Poland Eagle Scout wants your worn-out U.S. flags

Two of the Poland Seminary High School senior’s relatives served in the military.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

POLAND — Jim Somerville, 17, wanted his Eagle Scout project to not only provide a community service but also to educate people.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jim, a senior at Poland Seminary High School, is organizing an American flag retirement collection at Poland Methodist Church, Boardman-Poland Road.

People can drop off their old, tattered American flags to the collection for proper disposal by members of Poland Troop 2 of the Boy Scouts of America.

“After 9/11, everybody had their flags out,” Jim said.

But a lot of those flags are beginning to show wear and tear.

Jim has been in the Boy Scouts since first grade when he and his family lived in California. They moved to Poland before his freshman year of high school.

The flag collection is Jim’s project to become an Eagle Scout, the highest Boy Scout rank.

“I wanted to do a project that would educate people rather than just provide a service,” he said.

Both his father and a great-uncle served in the military, in the Army and Air Force, respectively.

Jim researched to learn about proper flag disposal. The preferred method of disposal is burning.

In a flier he created as part of his project, he also instructs about the proper display of the flag: “When displayed with other flags, the size of the American Flag should be larger than the other flags or relatively equal to the size of the largest flag. Other flags should not overshadow the American Flag in any way.

“The American Flag should be flown higher than lesser flags. If the flags are displayed on the same level, the American Flag should be flown to the [flag’s own] right of all other flags. The right is a position of prominence,” according to the prospective Eagle Scout’s research.

The project also involved soliciting donations to help fund the project. Hank Nemenz of the Nemenz grocery stores started off the donations with $100, Jim said.