Former Troy Mayor Michael Beamish, right, and his wife Ginny Beamish, who are Troy Noon Optimist Club members, get ready to place U.S flags around Troy as part of the club’s Avenue of Flags program ahead of Memorial Day, which remain up through the Fourth of July holiday. The Troy Noon Optimist Club promotes patriotism by placing U.S. flags on the lawns of participating Troy residences and businesses on the Fourth of July and four other holidays throughout the year.
Troy cross country team members run along the river bank of the Great Miami River Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, along with the Walk of Remembrance flags erected by the Troy Noon Optimist Club in honor of Patriot Day on Sept. 11.
By Sheryl Roadcap
TROY – It’s that time of the year again when U.S flags are seen lining the front lawns of Troy residences and businesses during the Memorial Day, Flag Day and Fourth of July holidays.
The Troy Optimist Club’s “Avenue of Flags” program is an annual fundraiser for the organization, Optimist Club Flags committee Chairperson Julie Vandever said.
“We give scholarships with the money (earned),” she said. “We try to use it for the good of the community. The Optimist Club’s motto is ‘friends of youth,’ so we try to involve a lot of youth organizations.”
The cost for a yearly subscription is $50 for one flag to be put outside their home/business for five holidays throughout the year. Or if three flags are paid to be placed, a fourth flag is placed for free.
The holidays include Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day and Veterans Day. The flags are placed in anchored metal sleeves put in the ground the Friday prior of a holiday that falls on a Monday. The flags used to be placed prior to and removed after each holiday, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, Troy Optimist Club members decided to put the flags up before Memorial Day and leave them up through the Fourth of July. The Tuesday after the holiday, flags are then removed by either a member of the Troy Optimist Club or a volunteer from a youth organization.
“We are proud of it, proud of the way it looks,” VanDever said, “and just proud to be a Trojan.”
The Optimist Club has about 1,400 flags that are used on subscribers’ lawns but also are used in the other flag program called Walk of Remembrance. A total of 115 flags are placed on the levee side of Troy Memorial Stadium for Patriot Day on Sept. 11.
“We might start putting flags out for Patriot Day also,” VanDever said. “But we will need to get more flags; right now we don’t have quiet enough.”
Those who pay to participate in the Avenue of the Flags program do not have to do anything other than pay for the flags to be placed. The Noon Optimist Club like to have roughly 10 days ahead of a holiday to put the flags out, as an anchor first must be placed in the ground, but sometimes participants can join closer to the holiday and a flag can still be put out in time if paid for in less than 10 days before the holiday, VanDever said. She pointed out that the Optimist Club maintains the flags, keeps them clean and free of frays, places and removes them for the holidays.
For more information about the Troy Noon Optimist Club or if interested in purchasing a subscription, visit the Troy Noon Optimist Club’s website at https://www.tnoic.com/.
