City to offer collection box for old flags

The city will soon have a flag deposit box so Old Glory can be retired respectfully.

Until now, residents could drop off ripped and shredded flags at the fire stations.

But sometime in July, there will be a box that resembles a mailbox, courtesy of a community association, at Veterans’ Memorial Park, 7825 Southgate Blvd.

The flags will then be turned over to a veterans group for disposal, a likely possibility is the American Legion Post in Margate.

It will be one of many flag disposal options nearby.

In Margate, there’s a collection box inside City Hall for the “American Flag Retirement Program.”

It was the brainchild of former Police Chief Jerry Blough several years ago, who inherited a beat-up and discolored flag when he bought a boat and didn’t want to toss it in the trash.

And Coral Springs has had a “Retired Flag Box” set up outside the Coral Springs Gymnasium, 2501 Coral Springs Dr., since last fall.

The Coral Springs Veterans Coalition disposes of the flags properly at events like Flag Day.

Lee Viverette, treasurer for the Woodmont Community Association, said his group is donating Tamarac’s flag box.

“We see a need,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who have tattered flags and they need to be replaced with ones that are respectful. There isn’t a place to deposit them without going to another city.”