Dan Epright, The Murfreesboro Post, July 5, 2017
From left to right are Elaine Winters on fiddle, Thomas Maupin dancing and Daniel Rockwell, of Home Sweet Home, performing at La Vergne’s 45th Anniversary Celebration. (Dan Epright)
Civil War-era leveling as reprisal for guerrilla raids against Union supply trains. Devastating, city destroying tornadoes in 1900. With roots reaching back to the 1700s, La Vergne has prevailed through peril, resurrected time and again and finally incorporated in 1972.
The scrappy little city celebrated with a family-oriented gathering and look back through history last month.
In the multipurpose building behind city hall historic photographs, Civil War era artifacts and firearms were on display. A musketry demonstration took visitors back to the past, as did the family favorite, an interactive, old-time clothes dress-up collection for adults and children to create throwback photos. And of course, live music from fiddle and banjo artists Home Sweet Home performed in period dress for the event.
Former La Vergne Mayor Shirley Winfree Green came to the anniversary celebration to see the displays and reminisce. Green served as La Vergne’s first female mayor from 1990 to 1994. She’s seen a lot of progress in the city.
Her proudest achievements during her term?
“We turned the first shovel for the first city park in La Vergne during my term,” Green said. “And, I got the water treatment plant built during my term, bringing it in under budget, when it had been several hundred thousand dollars in the hole.”
Current La Vergne Mayor Dennis Waldron thoroughly enjoyed the anniversary gathering, circulating among his constituents and donning some old-time garb for a photo opp. Coming from the past into the present, he noted the city’s rapid growth.
“La Vergne is one of the fastest growing cities in the Southeast and is a great place to live, play and raise kids,” he said.