The Kiwanis Club of Griffin held a well-attended patriotic celebration at the Elks Lodge Wednesday afternoon.

Club member Eric Moye came forward and discussed how in 1776, the Founding Fathers signed a document declaring independence from Great Britain. They challenged the mightiest nation on the planet to gain their freedom and many of them lost their lives, lost family members or lost property in the ensuing war.

“All of those 56 men were worse off at the end of the revolution,” he said.

He said Americans have the freedom and lifestyle that is the envy of the world because of the sacrifices of these men.

After a quartet of Boy Scouts from Troop 77 read “The American’s Creed,” club member Johnie McDaniel read “The Concord Hymn,” source of the famous line “the shot heard round the world.”

Retired Lt. Col. Allan Imes spoke about the meaning of the Great Seal of the United States.

“It has a story of its own,” he said.

He said the seal features a bald eagle with 13 stripes, symbolizing the 13 colonies, on its breast. Atop the stripes is a blue field uniting the 13 stripes. In one talon, the eagle is holding an olive branch, symbolizing a desire for peace, and in the other talon, the eagle is holding 13 arrows, symbolizing willingness to fight. The rear of the seal features an unfinished pyramid with 13 layers — symbolizing the original 13 colonies and how there was more room to advance — topped with the eye of Providence.

Club member J Folds described Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech and told the tale of Jonas Parker, who rallied the fleeing Minutemen at Lexington, Mass., to fight the British, sacrificing his own life in the process.

He said the ragtag army of Minutemen became the five branches of the most powerful military on the planet. That set the stage for the recognition of veterans of the five branches of the modern U.S. military.