Manchester Celebrates America’s 250th Birthday

Manchester hosted their annual Independence Day Celebration July 2^nd at the historical Manchester Mill. This year marks two-hundred-and-fifty years of freedom as a nation formed on principals such as freedom of speech, freedom of press, the right to bear arms, equality, and a nation formed under God. These principals were represented as citizens wandered around the celebration from the many varying vendors and those represented.

Celebrations like these are made possible with the help of local businesses and contributors alike. This year’s celebration was made possible by the city of Manchester, Foothills Rare Earths, Dogwood Central Thrift Store, F&M Bank, Georgia Power, Charles Abbott Associates, Middle Georgia Fleet Services, Ironstone Demolition, Earline & Wayne Pitts, Ranger Propane, Manchester Development Authority, A.J.K., Cox Funeral Home, Duck’s Trolley, Big Chic, Start Again Counseling, Frontier Ambulance Solutions, D.F.M. Graphics, and more.

Patrons were able to enjoy vendors, food trucks, inflatable slides, live music by The Emerald Empire Band, and even dunk the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem. Appearances and assistance from Kissin’ 99.3 and The Joy FM made our little hometown of Manchester feel like a celebrity on Thursday evening.

As the fun and festivities wind down, let us not forget what it all means. That freedom came with a price paid by patriots long ago. A price that some still pay today to keep our freedoms intact. We may have our differences and disagreements, but if there is one thing I have seen from the F.I.F.A. World Cup being held in America this year, it is that the freedom in America is still something unique.

“There is here a great melting pot in which we must compound a precious metal. That metal is the metal of nationality,” President Woodrow Wilson once said.

It was known as “the melting pot” because people from all walks of life could come together here and strive for the same goal. A melting pot also implies being reformed, renewed into something stronger. Other countries do not have religious freedom, freedom of speech or press, a right to vote, or even the right to defend themselves against a corrupt government. When early European colonists started out in North America, England did not guide them through the wilderness. They adapted and grew into the patriots who believed in the promise of a new start in America. On July 4, 1776, we the people came together as one nation, with liberty and justice for all.