CRESTVIEW — The Crestview public services department has replaced two flag poles with ones that should be more theft-resistant.
Chuck Powell, a city maintenance supervisor, and two other city employees on Wednesday were preparing foundation base for one of the replacements at Confederate Park, located near the State Road 85-East First Avenue intersection.
Like the previous flagpole, the new one features an anonymously donated Confederate flag, Public Services director Wayne Steele said in an email. It honors Bill Lundy, Florida's last living Confederate soldier to serve in the American Civil War. He died in 1957 at age 109.
The Crestview Lions Club dedicated the Lundy memorial a year after his death. The department is responsible for maintaining the memorial grounds, Steele said.
Susan Hollingshead initially was concerned that the city was permanently removing the flagpole.
"It’s part of the history and culture here in Crestview. If we don't keep our history, then what do we have?" she said.
However, Hollingshead was relieved to learn that the flagpole was just being replaced.
Two Confederate flags were stolen from the Lundy memorial flagpole this past year, Steele said.
The new, nearly 30-foot-tall flagpoles, with ropes and pulleys out of pedestrians’ reach, make it more difficult to steal the flags.
The second flagpole replacement is near the public services building on State Road 85. It now features the American flag, Florida flag and city of Crestview flag.
Maintaining the flagpoles is part of the city's maintenance duties, Steele said. The department installed an additional flagpole near City Hall earlier this year.
The department also repaired flagpoles at the city's public library and Allen Park, in addition to regularly replacing damaged or worn out flags at all city flagpole locations.
Yesterday was Flag Day, a celebration of the American flag’s adoption. The Second Continental Congress approved the flag on June 14, in the Flag Resolution of 1777.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Replacement flags aim to celebrate city’s history, deter thefts