated its 47th year with Spring Arts in the Park this Memorial Day weekend.

The Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association, who host the yearly events, say the collection of festivals draw in an “excess of 20,000 attendees annually and a wide array of artists and food vendors .. with over 170+ artists, exhibitors, and vendors booths.”

 

 

Over the holiday weekend, visitors could follow the various booths along Downtown Blue Ridge’s City Park. One such visitor told FYN: “I love seeing how creative our community is!”

 

 

Memorial Day Ceremony

On Memorial Day, The North Georgia Honor Guard conducted a Memorial Day Ceremony at Fannin County’s Veterans Memorial Park. The ceremony included a rifle salute, the posting of the colors, placing wreaths, and a rendition of the National Anthem by Reece Lindstrom. Bill Stodghill served as the keynote speaker of the event, where he honored those who died in service and also recognized the servicemembers who were in attendance. “We stand as a nation that is strong, but we are humble because we remember that our freedoms come with a tremendous cost,” Stodghil said to the crowd during one portion of his speech.

“Many bright futures, hopes, and dreams were sacrificed for the opportunities that we have now. We must honor the sacrifices made by service men and women by dedicating our lives to peace and the defense of our freedoms that we enjoy each and every day. For these ideals of American freedoms, they fought and died, we must continue to strive for the same ideals today” Stodghil said.