CRESTVIEW — The city received a gift in time for Flag Day, which is June 14. Thursday afternoon, 12 flags, poles and mounting hardware were delivered to City Hall. The materials will form a patriotic and historical display in Warriors Wall.
A few hours before the truck delivered the flags, Public Works Director Wayne Steele, assistant director Chuck Powell and facilities manager Stan McKenzie met to discuss how the flags will be hung.
The American-made flags, many of them custom fabricated by The Flag Lady’s Flag Store in Columbus, Ohio, will project from Warriors Hall’s side walls.
The six armed services branch flags will hang in order of each branch’s establishment on the west wall. The east wall will feature the six national flags that have flown over the region currently including Crestview.
Those flags will also be hung in chronological order, beginning with the flag of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation, which donated the flag to the city. The Baker Block Museum donated the flag’s hardware.
The $2,400 display, which the Friends of the Arts proposed to the City Council in March, met with unanimous council approval. All but three of the flags were sponsored within three weeks of the presentation.
In addition to honoring Crestview’s current, past and future service members and rich cultural history, the flags serve one other purpose.
“They will really help with the acoustics in the hall,” Friends of the Arts President Rae Schwartz said.
A mid-July dedication of the display is planned, with the City Council expected to approve a date at its June 13 meeting.
Residents visiting Warriors Hall will learn about America’s military branches and the six nations that ruled the area of present-day Crestview when viewing a flag display to be installed soon.
Here is some trivia:
●The first branch of the U.S. armed forces was the United States Merchant Marine, established June 12, 1775, two days before the U.S. Army.
●Two more of the six branches of the armed services were also established in 1775: the Navy (Oct. 13) and the Marine Corps (Nov. 10).
●The newest branch, the U.S. Air Force, was established 172 years later on Sept. 18, 1947. The Coast Guard was established on Aug. 4, 1790.
●The first nation to rule the present-day Crestview area was the Muskogee (Creek) Nation.
●The shortest sovereignty over the Crestview area was the 78-day rule of the Republic of West Florida.
●Spanish colonial rule actually occurred twice, from 1513 to 1810, with a 20-year gap from 1763-83, during which Great Britain ruled the area.
●The first United States of America flag to flutter over the Crestview area was the original 15-star, 15-stripe “Star Spangled Banner.”
THE DONORS
The Warriors Hall flag display was entirely funded by these resident and business donations:
Donors are:
●Cadenhead Pest Control: U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force and United States flags
●Mayor and Mrs. David Cadle: Colonial Britain
●Crestview High School Spanish Club: Colonial Spain
●Curenton family: Confederate States of America
●Brian Hughes: U.S. Merchant Marine
●Muskogee (Creek) Nation and Baker Block Museum: Muskogee (Creek) Nation
●Cal Zethmayr, WAAZ-WJSB: Republic of West Florida
WARRIORS HALL FLAG DISPLAY TRIVIA
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview officials anticipate July Warriors Hall flags dedication