Come help unfurl these biggie flags Monday

It will take 100 to 200 people to hold each flag.

By LAURE CIOFFI

VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU

MERCER, Pa. — The Mercer Memorial Day 500 is big.

And the year’s event just got bigger with three really big flags.

The public will be invited to help unfurl the flags — each 45 feet by 90 feet — to kick off Monday’s event.

“It’s going to be big,” said Mark Brown, co-chairman of the Mercer Memorial Day 500.

These three flags — each weighing about 300 pounds — are in addition to the 500 flags displayed in the community for its Memorial Day weekend event.

Brown said they contacted The National Flag Truck organizers about two months ago to ask that they attend the Memorial Day festivities.

“This is quite an event. The National Flag Truck just doesn’t come to small towns,” he said.

Brown estimates it will take a good 100 to 200 people to unfurl and hold each flag. Participants are asked to arrive by 8:30 a.m. to be part of the 9 a.m. event. He said they intend to take photographs of the large flags, which will be unfurled at the courthouse square.

The National Flag Truck has carried a collection of large flags around the world since 1989. It is based in Massachusetts and has carried flags to ceremonies in all 50 states and nine countries. The flags are the property of the Department of Defense, but the exhibit is sponsored by private donors.

The truck did appear at the Salem, Ohio, jubilee in 1998.

Brown said one of the flags coming to Mercer was once unfurled on Mount Rushmore.

cioffi@vindy.com