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.”

Scarecrow Contest

Main Street Toccoa will be hosting its fifth annual Scarecrow Contest from October 1 thru the Toccoa Harvest Festival, November 1 & 2. All of Stephens County is included in the contest.

The scarecrows will be up to welcome the city’s guests during Currahee Military Weekend (Oct. 2 - 5) and the Toccoa Harvest Festival (Nov. 1 - 2).  Businesses/schools/churches/families are being asked to consider designing a scarecrow to place on the outside of their building or home.  The scarecrows could be dressed in a way that would spotlight the business or organization.  Participants must register if they would like to be listed in the contest. They will then be given a sign to be placed with the scarecrow display and will be listed on the list of participants. There is no registration fee but the deadline for registering is Sept. 30. There is a $250 first prize, a $150 second prize, and a $100 third prize for the top three. Winners will be announced on WNEG Radio on November 4 at 8:00 a.m. Voting will be online or at various local businesses.  Each sign will have a QR code located on it for easy voting.

Last year’s winners were - Third Place – Wilbanks Smile Center, Second Place – Toccoa Elementary School, and First Place – The Clinic Pharmacy.

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Ida Cox Grand Finale

“Still Cruzin” will be the featured band on August 9 at the final concert of the 2014 season of the Ida Cox Music Series from 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Still Cruzin’ has over thirty years of experience in the entertainment industry.  The eight piece band has performed nationally and internationally and its members are very knowledgeable musicians in their own right. Each member has years of experience in varying genres of music. This allows Still Cruzin to not only perform Motown and R&B for which it is known for, but to provide Rock Standards, Country, Blues and even Jazz if called upon to do so.

Still Cruzin' is known as "The Party Band of the South" Their established band of fifteen years is bigger and better than ever, since they have expanded the band to include a full horn section. Still Cruzin' are talented, well organized, and experienced entertainers that strive to go the extra mile for every performance.

This year’s Ida Cox Music Series has included 10 nights of music on Doyle Street in downtown Toccoa. Many of the concerts have included local performers as well as regional bands. Each evening has been sponsored by one of the downtown businesses with a special give away from their business.

“The event will be held rain or shine,” according to Sharon Crosby, Special Events Coordinator. “There is a high chance of rain, but don’t let that stop you from coming down and enjoying the evening. If it is raining, we will move into the Cornerstone Restaurant on Doyle Street. There will also be other activities that evening like a shag contest. We invite everyone to come and have a great time as we celebrate this year’s Ida Cox Music Series.”   

This concert is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly.  GCA also receives support from its partner agency—the National Endowment for the Arts.

Trey Ward to Play at Ida Cox Music Series

The Trey Ward Band will be the featured group August 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the Ida Cox Music Series. This year’s music series has been extended for two weeks thanks to a grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts.

Trey Ward is a prolific singer/songwriter and accomplished musician from Greenwood, S.C. He began his songwriting career as a teenager when he signed his first song publishing deal at the age of 13 with Hit Kit Music. At the age of 14 he scored an independent record deal and got national distribution of the “A” side.
Often called a New Traditionalist, his music is firmly anchored in the traditional sounds of Flat and Scruggs as well as Haggard and Jones, but with a lyrical twist centered in today’s life and culture. His songs and musical style are both pure and raw, and completely devoid of the tones and trappings of modern commercial radio.

In early 2010, two of his songs were recorded and released nationally by California’s Rural Rhythm Records. “Truman’s Vision,” the story of the Savannah River Plant was recorded by Grammy winner Randy Kohrs, and “All I Can Do Is Just Pretend,” was recorded by bluegrass powerhouse Audie Blaylock and Red Line. More recently, his tune 'Greenwood Mill" was recorded by Mountain Fever recording artists Volume Five and released in June of 2011.

He auditioned for and passed the stringent audition process for Nashville’s Bluebird Café in 2007. He has been invited back to perform his original songs at the Bluebird 12 times since 2008.

For more information, visit treywardmusic.com.

The music series is named for Ida Cox, a vaudeville performer and a pioneering blues singer who helped found the female blues genre. Cox was born Ida Prather on February 25, 1896, in Toccoa, GA. She left home as a teenager to tour with a minstrel revue. Cox excelled at vaudeville singing, but when the popularity of vaudeville shows began to fade, she transformed herself into a blues singer. Cox died on November 10, 1967 having made her mark in the music world.

Toccoa Main Street and the Ida Cox Music Series invite everyone to attend. You are welcome to bring a chair or blanket and enjoy an evening of music in Historic Downtown Toccoa.

This program is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly.  GCA also receives support from its partner agency—the National Endowment for the Arts.

Expanded Summer Events

Main Street Toccoa will be adding some extra events to this summer’s line up of movies and concerts.

Each Thursday night during the months of June and July, movies have been shown in the Schaefer Center. The two remaining movies in July are The Hunger Games (rated PG-13) on July 17 and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (rated PG-13) on July 24.

Since the summer’s first movie “Frozen” was sold out, Main Street Toccoa will be showing an encore presentation of the movie on August 7. According to Sharon Crosby, Special Events Coordinator, “We realize that this is the night for Open House at our elementary schools, but we hope that families will come after they go and visit the schools. It will be a fun way to close off the summer.” Admission is $1.00 for each of the movies and concessions are also $1.00. Doors will open at 6:15.

Thanks to a grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts, the Ida Cox Music Series will be extended for two additional weeks. The country band, The Trey Ward Band, will perform on August 2 and the beach band, Still Cruzin, will perform on August 9.The concerts begin at 7:00 p.m. and are free.