Elks Lodge leads Charles City ceremony for Flag Day

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A patriotic faction of folks gathered at the Elks Lodge in Charles City Tuesday evening toward the end of Flag Day to honor the Stars and Stripes.

The ceremony followed a familiar format, starting off with a reading of the City Council-passed Flag Day Proclamation by Mayor Dean Andrews, reminding those attending of the roll the Elks Lodge played in establishing Flag Day and extolling everyone in the community to renew their allegiance to the flag.

The event, originally planned for the front lawn around the flagpole, was moved inside because of the heat and the wind.

Lodge officers cited the significance and history of the American flag, Lodge Chaplain Deb Carolan offered a beginning and ending prayer, the crowd sang the national anthem and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, then the program concluded with Anton Dittmer of Charles City High School playing taps.

“Our Flag is at once a history, a declaration and a prophecy,” said Lodge Exalted Ruler Brad Sindt. “It represents the American nation as it was at its birth; it speaks for what it is today; and it holds the opportunity for the future to add other stars to the glorious constellation.”

The Elks is the first and only fraternal body to require formal observance of “Flag Day” from each member lodge, Sindt said. President Harry Truman, himself an Elk, officially proclaimed in 1949 that June 14 would be observed nationally as Flag Day.

“This unique distinction as the strongest promoter of Flag Day is most becoming to the Order of Elks,” Sindt read. “This order is distinctively American. Only American citizens are eligible to join it and it has no foreign affiliations. It has linked its destiny with the destiny of our country and made this flag its symbol of self-dedication to God, to country and to fellow men.”

Additional lodge officers participating in the service were Esteemed Leading Knight Jessica Schwickerath, Esteemed Loyal Knight Steve Mills, Esquire Ron Munshower and Esteemed Lecturing Knight Steve Kincannon.