Flag-raising ceremony planned in Quartz Hill
QUARTZ HILL — The community is invited to kick off its Independence Day celebration with a flag-raising ceremony.
The ceremony will start at 8 a.m. with the flag raising at 8:30 a.m. July 4 at the corner of 50th Street West and Avenue L-8 in front of the First Valley Medical Group clinic. Coffee, doughnuts and snacks will be provided, free to the community.
The flagpole at the corner is well-known for having a US flag hanging on it, flying in the breeze. The clinic’s former owner, the late Dr. John R. Blodgett Jr., and Geri Blodgett started the tradition. The old flag needed to be replaced after the cable broke and the wind whipped the flag, ripping it up.
Joe Walker Middle School STEALTH Academy teacher Matt Anderson, who organized community members and donations to replace the flag last year, did it again.
This time Anderson got help from a former student, Chris Casaus, owner of Get Hooked Crane Services. Casaus brought his crane to the corner of 50th Street West and Avenue L-8.
“The flag had separated from the cable at some point,” Casaus said. “They weren’t able to bring it back down. It was tattered and it wasn’t flying right. I got a man basket to get
him up there safely, was able to able to cut the damaged cable and bring the flag down.”
Anderson had Casaus in his class at Joe Walker Middle School when he taught woodshop in 1992.
“It was great to see a former student and the community coming together again to help with this amazing project,” Anderson wrote in an email.
The Knights of Columbus St. Leonard Murialdo Council No. 10667, Anwar Caram of California Prudential Real Estate Services and First Valley Medical Group donated the money to purchase the new flag.
“I just donated because I love the flag,” Caram said. “It’s the flag of the greatest country in the world.”
Anderson also credited First Valley Medical Group manager Isabel Andrade, Dr. Eric Denley and his wife, fellow teacher Elizabeth Anderson.