Local volunteers repair flags

RITZVILLE – Fifteen volunteers gathered Feb. 26 at the American Legion Hall, 106 W. Broadway Ave., to repair U.S. flags ahead of Memorial Day.

The flags are flown annually, Memorial Day weekend, at Ritzville Memorial Cemetery on Rosenoff Road, a half-mile west of the city limit.

Of the 178 flags in the collection, 86 were repaired by volunteer seamstresses.

Most of the damage occurs on the upper corner of the trailing edge of the flags, where the wind has the biggest whipping effect, volunteers said. Three flags were determined to be beyond repair and were replaced with new flags.

The damaged flags were folded and will be retired in an appropriate ceremony later in the spring, volunteers said.

Organizer Jeff Kissler said the cost saving of repairing 86 flags as opposed to replacing them was around $3,000.

In addition to Kissler, volunteers include Marge Schoessler, Jadine Grams, Yvonne Anderson, Gail Kruckeberg, Theresa Abney, Brooke Reilly, Lamar Thiel, Katie Teachout, Nichole Thiel, Sandi Atkinson, Donna Koch, Gordon Krukeberg, Bill Sager and Deni Atkinson.