Thousands flock to Demorest for Glorious Fourth of July Celebration

DEMOREST – Downtown Demorest was inundated with people Wednesday morning as the city opened its 120th Glorious Fourth of July Celebration.

One of the area’s oldest Independence Day celebrations, the event begins vendors and a patriotic ceremony downtown, followed by the annual parade featuring more than 110 entries.

Grand Marshal for the parade was former Atlanta Braves Chief Noc-A-Homa, Levi Walker Jr. Walker is a respected Native American elder of the Odawa Tribe, who spends his days teaching earth skills and indigenous culture and history all over the U.S.

“So far, it’s great as always, just a wonderful parade,” said Mayor Malcolm Hunnicutt. “We always have a great parade, and we’re so thankful the people turn out for that. It was kind of large this time – a little more than what we usually have I guess because of the election coming up. There were a lot of politicians – of course it’s always good to see them out – all the floats, and we just have a great turnout.”

Steve Loudermilk received the first-place antique vehicle trophy for his 1970 Olds 442 convertible, and Kadaydle's (formerly Blimpie of Cornelia and Clarkesville) received the second-place trophy for its Chevrolet truck.

Wild Things Exotics & Recovery, a new family-owned and operated pet store in Cornelia, received the first-place trophy for its float. America's Mattress of Cornelia received the second-place trophy for its float.

Will Barrett of Cornelia received the first-place tractor trophy for his 1952 Farmall Cub. Rembert Cragg received the second-place tractor trophy for his 1956 Allis-Chalmers W-D45 and patriotic trailer.

Following the parade, Melvin Banks performed a variety of music.

Banks was followed by vocalist Monica Spears, David Buchanan and Jamie Free, Cheryl Sumpter and Tracy Maxwell, Camee Scofield and Courtney Scofield.

A cake walk was scheduled from 5 to 6 p.m., followed by music from “Still Cruzin’” from 7 until the fireworks extravaganza at 9:30. This year’s fireworks are sponsored by United Community Bank.

“I think the crowd is as good, I guess, as I’ve seen it this time of day,” Hunnicutt said midday Wednesday. “We appreciate everybody coming out. We always have a good turnout in Demorest, and hopefully we can keep this thing going from now on. I think everyone always looks forward to it.”