500 Flags Fly in Lacey

lacey flags
Boy Scouts from Troops 101 and 222 are responsible for raising about 200 flags throughout Lacey.
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By Lynn West

Hometown logoOn every major thoroughfare in Lacey, Washington this week, or any week preceding a national holiday, the stars and stripes will be waving in the breeze. That is, not just one or two United States flags on a pole here or there, but over 500 flags! In this regard, Lacey is unique.

Most often we just take for granted that certain events will be commemorated in a traditional way, and that was true of the city leaders in Lacey. “Even the mayor of Lacey was taken by surprise to learn on September 11, 2001, that he couldn’t call the city’s maintenance department and expect them to have the flags flying by the end of that horrific day,” Pat Bucknell told me recently. “Very few people knew we were responsible for the flags, and that was fine. We just wanted to make an impact on our city.”

lacey flags
Pat Bucknell first began raising flags in Lacey in 1986.

As the inspiration behind the United States Flag project in Lacey, Pat Bucknell, current treasurer of the Lacey Sunrise Lions Club, presented the idea to his club in 1986. The following year about 250 flags were installed along Lacey streets on Memorial Day weekend. Twenty-eight years later, in 2014, the original goal of 500 flags was reached, but it all did not all happen by magic along the way.

Initially club members knew that to make a go of it, they would have to find outside sponsors, but initially they purchased the flags themselves. Radio stations KTOL and KGY provided publicity, booths were set up at Panorama, and local shopping malls to encourage community participation. Individuals responded as well as Fred Meyer and Capital Development Corporation South Sound Mall, who were major contributors. It soon became a community effort.

After discovering in 2001 the amazing work the Sunrise Lions were doing, the City of Lacey began installing the brackets, and Woodmen of the World donated over 200 US flags to keep this amazing project expanding.

However, the Lions soon realized they could not complete what had become a massive endeavor nine times each year (Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Patriots Day, and Veteran’s Day) by themselves. It takes seven teams to launch the 580 flags that will fly in 2015 on each of these holidays.

It also takes teamwork to accomplish the job. Seven teams are well organized and know their locations and the number of flags they will install. The Lacey Sunrise Lions members captain five of the teams, but in 1990 they enlisted the help of two local Boy Scout Troops by becoming their sponsors. Boy Scout Troop 222 lines College Street with a 100 flags, and Troop 101 mounts another 100 flags on Martin Way and Marvin Road.

lacey flags
The Lacey Sunrise Lions Club is responsible for organizing more than 500 flags on 9 different holidays.

One of Bucknell’s essential motivations in proposing this project in 1986 was giving back to the community, and that is exactly why it aligns so nicely with the mission of the Boy Scouts.

According to Kevin Ammon, Scout Master of Lacey Troop 101, “It is obvious my Scouts feel a keen sense of community when they are putting up the flags. They love having people honk and wave and appreciate all their hard work. They know it is something the whole community values.”

As one of the smaller Scout Troops in Lacey, Troop 101 has 35 boys registered, with about twenty 11-17 year olds active, so launching 100 flags nine times a year is no small task.

Ammons explained that consistent with the Boy Scout’s mission, community service is high on the list of priorities. “When we are installing the flags, the boys get immediate feedback on their hard work, which is nice. “ he said. “In other settings the boys are hidden in the woods pulling ivy or planting trees in a local park.”

In a paraphrase from Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, Ammons said he appreciates Powell’s philosophy, “Don’t do for a boy, what he can do for himself.”

lacey flags
Boy Scouts from Troops 101 and 222 are responsible for raising about 200 flags throughout Lacey.

With that idea in mind, he said his scouts have devised improvements for the flag installation process. “For example,” he said, “they decided last year that it was more time efficient to divide the group and work on each side of the road simultaneously.” He appreciates that this project has allowed them to become more self-directed.

What began as one military veteran’s idea to honor his country and benefit his city, has become a recurring event involving multigenerational community members, local businesses and government leaders.

Enjoy the flags. Give the Lions and Boy Scouts a wave as they lower the flags a few days after Memorial Day. They will be raising those 580 flags again soon. The Fourth of July is just around the corner.

 

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