Toccoa Celebrates Currahee Military Weekend

Toccoa is getting ready to welcome returning WWII veterans, their families and friends, and hundreds of visitors during the Currahee Military Weekend, Oct. 2 – Oct. 6, 2014.  The mission of this weekend celebration is to honor the courageous men who trained at Camp Toccoa, to teach WWII history to our young people, and to celebrate our military’s commitment to America. 

Many of the weekend events will be held in the downtown Toccoa. Thursday, October 2, there will be a showing of the first episode of the HBO mini-series “The Band of Brothers.” The movie will be shown in the historic Schaefer Center at 7:00 P.M. Cost is $1.00. Friday, October 3, registration will begin at the Currahee Military Museum at 10:00 a.m. in the Mitchell Allen Memorial Hall.  Then from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. there will be a book signing with WWII veteran authors at the same venue. The popular Hanger Dance will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Toccoa Airport. Tickets are $10.00 at the Chamber of Commerce or $15.00 at the door.

Saturday, October 5, the day will begin with the Special Forces Association Parachute Jump Team who will jump over Boyd Field at the start of the Veteran’s Parade around 10:50. They will jump with their spectacular signature 20ft by 30ft American Flag. The Veterans parade will start at 11:00 a.m. and will begin on Doyle St and Pond St, go down Doyle St, turn on Sage St, and then go down Foreacre St to the Historic Depot. This year’s parade will be the biggest yet with the returning veterans, several large military vehicles, the SC High School band, as well as the SCHS JR ROTC and CAP.

The opening ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m. with the Blue Ridge Rifles team from North Georgia College and State University at the historic depot.

Throughout the day, visitors can witness the living history displays on the courthouse lawn and see what the living conditions were for the soldiers during the war. There will also be a Memorabilia Show and Sale in the historic courthouse. The show will have memorabilia from WWI, WWII, and other foreign wars. It will be open from Friday morning through Saturday afternoon.

Also, during this year’s celebration, there will be a special photographic exhibit in the Mitchell Allen room of the Currahee Military Museum. This special exhibit, “Private Presidential Pathways” will feature photographs taken by New York Times photographer, George Tames, of several United States presidents.

Throughout the day there will be special events at the Tocoa Airport including helicopter rides.

Named in 2012 as the Best Downtown Event in Georgia by the Georgia Downtown Association and in 2014 Top 20 Events in the Southeast by the Southeastern Tourism Society, Currahee Military Weekend is expected in bring in visitors from all over the country as well as international visitors. According to Brenda Carlan, Director of the Currahee Military Museum, “This will be a great weekend and we encourage our community to come out.”