Gadsden Season of Honor
Greater Gadsden Area Tourism
623 Broad Street, Gadsden, AL 35901 256-549-0351 www.GreaterGadsden.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Tina Morrison
Tina@GreaterGadsden.com
Greater Gadsden Area Honors Veterans with Season of Honor Events
GADSDEN, AL--August 29, 2024 - This fall in Etowah County, Alabama from October 6 through November 6, Greater Gadsden Area Tourism in a collaboration with Gadsden-Etowah Patriots Association is promoting four veteran friendly events packaged into one name: Season of Honor. “We want to show everyone how much Etowah County cherishes and honors our veterans,” said Tina Morrison, Executive Director for Greater Gadsden Area Tourism.
First up on October 6th will be a stop in Gadsden for the BamaRama500. The event is part of the Navy '83 Ride Across America. Graduates in the Class of 1983 at the U.S. Naval Academy have been riding bicycles across the country to raise funds to support veterans. In the BamaRama500, they'll travel roughly 500 miles from Huntsville to Orange Beach. Morrison said about 20 cyclists and 10 support crew members will spend the night in veteran discounted rooms provided by Gadsden Inn & Suites in Gadsden on Oct. 6th. With the help of the City of Gadsden, they will take a break from the bikes and be shuttled to the Ola Lee Mize Patriots Park at Noccalula Falls Park for a 6:00-6:30 pm welcome ceremony, with guest speaker AL State Representative Mark Gidley. Representative Mark Gidley is a graduate of Hokes Bluff High School, a pastor and has served as a Republican member of the Alabama House of Representatives since November 8, 2022, and represents Alabama's 29th House district. This free outside event is open to the public and donations to the Bama Rama cause will be accepted. The following morning, before resuming their ride farther South, the veterans will meet in their hotel parking lot and do 22 pushups to commemorate the 22 veterans who lose their lives to suicide each day.
The second, a long-standing favorite Gadsden event, A Walk Through Time, takes place on Sunday, October 20th from 2:00-4:30pm at Forrest Cemetery. This annual event, where over 50 portrayers clad in period costumes share the life stories and accomplishments of people buried in Forrest Cemetery, will this year focus on World War II veterans. This free outside event is open to the public and donations are accepted and are used for the preservation of the cemetery. Rain date for A Walk Through Time will be October 27, 2024.
October 31, 2024, will be proclaimed “Frank Towers Day” in the City of Gadsden, honoring the former local police officer who is considered Alabama's first fatality in World War II. Towers, a chief gunner's mate on the USS Reuben James, was one of 115 people who died when the escort destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine on October 31, 1941, a little more than five weeks before the U.S. officially entered World War II. With the explosions, Frank Towers was thrown into the icy Atlantic waters. He tried to rescue others but was pulled under when the ship sank. Towers' loss is noted by the East Gadsden Civitan Club with a bronze star placed on the sidewalk on Broad Street at the corner of 3rd Street in Downtown Gadsden. From 11:00am-Noon there will be a short ceremony at “the star” and Craig Scott, Gadsden Public Library Director will portray Mr. Frank Towers and tell his story. This free outside event is open to the public.
The Season of Honor will conclude on November 6, with the free annual Veterans Day Parade in downtown Gadsden, following the Gadsden-Etowah Patriots Association's Hall of Honor luncheon at The Venue.
Those who attend all four Season of Honor events can enter to win a free vacation in Gadsden. For more information, visit www.GreaterGadsden.com or call (256) 549-0351.
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