Grovetown hails heritage, looks to future

A community that treasures its history is more likely to value its future.

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That is the message ringing through loud and clear from Columbia County's largest city, especially on this Memorial Day.

Grovetown's Heritage Festival has always been an important reminder of the city's birth as a resort community and its growth as a bedroom for Fort Gordon.

This year's festival, however, brings those elements to new clarity. Set to coincide with Memorial Day, the Grovetown Heritage Festival this year includes the unveiling of the city's Memorial Wall.

Construction on the ambitious project began late last year, and completion has been down to the wire for this year's Heritage Festival. The unveiling Monday will show off what the city's fans have been waiting for.

The wall, a drawn-out S shape, holds brass plaques bearing the names of Columbia Countians who have served in the military. Anyone can be recommended for inclusion on the wall; all it takes is filling out a simple form at City Hall.

Since word of the wall got out, hundreds have responded. The unveiling Monday will provide not just a visible reminder of service and sacrifice, but a focal point for Grovetown's historic, staunch support of our nation's armed services.

It couldn't be more fitting that Grovetown Mayor Dennis Trudeau, who is winding down what he says is his final term as the city's leader, will preside over the unveiling. A genuine war hero who parachuted into France in World War II and survived a German POW camp, Mayor Trudeau is a symbol as remarkable as the wall itself.

Growing fast, perhaps even a little recklessly, Grovetown clearly has a bright future - especially when people like Trudeau help remind us just how much the city treasures its history.