Two Memorial Day Programs will be held Monday, May 30th at the 303 Building downtown Smithville.
The first program, sponsored by the American Legion Post #122 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #7623, will begin with entertainment at 9:00 a.m. by the gospel group “4 the Lord” featuring George Storie. The ceremony will get underway at 10:00 a.m.
The second program, which follows the first, will be presented by the Savage-Goodner Camp of Sons of the Confederate Veterans. It’s a Grand Reunion of the 16th Tennessee Infantry. During the program, an Historian will be present to assist you with questions you may have about your ancestors; music of the period will be played; a barbeque lunch will be served (while it lasts), and Professor Tommy Webb will describe the trials and tribulations suffered by these men. Please bring memorabilia and photographs of your ancestors. Photos will be copied for archival purposes.
Mike Corley said that 150 years ago, a thousand men from the Caney Fork region volunteered to serve their country. This body of soldiers was organized as the 16th Tennessee Infantry with former Congressman John Savage selected as their colonel. They fought on battlefields in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. By the end of the war, less than one hundred remained. If you claim an ancestor among those men, please join the Savage-Goodner Camp of the Confederate Veterans at this reunion.