Cherokee County’s annual Patriot Day Ceremony will be held Friday, Sept. 9 at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Canton. This will be the 20th year of the annual ceremony, which will take place at the Public Safety Memorial at Rotary Park (between the historic courthouse and the Justice Center).

“Patriot Day is an opportunity for us to come together as a community and honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001,” said Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jay Baker, who led the planning committee this year. “We hope you can join us to commemorate this day as a community.”

The keynote speaker will be Cherokee County E 9-1-1 Director Shane Bonebrake. Director Bonebrake retired from the Woodstock Police Department in 2021 to lead the county’s E 9-1-1 Center that serves all public safety in Cherokee County. His 30 years in public safety includes director of EMS Services for Six Flags White Water, flight medic for Lifenet Georgia, narcotics and vice officer for the New Orleans Police Department, chief international flight medic for Worldwide Transport Services, a firefighter/paramedic for Rockdale County, a Rockdale County 911 dispatcher, Cherokee County firefighter/paramedic, a soldier in the U.S. Army (field, flight and ER medic) and several roles with the Woodstock Police Department.

This year’s event will feature music from the Cherokee High School Band of Warriors. Cherokee Fire Battalion Chief Cheri Collett will perform special music on the bagpipes. The Cherokee County Multi-Agency Honor Guard will present the colors, and Capt. Baker will serve as the event emcee.

Fire Chief Eddie Robinson began this Cherokee County tradition in 2002 to honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

The event is free and open to the public, and it is a rain or shine event.