Mercer County to Observe Flag Day on Thursday

Flag Day will be celebrated throughout the United States on June 14. Flags that are tattered or are otherwise no longer suitable for display will be “retired” and burned during decommissioning ceremonies in Mercer County and elsewhere.

Working in conjunction with the American Legion, the members of have installed a flag drop-off box outside their firehouse on Gordon Avenue. Anyone wishing to have an old flag disposed of in a dignified manner can visit the firehouse and place the flag in the old mailbox, which has been painted in patriotic colors.

The Mercer County Office of Veteran Services will also be holding an official flag decommissioning ceremony on June 14 at 6:30 p.m. in Veterans Park in Hamilton Township. Citizens, civic groups and local scout organizations have been invited to participate.

The following details about the decommissioning ceremony were released by the Mercer County administration:

Each year, the Mercer County Office of Veteran Services partners with local veterans from the American Legion Post 31 and the Hamilton Township Patriotic Committee to hold the time-honored decommissioning, also known as “flag retirement.”

American flags that have become tattered, soiled, or are otherwise “no longer fit for display” will be burned in a dignified manner in a pit in the ground during the ceremony and the flames will eventually be doused by firefighters from the Nottingham Fire Co. of Hamilton.

Veteran Services has collected thousands of flags eligible for retirement for the past several months from American Legion Post 31, private homes, the veterans section of Greenwood Cemetery in Hamilton, and government offices including the Mercer County Clerk and Sheriff’s Offices.

Organizations that wish to have an American flag properly disposed should bring the flag to any Mercer County office, including County Connection on Route 33, Hamilton, the Mercer County Park Commission Offices or Ranger Headquarters, the Mercer County Veterans Home on Hamilton Avenue, Hamilton, or the McDade Administration Building at 640 S. Broad St., Trenton.

In case of rain, the ceremony will be Friday, June 15.