Confederate Memorial Service Planned in Carnesville

Confederate Memorial Day is Friday and this year will be commemorated as the 150^th anniversary of the War Between the States.

Confederate Memorial Day is also known as Confederate Decoration Day in Tennessee and Confederate Heroes Day in Texas.   It is the official holiday in nine Southern states, including Georgia, to honor and remember those who died fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War. 

However, not all nine states celebrate it on the same day.  Only Georgia, Texas, and Florida observe the day on the 26th of April, the day of the first Confederate Memorial Day in 1866.

And as they do every year, the Lavonia Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy will holding a special ceremony on the steps of County Courthouse in Carnesville.

“It (the ceremony) will be at 11a.m. at the courthouse,” said member Vivian Young. “And there will be representatives there from the 24th Georgia, which is the Carnesville group, and the Lt. Baker Camp of the Sons of the Confederacy from Hartwell, Georgia will also be there.”

Those two groups will perform the color guard ceremony, dressed in period costume.

This year’s guest speaker is Rhonda Reno, president of the Georgia Order of the Confederate Rose.

“This is very educational. We would love everybody to come. It’s a very moving ceremony and if you love Southern history, please come and join us,” Young said.

Again the ceremony begins at 11a in front of the Confederate Memorial on the Franklin County Courthouse lawn in Carnesville.