Loganville Autumn Heritage Festival is This Saturday

• Local talent including gymnastics, dance, tae kwon and baton twirlers will take the stage on the town green.
• From walking sticks to jewelry and wooden wares to crocheted goods, a wide variety of crafts will be on display at vendor booths. 
• Music can be enjoyed throughout the day from 2010 Corn Dawgs Idol Ashton Stringer and "The Voice" contestant Jordan Rager. The event will close with a two-hour performance by D-Earl.  
• Hot dogs, barbecue, funnel cakes, sandwiches, ribs, kettlecorn, custard, nachos, tacos and more will be available for food options.
• The Kid’s Zone, located on the Loganville City Hall front lawn, will allow children to jump in the inflatables, play carnival games, climb trucks and more.

"This is the 5th year I have had the pleasure of organizing the festival," said Councilwoman Michelle Lynch. "It is bittersweet for me as this is the last year I am organizing the Autumn Heritage Festival.  My term ends this year, and as city officials are aware, I will be taking time to be with my family beginning in 2014.  My heart is forever with the festival as it is the event Mayor [Ray] Nunley entrusted me to plan and from that first event forward I delivered without fail.  As I expressed to him in early 2013, I shared my desire to give more of myself back to my children. He told me, in the most heartfelt way, that he could never argue that reasoning. He told me that with my children being the age they are only once that I should to be there for them."

To kick off the festival, a dedication ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at the Ray Nunley Pavilion for renaming part of Highway 20 to Major W. David Gray Memorial Highway. The festival will open with a prayer, followed by Mayor Dan Curry's welcome, and then Rep. Tom Kirby will dedicate Loganville Highway in honor of Gray.

The new name applies to the road from the Walton County Library to the Rockdale County Line. It is a stretch of road Gray and his brother Ronnie traveled several times everyday in their youth. 

After the festival winds down in the afternoon, it doesn't mean the fun stops in Loganville. At 7 p.m., the city is hosting its Groovin' on the Green concert series, this time with the band Funky Bluester. Grab a lawn chair or blanket, some food and those dancing shoes for some blues. The music ends at 10 p.m. 

For more information on the Autumn Heritage Festival and Groovin' on the Green, visit the city website at www.loganville-ga.gov and www.autumnheritagefestival.com.