AFD, scouts partner for flag retirement ceremony

ASHLAND As the sun began to set on a crisp Veterans Day evening, members of Ashland Fire Department and local Boy and Girl Scout troops gathered to properly retire once-waving symbols of the country, sending an annual plume of smoke into the sky.

As scouts and firefighters tossed folded flags onto contained flames at the Port of Ashland, the crackling blaze illuminated the face of Ashland Fire Chief Steve Alley, who said the embers were a result of former Fire Captain Carl Stambaugh, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, and the local troop, who partnered years ago to collect tattered or worn flags from across the community.

The act of retiring the flags in accordance to the U.S. Flag Code has become a sort of tradition between the fire department and the 1100 Troops, entailing drop boxes at each Ashland fire station for citizens to drop off worn or damaged flags, and in turn, the fire department conducts the controlled ceremony once a year — typically coinciding with Veterans Day.

Dressed in formal class uniform, Jake Hale, an Ashland firefighter and Marine Veteran from 2006-12, recited "A Patriotic Tribute," with nods to President Woodrow Wilson.

"This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation," Hale read.

"We honor the soldiers who carried it into battle, the citizens who pledged allegiance to it, and the dreamers who saw in its folds the promise of a better tomorrow."

As the pile of burning cloth stacked higher, Hale estimated 1,000 flags had been collected through the drop boxes in just one year.

"It's very important as to preserve respect to our flag," Chief Alley said of proper retirement of Ol' Glory.

Troop Leader of Boy Scout Troop 1100, Kevin Osborne, said he wasn't exactly sure on how long the troop and AFD had carried on the ceremony but has been a part of the ceremony for at least seven or eight years, only recalling a pause in the ceremony during COVID-19.

Those in attendance from both Ashland-based 1100 troops included Jazz Holbrook, Blake Patrick, Liliana Dillon, Rebecca Osborne, Kenzie Patrick and 1100 Girl Scout Troop Leader Melissa Dillon.