Remembering our veterans
Sheffield’s Avenue of Flags honors local vets
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| Sheffield Mayor/veteran Bill Rosenow stands with the hundreds of flags that will honor veterans in Sheffield on Memorial Day. Rosenow said 450 flags will again wave proudly in the park to honor area veterans. Rosenow said the public is invited to enjoy the patriotic display. (BCR photo/Terri Simon) |
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SHEFFIELD — You can hear the silence as people walk through the Avenue of Flags in Sheffield. Chatter and laughter is minimal, as they stop before the flags to remember their veterans.
At 10 a.m. Monday, the Sheffield American Legion Post 415 will once again host its annual Memorial Day service at the Veterans School Park, located one block south of Route 34. Providing a fitting background for the annual observance is the Avenue of Flags, a total of 450 American flags which line the park’s pathways.
The Avenue of Flags has been part of Sheffield’s Memorial Day and Fourth of July celebrations for the past 17 years, according to Sheffield Mayor Bill Rosenow, who is also a veteran and a member of the Sheffield post. Rosenow is also the one who first recommended developing an Avenue of Flags to honor Sheffield area veterans.
In its first year, the Avenue of Flags began with 50 flags, with each flag representing a deceased veteran. Through the years, the Avenue has expanded to honor all veterans, whether living or deceased, including those killed in action.
The only criteria to be part of the Avenue of Flags is for the veterans to have some connection to Sheffield, either directly through having lived there or through family members living in Sheffield. Each flag, with a name plaque for the flag pole, can be purchased for $50.
The reason the Sheffield Avenue of Flags hasn’t been opened up to other communities is because the Sheffield post wants each town to develop its own version of the Avenue of Flags or another way to honor its own veterans, Rosenow said.
Through the years, families and friends have walked the Avenue of Flags in the rain, the cold, and sometimes in the sunshine. It makes no difference. Memorial Day is about honoring and remembering the veterans, regardless of the weather, he said.
“Every year, when I go up to the park and see those flags waving in the wind, it brings tears to my eyes,” Rosenow said. “Our veterans have fought for that red, white and blue flag. Some have given their lives for that flag. As long as I am able to lift a flag pole, I will be there to put up the Avenue of Flags.”
People from all over will come to Sheffield during Memorial Day weekend to walk the Avenue of Flags, which goes up Friday, Rosenow said. There will be young adults, carrying their toddlers. There will be the elderly, the widows who walk slowly down the paths. There will be generations. It’s a moving and touching experience to witness, Rosenow said.
The flags are deliberately not placed in the same location each year, Rosenow said. The goal is for people to walk the entire park. There are so many families and community members represented in that Avenue of Flags. It’s good to take the time to look at the different name plaques on each flag pole, he said.
“It’s so important for us to show our appreciation for all our veterans and to remember them for the sacrifices they’ve made for our freedoms,” Rosenow said. “It’s because of our veterans that the rest of us can walk around this country, do what we want to do, and live our lives in freedom. The Avenue of Flags is for them, our veterans and their families.”
Like every year, Rosenow said he expects his voice will become choked again at Monday’s Memorial Day service as he reads the names of Sheffield veterans killed in action. And, once again as he watches the Avenue of Flags blowing in the breeze, he will remember there are many brave people who should never be forgotten.
⇒ Click here for Memorial Day services in the Bureau County area.
The Flag Goes By
by H.H. Bennett
Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
A flash of color beneath the sky:
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!
Blue and crimson and white it shines,
Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
Hats off!
The colors before us fly;
But more than the flag is passing by.
Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
Fought to make and to save the State;
Weary marches and sinking ships;
Cheers of victory on dying lips;
Days of plenty and years of peace,
March of a strong land’s swift increase:
Equal justice, right and law,
Stately honor and reverent awe;
Sign of a nation, great and strong,
To ward her people from foreign wrong;
Pride and glory and honor, all
Live in the colors to stand or fall.
Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
And loyal hearts are beating high:
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!
