What do you do with a tattered, old American flag? This week’s WYTV Hometown Hero, Eagle Scout and Boardman senior Colin Russell, can tell you.
Really, the only way to get rid of an old American flag is to burn it and you can do that at the Struthers AMVETS post on Elm Street. There’s a special burn barrel there, which is Colin’s Eagle Scout project.
“We actually started planning it back in December, but we started breaking ground in March,” Colin said. “It gives me a lot of satisfaction because it tells me that now the post here, Amvets post 44, has a place to retire flags, which it did not have before.”
Post Commander Jan Brown said they are thankful to have the resource for people to dispose of their flags respectfully.
“It’s not just a veteran flag, it’s everybody’s flag and people forget that. It is the right thing to do and you ought to respect our nation’s symbol,” Brown said.
Colin is from Boardman, so why come to Struthers? Well, his dad, John, is from Struthers and they ate at the Elmton many times, it’s just a block over from the AMVETS. Colin noticed there was no place to burn flags, to destroy them in a ceremony so he designed the pit.
“My grandpa was in the military, a Vietnam veteran and my neighbor was a Word War II veteran, so it’s a lot of veterans. I thought, why not give back to them?” Colin said.
A final bit of advice from our Hometown Hero and the Eagle Scout code: A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
