The 40/8 Veteran’s Honor Society Voiture 1237, 2488 Morgan Street (or P.O. Box 1056 in Burlington), has completed the Flags for First Graders Program for the elementary schools in Alamance County for this school year.
The first school, Grace Christian Academy in Mebane was done on September 22 and the last, Eastlawn Elementary in Burlington, on December 7.
Veterans visited all 29 elementary schools in Alamance County this year: 20 public, 6 private, and 3 charter schools; 2,420 flags were distributed to students and teachers this year.
[Story continues below photos of presentations at various elementary schools.]
The group drove 3,083 miles and expended 343 man hours.
The presentations were done using 3 or 4 presenters per school with a total of ten volunteers.
Volunteers this year were: Rodney Smith, Carl Sichi, Ron Allred, Tommy Harris, Lou Popowski, Mike Rogers, Dave Beckley, Tony Carter, Kathleen Yax, and Tom Byrne.
The veterans who participated were from The Forty & Eight Veterans Honor Society 1237 of Burlington and/or the American Legion Post 63 of Burlington. These presentations have been done by the 40 & 8 since 1997 in Alamance County.
The total students at the different locations ranged from 18 at one private school to a high of 135 all first graders at one public school.
The presentation consists of a short history of the Flag and the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a demonstration on how to correctly fold the Flag along with the meaning of each fold.
A poem “Our Flag” is read at the end of the presentation and veterans give each teacher a condensed copy of the program then present each teacher and student with a small flag to keep.
The program is supported by the following local veteran organizations: Forty & Eight Veterans Honor Society 1237, Burlington; American Legion Post 63, Burlington; American Legion Post 95, Mebane; DAV Chapter 4, Burlington; and VFW Post 2972, Gibsonville.
