While the coronavirus may have put a halt to some of the region’s biggest Fourth of July celebrations, it didn’t keep Northeast Georgians from celebrating.
Backyard barbecues and fireworks dotted the landscape Saturday as friends and families gathered to salute America on her 244th birthday.
Level Grove Baptist Church in Cornelia marked the day with a patriotic service on YouTube. Billed as a Celebration Service, it featured stories from three local veterans including World War II veteran Leonard “Roscoe” Burrell. Senior Pastor Brian James offered a prayer for the nation, praying for those “struggling with racial tensions” and for those “struggling with COVID and the pandemic.”
There were a few public gatherings scattered around, like the big $65,000 fireworks display on Lake Burton and the July Fourth festival in Dahlonega. There also were fireworks at the Toccoa Raceway and farther up north in Dillard, where several hundred people sat in their cars parked along U.S. Highway 441 and watched the time-honored tradition.
In Habersham County, people noted how strange it felt driving through downtown Demorest at night on the Fourth of July – a night when the town is usually packed with people and traffic is rerouted because of Demorest’s Glorious Fourth Celebration.
Demorest canceled its celebration for only the third time in the city’s 230-year history as public health concerns grew over COVID-19 and the state imposed social distancing guidelines.
The Demorest City Council plans to reschedule the fireworks in the fall.
The Cornelia Fire Department helped fill the void left by canceled celebrations. Firefighters put on a fireworks show of their own. For an hour on Saturday, they ignited store-bought mortars and lit up the night sky over the fire station at Habersham Village shopping center. The fireworks weren’t advertised, but as cars drove past and saw them, people pulled into nearby parking lots and watched. Some sat in their cars while others stood socially distanced, reveling in the sight of a celebration even a pandemic couldn’t stop.
