American Legion Post 19 dedicates flag disposal box

Box placed by front door at Lowe’s

American Legion Post 19 welcomed the installation of a wooden box Friday by the front door of Lowe’s Home Improvement for collection of worn-out American flags for proper disposal.

The post held a dedication ceremony inside the store’s front door, featuring a color guard and a statement from former commander Connie Tyree.

“May this box be for those who built this a joy, pride and lasting memorial to their service in time of war, and loyalty and love in time of peace,” Tyree said.

He then deposited a flag, folded into a triangle, into the slot on top of the box.

It was built on July 4 by Lowe’s employee Walt Blakesley, during one of the stores summer weekend workshops for customers on using different materials such as tools or paint.

While getting ready for the workshop the day before, Blakesley said, “They handed me this, and said ‘make it so,’” unfolding a weathered black-and-white printed email with a photo of a similar box built at a store in Mt. Dora, Fla.

He gladly took on the task, given his own feelings about the Stars and Stripes. “My family has been all the way back to 1635, on my dad’s side, and I get very emotional when it comes to our flag,” he said. “We found two of them in the trash, and it makes me sad when I see someone disrespect the flag.”

Post 19 Junior Commander Jason Kodz said the Lowe’s box will be a second location for his post to collect flags, along with its headquarters at 2575 S. Virginia Drive in Yuma.

The flags are disposed of during a proper ceremony held every June 14 to commemorate Flag Day, he said.

Store Manager Janet Wheeler said making the box available is a community service, especially valuable to Yuma’s large population with military ties.

“I don’t think everyone knows what to do with a flag, they don’t teach it in schools anymore, to my knowledge, it seems like the common knowledge is going away,” she said.

The box has been placed in the entrance vestibule of the store, next to the inside front door, a donated “God bless our troops” sign mounted above it.

The Lowe’s is located in the Big Curve area, at 115 W. 32nd St. For more information about the box or flag disposal, call the American Legion at (928) 334-3441, or Lowe’s at (928) 317-0119, and ask for “Walt in tools.”

Buy these photos at YumaSun.com PHOTOS BY BLAKE HERZOG/YUMA SUN CONNIE TYREE, PAST COMMANDER of American Legion Post 19, deposits a worn-out flag into a box built for that purpose at the Lowe’s store in Yuma, backed by the legion’s color guard, on Friday. The box will be placed next to the entrance door.

LOWE’S STORE MANAGER Janet Wheeler (left) and customer service associate Walt Blakesley with a box built by Blakesley where customers can drop off worn or stained American flags for proper disposal by American Legion Post 19. The box was officially placed next to the front door on Friday.