The dedication ceremony for the Lamar B. Hays Memorial Parkway took place Thursday, July 16 at 4:40 p.m. in the Mansfield Community Center. This great honor was passed through the Georgia Senate and House by Sen. John Douglas (R.-Social Circle) and House Representative Doug Holt after Hays untimely death in March of this year.

Hays was a long time resident, business owner and community leader in the small city of Mansfield. He was the owner of Hays Tractor Company for 25 years, a City Council Member for 27 years and devoted to his loving wife Carrie Hays for 47 years. He and Carrie also had three daughters that they raised in Mansfield: Susan Boss, Sandra Johnson and Sheila Massey.

Hays was loved by many in the city of Mansfield and all around this area. Douglas considered Hays “a very fine man and a pillar to this community.” Holt stated that “it is an honor to represent Mr. Hays in this way.”

The Lamar B. Hays Memorial Parkway stretches between the city limits of Mansfield on Ga. Highway 11.

“This means so much and Lamar would just be tickled to death," Carrie Hays said.

At the dedication ceremony Mrs. Hays was presented with State Resolution 598 which described why this stretch of highway was dedicated to Hays and was read by Douglas. In reading the State Resolution honoring Hays, Douglas said it all when he read that Lamar Hays "made this world a better place to live.”

Hays was a loved and cherished man in the cozy town of Mansfield, and with this highway dedication he will forever be a part of the place he loved so dearly: his home.