CUMMING, Ga. — Cumming Mayor Troy Brumbalow says everything is still moving forward with the city center, including plans for a fallen officer memorial. One of the focal points, he says, will be a 1969 Chevrolet Impala, painted to look like a Forsyth County Sheriff’s vehicle.
“This car has significance because there were two deputies that got killed in this car, a deputy and a reserve, back in 1972,” Brumbalow said. “I had the idea to try and fix the car back up to kind of pay tribute to those guys. Once we decided on the city center and doing a police station there, the idea came to me - let's make it a memorial to all police that we’ve lost in the county.”
After doing some research, the mayor decided that restoring the original car would cost too much. Instead, an exact replica was purchased. The men at Johnson’s Body Shop in Cumming have worked tirelessly on repairs and upgrades.
“We painted it white, it was blue. We’ve redone it and took everything apart, resealed it, put new rubbers in it, fixed a bunch of dents in it,” noted Gary Johnson, the body shop owner.
The car, which will debut in Cumming’s upcoming 4th of July parade, has taken weeks of work, but it’s almost ready.
“It turned out great,” Brumbalow said. “The sheriff's going to drive it in the parade. He's going to be chasing me in my Bandit Trans Am.”
He says the car will be parked at the Cumming Police Station until the City Center is ready, at which point the car will be part of a memorial for fallen officers in the county.
“We will also have a memorial for firefighters over there in a different building with the city's last fire truck,” Brumbalow said.
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