American Legion past Sr. Honor Guard Officer Ron Brown poses for a portrait Thursday with an American flag and new flag holder at Union Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley.
An American flag flies Thursday at Union Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley.
American Legion past Sr. Honor Guard Officer Ron Brown attaches an American flag to a pole Thursday at Union Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley.
American Legion past Sr. Honor Guard Officer Ron Brown poses for a portrait Thursday with an American flag and new flag holder at Union Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley.
SEDRO-WOOLLEY — Placing about 150 flags into their holders before Memorial Day Weekend at Union Cemetery has been one thing for members of American Legion Post 43.
Getting them out, however, has been another.
The wooden flag poles swell when wet and have become difficult to remove or have gotten stuck entirely in their PVC or rusting steel flag holders.
To remedy the situation, eight volunteers from George Baldridge Post 43 and a city crew of four led by Sedro-Woolley’s Public Works Department Supervisor Nathan Salseina spent a morning replacing the holders.
Permanently set into the ground and secured with concrete were 1-foot long, 2-inch diameter PVC pipes. Into those are slipped a footlong PVC pipe 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Flagpoles are placed directly into those smaller pipes, which are then removed along with the poles.
An American flag flies Thursday at Union Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley.
The flag holders are spaced about 25 feet apart along the length of the cemetery’s driveways as well as at the grave sites of numerous veterans.
“We replaced about 120 that day,” American Legion past Sr. Honor Guard Officer Ron Brown said.
Brown first approached Mayor Julia Johnson about the situation.
“We have always had a great rapport with Julia as an American Legion,” Brown said. “She has always attended our Memorial Day ceremonies and has also been a speaker at our events.
“So, she was really receptive, and I was really appreciative. She turned me over to Nathan who I have worked with before.”
Together, the pair came up with a strategy for the project, one Salseina described as an assembly-line type effort.
“We had our crew going through with the auger and drilling the holes,” he said. “Then another crew prepped the holes before they came with the concrete mixer to fill the holes, set the posts and make sure they were level, square and straight.”
In order to do that, Brown created four leveling devices to keep everything plumb and to keep everyone moving.
“We cleaned out the holes and made sure they were the proper depth,” Brown said. “Then once the little cement mixer got there, we just followed it down the road.”
Salseina said the work took about four hours to complete, and Brown said everyone was a little shocked when it was announced the job was done.
“We have approximately 190 receptacles total out there total right now, which will cover us for some time,” Brown said. “Now most are standardized and that will make removing the flags much easier.
“Overall, it went really well. Everyone is very pleased with how the project went.”
American Legion past Sr. Honor Guard Officer Ron Brown attaches an American flag to a pole Thursday at Union Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley.
— Reporter Vince Richardson: 360-416-2181, vrichardson@skagitpublishing.com. Twitter:@goskagit, Facebook.com/VinceRichardson/
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