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Austintown Rotary begins flag project
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
The township’s rotary club has begun a flag project as a fundraiser and as another way to show patriotism throughout the community.
Mark Cole is spearheading the movement for the Rotary Club of Austintown and stepped down as president of the club June 30. Austintown Schools Superintendent Vincent Colaluca is the current president.
The flag program began during the Fourth of July parade earlier this month in the township. Cole said they had flyers printed out the day before the parade.
“We passed out 3,000 fliers throughout the parade and we’re trying to get the word out to everyone in the community,” he said.
Several communities locally have the same project, such as Canfield, Struthers, Boardman and Louisville. The program costs $30 a year, and Rotary members or groups working with Rotary on the project will put a flag in the yard of a participating resident around national holidays. “We’re going to look at maybe the [Boy] Scouts and different organizations that will help us by delivering the flags,” Cole said. He added they would pay “like $1 a flag in, $1 a flag out ... [we’re] trying to help other organizations.”
The flags are put up a week before Memorial Day, stay through Flag Day and are taken down after the Fourth of July. The flags are then put back up a week before Labor Day, stay through Patriot Day and are again taken down after Veterans Day. The group is hoping the flags will last for two to three years.
Cole explained the amount of work the project takes, from spreading the word about the new program to marking where an 18-inch PVC pipe will be inserted into each lawn to hold the 10-foot staff with a 3-foot-by-5-foot flag.
He said they will be mindful when digging the hole for the pipe in residents’ yards and knowing where utility lines, sprinkler systems, and invisible fence lines are in each yard. A plastic cap will be put over the pipe when it is not in use to prevent water from filling the pipe, which will be even with the ground.
Local businesses have helped with the costs of the materials needed for the project and seeing that the flags are American-made, Cole said.
“We’re hoping we will get 50 percent of the community at least to participate because all of the proceeds we raise, we give back to the community through Austintown Rotary,” Cole said.
Colaluca talked about veterans in the community and what he hopes they get from this project. “I hope that they understand that we appreciate their sacrifice and ... [that] our children growing up knowing freedom doesn’t come easy and that we should honor our veterans,” Colaluca said.
Chuck Jeswald of Jeswald Towing is allowing Rotary to use his building as a storage space for the start of the project, as flags come in and for the tools needed to build the stands and holes.
“It’s a lot more than sticking a flag in a front yard,” Cole said.
Trustee Lisa Oles, a Rotary member, said, “I think it’s an excellent project that the Austintown Rotarians are working on ... it’s really something that allows residents to showcase their patriotism.”
For more information about the project or to buy a flag for a residence, visit www.austintownflags.com. Austintown Rotary meets every Monday at noon at the Saxon Club, 710 S. Meridian Road.