Flags Planted At Liberty And Peace Monument Continues Memorial Day Weekend Tradition
UPDATE (Monday, June 3, 2019): One of the captions for this story has been updated to reflect the correct name of one of the Newtown Woman's Club members who participated in this year's flag installation event.
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Newtown Woman’s Club, GFWC, continued a Memorial Day weekend tradition on Friday, May 24, when members surrounded the base of the Liberty and Peace Moment with American flags.
The task went even faster than usual this year thanks to some unexpected, but very welcome, help.
Marilyn Alexander, Pat Bailey, Patricia Hubert, and Michelle MacRae began putting 12-by-18-inch flags in place at 3 pm Friday. It was the tenth time members of the local club have placed flags around the granite monument that honors residents who have served in branches of the Armed Forces dating as far back as the War of 1812.
Within minutes, the grass surrounding the monument that is the centerpiece of a small green at the intersection of Main Street, Hanover Road, and Schoolhouse Hill Road was dotted with the familiar red, white, and blue. The monument is also often called Soldiers and Sailors Monument.
Newtown resident Vincent DeNicola was driving past the green when he saw the women working and offered to help. A US Navy veteran of the Vietnam era, Mr DeNicola was soon joined by his grandson, Aidan Estridge, who eagerly joined the effort.
Once nearly 100 American flags had been put into place, one flag for each of the US Armed Forces and a pair of black POW/MIA flags were placed on either side of the one stretch of sidewalk on the small green.
The flags usually stay in place until Flag Day.
“We keep them up for a few weeks, but then the grass needs to be mowed,” said Mrs Alexander. “We take them down because it’s impossible to mow around them.”
As the group finished its work, the small flags began waving thanks to strong occasional breezes that kept the day cool despite sun. A few drivers already traveling for the weekend on Main Street — which was already building in congestion — offered smiles, waves, and nods as they passed the monument and those standing nearby.
“Look at that, ladies,” Mr DeNicola said to the women as they began packing up their supplies, dozens of flags rippling around them. “Nice job.”
Approximately 100 flags were placed around the base of the Liberty and Peace Monument near the top of Main Street mid-afternoon Friday, May 24. In addition to American flags, Newtown Woman’s Club a few years ago added one flag to represent each branch of the Armed Forces and a pair of POW/MIA flags to the annual display; the flags for the US Army, US Navy, and US Marine Corps can be seen here, to the north of the sidewalk. —Bee Photo, Hicks
Aidan Estridge places an American flag near a hole he had just created with a digger tool while his grandfather Vincent DeNicola prepares to push it into the ground. Aidan has every intention of one day serving in the Navy, he said, just like his grandfather. “After that, I’m going to join the Army,” he added. —Bee Photo, Hicks
Michelle MacRae holds a flag and one of the hole diggers Newtown Woman’s Club uses to place dozens of flags into the ground each year on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. —Bee Photo, Hicks
Approximately 100 flags were placed around the Liberty and Peace Monument on Friday afternoon, when members of Newtown Women’s Club continued a tradition they started in 2009. The flags will remain in place until at least Flag Day. —Bee Photo, Hicks