On that day, legislators met in Raleigh and voted to take North Carolina out of the Union and join other Southern states as part of the new Confederate States of America.

Four years of bloody civil war followed, in which more than 1,200 Moore County men served in the Confederate Army.

On Saturday, May 20, at 10 a.m., Moore County will honor their sacrifice during the annual Confederate Memorial Day Service to be held at historic Old Bethesda Church on Bethesda Road (N.C. 5) in Aberdeen. Organized by the John Blue Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, this year's activities will include the decoration of Civil War soldier's graves with flags, period music, the raising of the Confederate colors by uniformed Civil War reenactors, and an artillery salute by the Scotch Rifleman Camp of the Moore County Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Genealogist and historian, Lacy A. Garner Jr., will deliver the keynote address, titled "Where is the Glory in Being Forgotten?" An outdoor lunch buffet will follow.

The public is invited to attend this celebration of Southern heritage and pride.

For information, call 281-5560 or e-mail thehathaways@earthlink.net.