Editor:
In 1810, a group of raw, tough, forward-thinking people established what they believed was a “Shining City on the Ridge.” They named their beautiful town Harmony Grove. We know this because the most definitive work on the history of Harmony Grove - Commerce was done by T.C. Hardman, and published in 1949. He stated in his book, “It is well established that the community, or settlement, that was known as the Town of Harmony Grove, now Commerce, was settled about the year 1810, or possibly a few years earlier.” If this is true, we should be celebrating our city’s bicentennial.
When I mentioned this to various people around town, I was informed that we had to use the date the Town of Harmony Grove was chartered by the State of Georgia, which was in 1884. I responded by asking why we did not celebrate our centennial year in 1984. They had no answer.
Using these people’s logic, we should not be celebrating July the 4th, 1776, as the founding of this country, but we should be celebrating it on the day the Constitution was ratified, June 21, 1788. How we could, as a nation, have made such a mistake regarding our national founding over the last 240 years is amazing to me.
I, for one, believe that we should rely upon the historical data provided by Reverend Hardman and issue a proclamation at the January meeting of the city council proclaiming the year 2010 as Commerce’s bicentennial and that the celebration of the bicentennial should take place in the year 2011. If we wait until 2084, most of us living now, will not be alive to celebrate the 200th Birthday of the founding of Harmony Grove - Commerce. This country was either founded on July 4, 1776, and Commerce was founded in 1810 or the United States was founded in 1788 and Commerce was founded in 1884.
The Town of Harmony Grove - Commerce has been very good to me. Its bicentennial is a huge milestone in our history. It is a time to honor the first settlers of this native land, who fought off Indians and endured other hardships to establish our town. It would also celebrate all of the great things that have happened in the City of Commerce over the last 200 years. If Commerce is a “Shining City on the Ridge,” then its 200th birthday deserves to be celebrated.
I ask all of you who care about Harmony Grove - Commerce to contact your elected officials and ask that a proclamation issue at the January 2011 council meeting declaring 2010 as Commerce’s bicentennial year. The Downtown Development Authority should be the lead group to plan and conduct the celebration of our bicentennial in 2011. Better late than never.
Respectfully,
Greg Perry,
Commerce
Greg Perry, a Commerce attorney, is chairman of the Commerce Planning Commission.
