What does a flag represent? Is it the values of the group it flies over, the efforts of those who carry it, or the history written under its banner? The United States Stars and Stripes embodies all these things and more. Yet, as the nation endures, individual flags grow tired and frayed. Retiring them with the dignity they deserve can be challenging for many, leaving some unsure of how to show proper respect. Thankfully, Fayetteville now has a solution: a striking red, white, and blue box stands proudly on the courthouse lawn, ready to respectfully retire the community’s old and worn United States flags.
Linda Williams of the Lincoln County Warrior Exhibit recognized the need, but it was a community effort that made the drop box possible. The Warrior Exhibit’s goal is to honor local veterans, which they do by framing and displaying veteran pictures in their building on Main Avenue North. When Williams saw a flag drop box on Facebook, she realized there was another way to honor veterans’ sacrifices.
“I saw a picture on Facebook, and I said, ‘Wow, we need to do this,’” Williams said. “I first called Bill Newman and asked him if we could put it on the courthouse lawn, and he said yes. Then, I went to T&W [Machine] to see if they would build it for us,” Williams said.
T&W recommended that she go to Franke for a donation of materials, and Franke offered to build and donate a finished box. However, the collaboration did not stop there. Lincoln County Sheriff ’s Department Maintenance Supervisor Mike Davis and the trustee work crew installed the box and the concrete pad it sits on. Elks Lodge 1792 and its members helped the Warrior Exhibit board pay for the patriotic wrapping done by NDesigns.
Each flag dropped off is handled according to the United States flag code. Boy Scout Troop 489 collects the cotton flags periodically and retires them with the proper ceremony.
“They can burn the cotton flags, but they cannot burn the synthetic flags,” Williams said. “The way to do away with a flag in the appropriate way if it’s a synthetic flag and can’t be burned is you cut it in four pieces, and then technically it is not a flag anymore.”
The drop box sits on the east side of the courthouse square, right next to the handicap ramp.
“You can’t miss it,” Williams said. “It’s red, white, and blue.”
It began with one person’s inspiration, but the whole project wouldn’t have been possible without dozens of people chipping in, donating their time, money, and ideas to make something happen. While Williams started the project, she was not the one who would finish it.
“It has taken the whole community and our board to do it. It’s not a Linda Williams thing,” Williams said. “Without the community, we wouldn’t have been able to have done it.”
The flag drop box is indeed an indication of the American spirit in Fayetteville and Lincoln County. The community loves its veterans and country and is prepared to show it. GN
