The Avenue of Flags recently hit a milestone that has been over three decades in the making. Flag number 1,000 was recently donated to the organization for its biannual displays, which are the largest in the country featuring memorial flags.
“We didn’t know if we would ever get to this, to be honest with you. But we wanted two things: to be the largest display in the United States and to get to 1,000 flags. It has taken a long time — 34 years — and we continue to grow,” said Ted Harless Jr., executive director.
Carol Fontenot, of Sulphur, a longtime Avenue of Flags volunteer and member of the board of directors, donated the flag to the organization after her stepmother, Paula Pryne, gave it to her. It is the casket flag of her father, Ralph Harvey “Buck” Pryne Jr., of Vidor, Texas, a Navy veteran who served during the Korean War and died in 2005.
Fontenot said she is honored to have the flag be part of something so meaningful. She also said she is proud of the time she has spent working for the organization. “I’m not a veteran. I have never been in a war,” she said. “But I feel like being a part of the Avenue of Flags is something that I can do to honor those who have sacrificed for our country.”
Harless said the flags represent freedom and patriotism. “We are also showing the community that anyone who served in the armed forces is respected. And we are thanking everyone who ever wore a uniform,” he said.
The individually numbered casket flags, measuring 5 by 91⁄2 feet, are flown along the roads winding through Orange Grove-Graceland Cemetery on Broad Street twice a year, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The display started with 50 flags in 1983 as a project of Sons of the American Revolution Oliver Pollock Chapter. By Friday morning, Harless said, the group had moved past the 1,000 mark with four more newly donated flags.
“People find us somehow. Flags come from everywhere. Throughout the year, we probably get about 20 to 40 of them,” he said.
Harless said a Memorial Day event will be at 9 a.m. Monday, May 29, in the cemetery. He said it will include a keynote address by Cmdr. Dan Cost of the Coast Guard and a ceremony memorializing Sgt. Alex Paul Guidry.
Harless said about 200 volunteers will help put up the flags. He said anyone who would like to assist should be at the cemetery by 6 a.m. Monday.
He said the group is also in need of monetary donations. For more information on donating or volunteering, call 436-8940. Donations can also be mailed to Avenue of Flags, 127 W. Broad St., Suite 600, Lake Charles, LA 70601.
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