BEAUMONT, Texas — Beaumont American Legion Post 33 and Boy Scout Troop 122 are celebrating Flag Day by retiring old and tattered flags and giving them a proper resting place.
June 14 is the anniversary of the day the U.S. officially adopted our nation's flag in 1777, which is known as Flag Day.
Boy Scout Sullivan Wiemers and his fellow scouts spent the day fundraising for the Rotary Club of Beaumont.
"I painted the box and set the concrete base then nailed it down," said Wiemers.
Wiemers, 13, created the box as a way to collect tattered flags that can no longer be flown.
"My mom ordered some vinyl and put a little history of what the parts of the flag mean," he said.
A total of 17 flags have found their way to the drop-off located at the scout hut across from Sallie Curtis Elementary.
Troop 122 Scout Master Seth Wells says the box is not the final resting place of an old flag.
"VFW's and American Legions often hold flag retirement ceremonies where we'll appropriately, and with honor, burn our flags and then take those ashes to then be buried in another honorable way, where you feel appropriate," said Scout Master Wells. "It's appropriate to burn the flag to retire it."
Sullivan and the rest of Boy Scout Troop 122 dedicated Flag Day to the "Show Your Colors Flag Project" put on by the Rotary Club of Beaumont.
"The Rotary Club puts out the flags, and the Boy Scouts pick up the flags. It's a fundraiser for both organizations," said Wells. "It helps fund Rotary Club's mission and also helps fund the adventures of our scouts."
As Troop 122 anxiously awaits more tattered flags, Scout Sullivan wants to remind people to only place old flags in the box.
"Our box says U.S. tattered flags only because we do not want any mail in that box, because we are not the mail service," he said. "We'll deliver it to the postal service, it just may end up at its destination six months late."
Be sure to check your attics or garages for old flags to ensure that Boy Scout Troop 122 can retire them with honor.
The "Show Your Colors Flag Project" occurs six times a year for patriotic holidays.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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