Public invited to flag retirement
By Kyle LoJacono
Boy Scouts of America Troop 72 of Zephyrhills is retiring 100 U.S. flags on Memorial Day, May 31, from 7 to 8 p.m.
When the troop was planning its Memorial Day meeting, several ideas were tossed around the building. Some ideas were to play patriotic games and other patriotic activities, and what the scouts came up with could not have been more appropriate to honor the holiday.
“There were some other ideas, but they decided to have a flag retirement ceremony,” said the troop’s scoutmaster Greg Hilferding. “I couldn’t have been a prouder scout master at that moment.”
The troop, which meets at the public meeting hall in Shepard Park in Zephyrhills, will conduct the ceremony at the park, located at the intersection of US 301 and A Avenue. The public is invited to watch the event.
“It’s our goal to maintain a solemn nature,” Hilferding said. “It won’t be a flashy show or anything like that. It’ll be a quiet and dignified retirement.”
Hilferding, who earned his Eagle Scout award and grew up in the city, said parking is very limited at Shepard Park and suggests people show up early. He also encourages people to bring their own chairs to watch the ceremony.
The troop has at least 100 flags that need to be retired, which will makes it the largest such ceremony the troop has done during any of the scouts’ time with the organization. Hilferding said he was never involved with a ceremony this large when he was in Boy Scouts either.
“We usually just do a handful of flags a year,” Hilferding said. “So many people have been flying flags during the last 10 years and a lot of them are worn down now and have to be retired. There is just a lot more patriotism now I think.”
The United States Flag Code states, “The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”
Such conditions unfitting of display include holes, tears or faded colors.
The ceremony will start with a presentation of the colors and will be followed by a short speech about the U.S. flag. Then the retirement will begin.
Goin’ Postal will provide drinks and light refreshments during the event.
“Gregg asked me if I’d like to provide refreshments and to distribute information about my annual ‘Flag Replacement & Exchange Program’ and I said ‘Yes!’” said Goin’ Postal co-owner M.J. Price. “It was very kind of Gregg to ask us to be involved in this special ceremony and I am eager to have our two children, Bodhi (age 2) and Ellie (age 1) witness how flags are retired properly.”
Each July Goin’ Postal accepts worn-out flags. Hilferding said several of the flags the troop received for the retirement are from Goin’ Postal’s program last year. Others were given to the troop by people in the community who wanted them retired properly.
Hilferding said he does not think all the flags will be retired during the upcoming ceremony because each flag must be retired one at a time. The troop will eventually retire them all and it accepts flags no longer fit to fly throughout the year.
