When U.S. flags line the sidewalks of the Grundy County Courthouse on select holidays, it takes the work of several volunteers. That was part of the message from Jeb Walker who presented information on the flags to a Veteran’s Day meeting of the Trenton Rotary Club.
Walker, a sergeant with the Trenton Police Department, said flags were first placed around the courthouse as a Bicentennial project in 1976. For several years, the Kiwanis Club has been responsible for putting up the flags. Since then, efforts were made to have other organizations take a specific holiday. Among them, the Rotary Club is responsible for courthouse flags on Flag Day in June.
Walker said many of the flags are very old and in need of replacement. He noted an effort is expected to start raising money to have new flags. It’s anticipated that the cloth flags can be replaced with a polyester blend so they can last longer. Each flag now used for the outdoor display was purchased in honor of an individual from Grundy county who served in the military. According to Walker, there are 134 flags for the display – a few of them show 48 or 49 stars instead of the current 50.
During the District Rotary Foundation dinner recently, Trenton was recognized for being a 100 percent Paul Harris Fellow club; and it was honored with the distinction of being the number one club in the Rotary district 6040 in terms of per member giving to the Rotary Foundation. Dan Wilford was recognized as a major donor helping Trenton to receive the “Star Club” designation.
