The Dr. Lyman Hall statue has stood on the grounds of the Hall County Government Center since last spring, but a dedication ceremony held Friday made the center its official home.
Led by the Sons of the American Revolution, the ceremony was supposed to take place outdoors, but the rainy forecast placed a bit of a damper on the event. As a precaution, the ceremony was moved inside the center. SAR was supposed to demonstrate with ceremonial musket fire, but that part of the event was scrapped; still, the ceremony still had plenty of pageantry indoors.
The event was held in memory of the service and sacrifice of the namesake of Hall County. In addition to being a clergyman, a physician and a governor of Georgia, Lyman Hall was one of three Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence. SAR President Carter J. Woods said signing the document was a huge step of courage.
"It was a death sentence too," Woods said. "They had given proof positive in any court of the land, not that it would have taken a court in those days, that they were traitors to the crown. They had committed treason by standing up and saying it, and then they had certified so by signing so," he said.
Armando De Lira, a 5th grader and student at Lyman Hall Elementary School, was a speaker at the ceremony. De Lira said he didn't know much about Hall before, but he said he enjoyed researching and learning about him. De Lira's message to the group at Friday's ceremony was of Hall's history and how he impacted Georgia.
"He signed the Declaration of Independence, founded the University of Georgia in 1790 and he helped reconstruct Georgia," De Lira said.
Lyman Hall Elementary Principal Angel Rodriguez said he enjoyed watching Armando learn about the history of Dr. Hall, their school and seeing the student present his information for such a large group on Friday.
"That's one of the things we [educators] love, Rodriguez said. "We learn things, we know things and it's part of my excitement, the teacher's excitement, to share those things and to find those opportunities, real opportunities, meaningful opportunities, to share that knowledge with others," he said.
The Lyman Hall statue was donated to the county by Jack Frost, the owner of Memorial Park Funeral Homes.
