Twilight’s Last Gleaming
• What: A live musical tribute and video presentation
• When: 8:30 p.m. Monday
• Where: 301 Veterans Memorial Blvd. in Cumming
• What to bring: Lawn chairs, blankets or food
Also
Ten new American flags flew for the first time Friday morning at the Veterans War Memorial in Cumming.
The flags joined 161 others in the city’s annual Avenue of Flags dedication prior to Memorial Day.
Each of the waving banners represents one or more local soldiers who have served.
“It is the veteran who salutes our precious flag,” Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt said. “It is the veteran who has served our nation under our flag.”
Cpl. Matthew Lindsey of the Georgia Army National Guard presented the city with a flag that had been flown in Afghanistan.
The ceremony’s host, Mike Evans, said it flew there on election day “in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.”
Gravitt accepted the flag, noting it would have an honorable resting place.
“Matthew Lindsey is presenting this flag to the city of Cumming on behalf of the support the citizens of Cumming and Forsyth County and this country have given to him and the support of the troops in Afghanistan,” Gravitt said.
The event also included live patriotic music, the presentation of the colors and a rifle salute before concluding with a
dove release.
About 200 people gathered to watch the ceremony, which has become a tradition for many residents.
Gene Spraggs said he and his wife, Alice, have attended every year because they “enjoy it so much.”
“We bring a little more red, white and blue each year,” Alice Spraggs said.
The couple wore matching American flag polos, carried a stars and stripes umbrella and sat in red and blue lawn chairs.
It was the first dedication for Ethan Norton, 7, who traveled with his family from Buford.
He visited several men in uniform, gathering autographs from his heroes “because they fight for our freedom,” he said.
His grandmother, Nancy Norton, said it was the child’s idea to collect them.
The family plans on returning to the site Monday night for the city’s inaugural Twilight’s Last Gleaming, which will have live music and a slideshow
of World War II veterans.
“It’s going to be a tradition for us now,” she said.
The flags joined 161 others in the city’s annual Avenue of Flags dedication prior to Memorial Day.
Each of the waving banners represents one or more local soldiers who have served.
“It is the veteran who salutes our precious flag,” Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt said. “It is the veteran who has served our nation under our flag.”
Cpl. Matthew Lindsey of the Georgia Army National Guard presented the city with a flag that had been flown in Afghanistan.
The ceremony’s host, Mike Evans, said it flew there on election day “in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.”
Gravitt accepted the flag, noting it would have an honorable resting place.
“Matthew Lindsey is presenting this flag to the city of Cumming on behalf of the support the citizens of Cumming and Forsyth County and this country have given to him and the support of the troops in Afghanistan,” Gravitt said.
The event also included live patriotic music, the presentation of the colors and a rifle salute before concluding with a
dove release.
About 200 people gathered to watch the ceremony, which has become a tradition for many residents.
Gene Spraggs said he and his wife, Alice, have attended every year because they “enjoy it so much.”
“We bring a little more red, white and blue each year,” Alice Spraggs said.
The couple wore matching American flag polos, carried a stars and stripes umbrella and sat in red and blue lawn chairs.
It was the first dedication for Ethan Norton, 7, who traveled with his family from Buford.
He visited several men in uniform, gathering autographs from his heroes “because they fight for our freedom,” he said.
His grandmother, Nancy Norton, said it was the child’s idea to collect them.
The family plans on returning to the site Monday night for the city’s inaugural Twilight’s Last Gleaming, which will have live music and a slideshow
of World War II veterans.
“It’s going to be a tradition for us now,” she said.