The Demorest City Council began discussing their Independence Day celebration for 2022 at their work session Tuesday night. While no plans have been set in stone, the council is discussing several new ideas, from changing the event’s start time to including more music and events.
Fireworks, parades and vendors
The city discussed starting their celebration later in the day this year to make Demorest the place to be from the late afternoon until nightfall when the city’s firework display would take off.
Demorest Mayor Jerry Harkness brought up the possibility of starting the parade in the late afternoon so that people could stay in the Demorest area for dinner, followed by the concert and fireworks. The council seemed to be on board.
Harkness also brought up offering a childrens’ parade, where children could make their own “floats” to show off to the community in their own mini-parade, chaparoned by the Demorest Police Department.
“I think that’s what community is about,” Harkness said. “We need to focus on that.”
Councilmen John Hendrix and Nathan Davis encouraged the council to look into bringing more food vendors in, especially food trucks, to serve people between the parade and evening events.
The council still has plenty of decisions to make about fireworks, but from their discussion Tuesday, fireworks are likely going to be shot off in the parking lot next to the Demorest Women’s Club as opposed to last year, when they were fired off from Concord Baptist Church.
“It was kind of limited viewing, where you could actually see [the fireworks] really well,” Councilman Shawn Allen said. “I think we kind of want to move things closer to the city, the center of where everything is.”
A community member asked the council to consider looking into noiseless fireworks for this year’s celebration to accommodate area veterans and public safety workers whose PTSD could be triggered by explosions, as well as wildlife and pets who may be upset by the sounds.
City Manager Kim Simonds said the city would look into noiseless options for the firework display.
An impressive lineup
The city is discussing changes to entertainment for the concert, too. While Demorest is no stranger to having a star-studded stage for their Independece Day celebration, this year’s act might look a little different.
Davis suggested bringing in bluegrass and gospel groups for opening acts for the concert, which the city hasn’t featured in years. The council expressed interest in asking rising country music star and Demorest native, John King, to return for yet another concert in his hometown.
The conversation took a turn, though, when a community member made a suggestion that took the council by surprise.
Gail Moore spoke up at the meeting, who says her niece, Kimberly Schlapman of the award-winning country music group Little Big Town, would happily perform at the city’s Fourth of July concert.
The council was interested in having the band preform, but weren’t sure that they could fit their act within the city’s event budget. Councilman Davis said that while he’d like to have the band at the city’s celebration, he wasn’t sure they could afford it on their $40,000 overall budget. But Moore said the band would do it at no cost.
“I’m sure they would come … they’ll do it for free,” Moore said. “They will, they do stuff free all the time.”
Schlapman is a northeast Georgia native and graduate of Habersham Central High School. Moore was reportedly on the phone with Schlapman after the meeting— but nothing is official at this time.
The city says they will have a plan in place for the event following their March 12 retreat.
