Planners for the annual Flags for Heroes celebration in Myerstown Borough have announced additional details about the event on Saturday, May 25.
Flags for Heroes honors the nation’s fallen soldiers, first responders, and community heroes, and each year fills the lawn at Frieden’s Lutheran Church, on Route 422, with about 200 American flags and places a banner with names of fallen military and local heroes on the hill near the church. Now in its eighth year, the event is organized by the Myerstown-ELCO Rotary Club and the Myerstown VFW.
“The sight never fails to deliver a strong sense of pride and patriotism,” according to a press release provided by Rotarian Jack Cantwell.
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This year’s planning team consists of Cantwell and Dennis Dieffenbach from the Myerstown-Elco Rotary Club and Tom Buck and Peter Hook from the Myerstown VFW.
For the first time since its inception, the celebration will begin with a special opening ceremony, starting at 10 a.m. on May 25. The event is free to the public and will be held in the parking lot of the church. Organizers said it will last about 45 minutes.
Read More: Opening ceremony planned for annual Flags for Heroes event in Myerstown
According to the release, Rotarian Tom Maiello, an ordained minister, will serve as emcee and do the benediction. The VFW has arranged for the Richland Legion to provide the Honor Guard and the playing of Taps.
Cantwell, a 90-year-old Army Security Agency veteran who served in Korea and Japan in the mid-1950s, will sing the National Anthem following a brief talk about the anthem’s meaning.
Keynote speaker will be Howard Kramer, who co-founded Listrak of Lititz and King of Prussia with his son, Ross. A certified EMT since 1980, Kramer served for 30 years on the Eastern Lebanon school board and many years on the board at St. Paul’s UCC in Schaefferstown.
People who attend the event are encouraged to bring chairs. Refreshments will be available.
For more information about Flags for Heroes sponsorships, visit the Rotary website, call 717-202-9752, or email dennis@elcorotaryflagsforheroes.com.
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