Scouts Lay Flags to Rest With 'Dignity and Respect'

Ever wonder what to do with a tattered American flag? Rather than simply throwing them away, the Scouts of Troop 77 will happily receive them for retirement in a somber ceremony that pays tribute to the Stars and Stripes.

The Scouts laid flags collected from the community to rest Monday night at Wortendyke Park in Midland Park, methodically and carefully separating the stripes from the star fields before depositing them in a fire pit.

American flags are "too profound to be treated as a common thing," said Scoutmaster Rob Andrews, and as such, they "should be destroyed in a dignified way," said Justin Charles, a Scout First Class.

Families massed around the veterans' monument at Wortendyke for the ceremony, which was started five years ago by Eagle Scout George Ryan Ahlmeyer, a Wyckoff resident. Alhmeyer had created a drop-box at Vander Plaat Funeral Home for American flags as part of his Eagle project, a rank he achieved when he was in just eighth grade.

"I kind of took the initiative" to start the flag collection, Alhmeyer said, explaining that area residents had few available options for their worn flags. Since May 2005, approximately 5,000 flags have been collected.

About 20 of them were retired Monday in a Flag Day ceremony that Ahlmeyer said is "like a funeral." Attendees were reminded how to properly handle and display the Stars and Stripes while other speakers paid tribute to the liberty represented by the enduring symbol of America.

The flag is "stronger than the cloth it's made of" and represents an "ongoing quest to expand freedom and liberty," Andrews said.

"The flag represents a living country," Charles said, and is a "symbol of everything our country is and hopes to be," said township resident Charles Ras, a Wyckoff-Midland Park Rotary Club member and veteran of the Vietnam war.

Ras, an accountant who served in the Army from 1967 to 1970, evoked a famous address from General Douglas MacArthur in saying the flag stands for "duty, honor, country: three hallowed words which reverently dictate what we can be."

The flag "stands as a symbol of freedom-loving men and women" and reminds us all to "reach into the future yet never forget the past," he said.

The Scouts from the Bethany Church-based troop recalled America's past when retiring the flags, honoring the original 13 colonies with each placement into the fire pit. With Midland Park firefighters on hand, Scouts of all ages took turns depositing individual stripes and star fields into the pit with plans to return for burial once the fire burns out.

"As the American flag is treated with dignity and respect when it is flying, it should be treated with the same dignity and respect when it is being retired," Alhmeyer said.

The Eagle Scout said he enjoys coming back to his troop, which he now serves as an assistant Scoutmaster. A Scout since first grade, Alhmeyer said it's gratifying to "see a lot of people grow and mature" with Scouting, explaining that he would look to the accomplishments of older Scouts when he was coming up in the ranks.

"I was amazed how many people were going so far" with the troop, he said. Scouting helped instill a certain amount of determination to achieve goals for a student who says he's "not the type of person who likes to sit around.

"I'm a very determined person," said Ahlmeyer, a TV/radio major at Ithaca.

Ahlmeyer received much help on the drop-box project from his father, George, treasurer of the Troop 77 committee. The elder Alhmeyer said that the retirement ceremony helps younger Scouts "gain an appreciation" for Scouting traditions and ethics.

Worn flags can be deposited at the Vander Plaat drop-box at any time and will be collected by the Alhmeyers for retirement at similar ceremonies, which are usually planned around holidays.

The following was prepared by George Ryan Alhmeyer when completing his Eagle Scout project:

FLAG CONDUCT

"When hoisting or lowering the flag, its passing during a parade or during the Pledge of Allegiance, all persons not in uniform should face the flag and stand at attention with the right hand over the heart. Those persons in uniform should render the military salute. When not in uniform, men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart."

Hoisting the flag: "One person holds the folded flag to prevent it from touching the ground. The other person attaches the flag to the flag line, then raises it briskly. When the flag has left the arms of the first person and flying freely, he or she steps back and salutes as the other person ties halyard to the flagpole."

Lowering the flag: "One person unfastens the halyard from the pole and slowly lowers the flag as the other person salutes. When in reach, the saluter gathers the flag into his or her arms as the other person unfastens the flag from the halyard."

Folding the flag: "Two people begin by folding the flag in half lengthwise, and then again in half lengthwise, keeping the blue field on the outside. One person holds the flag by the blue field as the other makes triangular folds from the opposite end until nothing shows but the blue field."