Las Vegas Boy Scouts plant US flags on Presidents Day
At approximately 6:15 a.m. Monday morning, a silver pickup truck stopped outside a house in a Spring Valley neighborhood. Two men got out and stuck a piece of rebar into a corner of the front yard before sliding on a plastic pipe with an American flag on top.
They stood on the sidewalk, chatting for a minute more, before the truck pulled up and they jumped in, off to the next stop.
In the neighborhood bordered by Twain Avenue and Flamingo Road to the north and south and Rainbow Boulevard to the east, this is a tradition for Boy Scout Troop 425 on flag holidays, like Presidents Day.
Every year, Troop 425 puts up American flags on holidays like the Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Memorial Day. For this annual fundraising service, they charge $35.
Former neighborhood resident Mike Patterson began the program as a Scoutmaster in 2003. He had memories of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on his mind.
“It really clicked to us that we wanted to maintain that America is together,” said Patterson, 47. “I wanted them to feel invested in bettering the community. This would be a positive way for them to display those values.”
Patterson, who moved away from the neighborhood in 2012, began the same program in his current neighborhood, just north of the old one, between Durango Drive and Rainbow Boulevard in Spring Valley. The program has grown from around 50 flags to over 100 in the two neighborhoods.
Les, 60, and Sandy Sharp, 57, have lived in the community for about 20 years, and say they have participated in the flag program every year since it began.
“We started it, everyone followed us,” Les said with a chuckle, looking out at the dozens of flags tacked into lawns up and down the street.
Amid political turmoil, Patterson believes the service is a positive point.
“When you see the line of flags and they’re waving, you sort of get a smile and a patriotic feeling.”
Contact Brooke Wanser at bwanser@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Bwanser_LVRJ on Twitter.
