Atlanta has its big fireworks show. Dunwoody puts on a Fourth of July parade it says is the largest in the state. Stone Mountain hosts its Lasershow Spectacular.
But it’s Peachtree City that’s in a national competition to be named the most patriotic city in the country.
Five other towns are in the running to be the reddest, the whitest and the bluest, as determined by Rand McNally/USA Today’s Best of the Road contest. When the bunting settles, say civic boosters and residents alike, Peachtree City will be No. 1.
“I think this is one of the most patriotic communities in the nation,” said Peachtree City resident John Huefner. “I wish there were more communities as patriotic in this country.”
The other contenders are Clarksville, Tenn.; Emporia, Kan.; Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Rapid City, S.D.; and Williamsburg, Va.
Clarksville? Since the 2000 college football season, the Georgia Bulldogs are 7-4 against the Tennessee Vols; surely that counts for something. Emporia? Hmph. Fort Leonard Wood? Never heard of them. Rapid City? Take away Mount Rushmore and they have nothing.
But what about Williamsburg, founded in 1699? If this contest has an 800-pound gorilla, it lives in Virginia.
No problem, said Betsy Tyler, Peachtree City’s public information officer.
“They don’t have 10,000 golf carts getting decorated” for the annual Fourth of July parade, she said. “We do.”
Veterans’ presence
Peachtree City got in the contest earlier this year, when Rand McNally and USA Today asked readers to nominate the most patriotic towns in the nation. More than 100 online ballots were cast for Peachtree City, more than any other municipality in Georgia.
With the holiday imminent, people in Peachtree City have applied patriotic colors to homes and stores the way teenage boys put on cologne — liberally.
At the city airport, an F-16 fighter jet greets visitors to the Falcon Field Veterans Memorial. A smaller monument outside the town library celebrates the nation’s military. Beside it is a former Postal Service letter box where residents can drop off worn American flags to be disposed of properly.
Former resident Lesley Rice has a simple explanation for the town’s patriotic fervor. A lot of veterans live in Peachtree City.
“The people here who served our country have a different sense of the value” of freedom, said Rice, a graduate student in Washington, D.C., visiting her mother in Peachtree City. “Their service is what makes them so patriotic.”
Peachtree City should win, said Mary Davis Overton, who works at a sporting goods store in town.
“The flags around here are always flying,” said Overton. “I would like to think that they can win, but I am a little partial.”
“We’re a small-town community,” added resident Christian Swann, who plans to drive her family’s bunting-draped golf cart in the parade Monday. “We’re just better.”
‘Open’ competition
Other cities feel the same way.
For example, Emporia, on the northeastern plains of Kansas, is the founding city of Veterans Day. The town first observed it in 1953. The rest of the nation followed its example the next year, after Congress approved changing the name from Armistice Day.
Or consider Williamsburg. A man dressed as Patrick Henry, the “give me liberty or give me death” guy, is a routine sight on the old city’s streets. So are re-enactors dressed as British soldiers, marching reminders that this country fought an empire for its independence.
Does that mean Peachtree City and those other towns can strike the colors and wave the white flag?
“I think the competition is wide-open,” said Kate Hoving, a spokeswoman for the city of Williamsburg. “That’s the beauty of it — patriotic cities are everywhere.”
A couple of irrepressible 25-year-olds calling themselves Captain and Clark — if the names remind you of the famed explorers Lewis and Clark, that’s purely intentional — are visiting the towns and assessing the patriotic pitch of each. The duo, whose real names are Tawny Clark and Chris Staudinger, post their impressions on daily blogs, combining photos and video to create a snapshot of each town. Judges at Rand McNally and USA Today will name the winning town on July 21.
Clark and Staudinger visited Peachtree City on June 26, hitting town after a nine-hour drive from Williamsburg.
The next day, officials and regular folks greeted the two with a golf cart parade — a miniature version of the cart-strangled procession that takes place every Fourth of July.
“You can sense the sense of community here,” said Clark.
“Community,” Staudinger agreed. “That’s it, hands down.”
OK, community is fine, but it’s not the same as patriotism. Is Peachtree City the most patriotic town in the country?
Clark and Staudinger just smiled. “It’s a great place,” said Staudinger.
About the Author
