ADRIAN — Thanks to the Kiwanis Club of Adrian and an army of volunteers, the streets of Adrian and surrounding areas will be lined with American flags during the federal holidays that run from Memorial Day through Veterans Day. Altogether, the Kiwanis Club of Adrian and their partners work to display 1,600 flags each year.
This is the project’s 14th year, according to Lynne Punnett, who chairs the flag committee and is past president of the club. The flag project was started by former Kiwanis Club of Adrian members Dave Siler and Larry Stephan, after they heard about a similar project from Ray Maxe. It serves as a fundraiser for various projects that the club sponsors.
“They brought it up as a possible fundraiser, but also just the pride that they personally felt of seeing our beautiful flag displayed, so there’s a strong patriotic component as well,” Punnett said.
Most of the flags are single flags that an individual or group pays $45 a year to have Kiwanis purchase, put out, and take down. A group of three or more flags in a given location costs $35 per flag for the year, Punnett said.
The flags go out before Memorial Day and stay out through July 4. They go back out right before Labor Day and stay out until 9/11, and are then brought back in. The flags then go back out before Election Day in November and fly through Veterans Day.
The flag project has 130 volunteers that work in 38 teams to put out the flags. The teams are made up of members of the Kiwanis Club and six “partner” groups who use the project to fundraise for their own groups, Punnett said.
The project nets about $45,000 to be used for projects such as $25,000 in grants for nonprofit agencies and a Thanksgiving meal that is a partnership between the club, Adrian Public Schools, and Alpha Koney Island. The project also funds Reading Month grants for schools.
Flag orders are taken through May 15 for Memorial Day displays, Punnett said, but people can start at any time during the season. For more information, email at [email protected] or call 517-270-4350.
Flag projects around Lenawee County: The following Kiwanis clubs in the Lenawee County area also sponsor flag displays during the year.
The Kiwanis Club of Addison can be contacted by email at [email protected] or by phone at 517-416-1233, and a form is available on the club’s Facebook page. The Addison club is running a competition with the Kiwanis Club of Onsted to see which club can register more new and renewal flag orders through May 30.
The Kiwanis Club of Brooklyn can be reached at [email protected] or 517-938-5178.
The Kiwanis Club of Morenci has information about the flag project on its Facebook page.
The Kiwanis Club of Onsted has information at www.onstedkiwanis.org.
The Kiwanis Club of Tecumseh has a flag project registration form on its website at k04618.site.kiwanis.org.
