In a park created to honor those who have served, keeping the American flag pristine is an important duty — one the club does gladly.
A faded American flag hung lifeless in the air at Veterans’ Memorial Monument Park Friday, Feb. 12. The once-vibrant red stripes looked more like a withered harvest-orange, and the symbol of freedom was tired.
But members of Plant City’s Daybreak Rotary Club weren’t going to let it sit in its current state for long. They came to the park, off of Wheeler Street in Historic Downtown, to retire the flag and hoist a new one.
Carefully, former Daybreak Rotary President George Banning unlocked the flag pole and lowered the worn flag. Current president Sharon Philbin, along with Rotarians Bruce and Margaret Rodwell, helped fold the flag in a perfect triangle.
The Rotarians turned their attention to the new 6-by-10-foot replacement. They unfolded it and linked it on to the flag pole then raised it.
The process was simple for the club. Its members have been replacing the flag in Veterans’ Memorial Monument Park every eight months since 2010. This is the sixth time that the flag has been replaced.
“Nobody knows who does this,” Bruce Rodwell said. “They think the city does.”
When the plans for the park were being finalized, interim City Manager Dave Sollenberger noted that the flag had to be changed periodically. Many members in the community had already donated their time and money to the cause — the Plant City Garden Club had done the landscaping and planting, and community leaders formed a committee, led by Jennifer Closshey, to have a statue and sponsorships for bricks.
But the flag remained an issue.
Committee member Ed Verner sponsored the pole, but no resident or club had yet stepped up to ensure that the flag would be well-maintained.
Thinking that it would be a good service project, Banning, then president of the Daybreak, volunteered his organization.
“That was the big hangup on this park,” Banning said. “The flag was an issue. They never agreed on who would replace it.”
The system works perfectly. Once the worn flag is replaced, it is given to Dan Orrico, a United States Army veteran. Orrico takes the flag to AMVETS Post 44 on State Road 60, where it is disposed of properly.
“If anything, it costs our club $100 dollars,” Banning said. The most recent flag purchased cost $75 dollars.
The park, which is open to the public, is located at 703 N. Wheeler St. in Plant City.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.
