Flags available

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ARLINGTON — The Cemetery Advisory Committee of St. Patrick Parish in Arlington invites families with military buried in Calvary Cemetery an opportunity to purchase a flag in memory of their loved one. This same invitation is extended to any individual, or family, who might wish to “adopt” a veteran, possibly one who has no traceable descendants. Veterans interred in this historic Catholic cemetery in Bureau County can be traced to the Spanish American and Civil wars.

Flags purchased through this “Honor a Veteran” project will line the sidewalk in the cemetery, beginning at the main gate and extending to the Calvary Mound, and will be flown on Memorial Day and Veterans Day each year, beginning in May 2009. The Patriots, a fraternal group of veterans who sell these American-made flags as a means of offering academic scholarships to a son or daughter of a veteran, are providing the flags. The cost is $100 per flag, with the kit consisting of a 12-foot aluminum pole, a 3-by-5-foot flag and a base that fits permanently into the ground. Each flag will have a small plaque, bearing the name of the veteran, the branch of military in which he/she served and, in the case of combat, the war in which each fought.

Flag orders began All Souls Day, Nov. 2, and will continue through the month of November. Those wishing to purchase a flag may pay half down ($50) at the time the order is placed, with the balance due by May 1, 2009. Checks should be made payable to Calvary Cemetery Flag Fund and mailed to Ladyne M. Huhn, P.O. Box 159, Cherry, IL 61317.

For more information, call (815) 638-2430 or (815) 894-2006.