The Knights of Columbus at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church observed Flag Day on Monday by retiring several hundred American flags that were in poor condition.
Using the traditional retirement method of burning the flags, several members of the Knights participated in the ceremony. They built a fire in a large metal barrel and took turns dropping flags into the flames.
Hundreds of small flags that needed to be retired came from Green Hill Memorial Gardens, where the Knights place flags at all of the veterans’ graves every year on Memorial Day.
“Fellow citizens, we have here these flags of our country, which have been inspected and declared unserviceable. They have reached their present state in a proper service of tribute, memory and love,” master of ceremonies Joe Mezzoni said to begin the service.
“A flag may be a flimsy bit of painted gauze or a beautiful banner of the finest silk. Its inherent value may be trifling or great, but its symbolic value is beyond price. Fort it is a precious symbol of all that our veterans have worked for, lived for and died for.
“A nation of free men and women, true to the past, devoted to the ideals and practice of justice, freedom and democracy. Let these flags of our country be retired and destroyed with respectful and honorable rites and their places be taken by bright new flag.”
The Rev. Richard Meredith, priest at Saints Peter and Paul, led the group in a prayer.
The Knights of Columbus will continue to accept old flags from anyone in the community who wants to have them respectfully retired. Anyone interested in turning over old flags should call Mezzoni at 270-305-4701.
“We’ll make arrangements to pick them up,” he said.
Flag Day is observed on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, approved the stars and bars design for the national Flag. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issues a presidential proclamation establishing the national observance.
The 13 red and white bars represent the original 13 colonies. The white stars on a blue background represent the states.
The current flag, the 27th version, dates to July 4, 1960, when Hawaii became the 50th state.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
