Heyer Eagle Scout project raises new flagpole at Charles City fire station

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Stars and Stripes proudly waves from a new flagpole at the Charles City Fire Department, thanks to a high school senior’s Eagle Scout project.

Hayden Heyer, his dad and a group of firefighters and people associated with the Boy Scouts gathered on a blustery Saturday morning to raise and install the new flagpole and run up Old Glory at the fire station.

Hayden’s father, Jeremy, has his Edward Jones office right next to the fire station, and they noticed the station’s flagpole looked like it needed to be replaced.

Checking into the situation, Hayden found that the Fire Department had some money set aside for the project, and he volunteered to take it over.

Jeremy Heyer said the original flagpole had been installed as a Charles City Kiwanis Club project more than 50 years ago, in 1970.

Hayden said he started working on the project in September and did the masonry work to create the base where the pole is mounted, but it took eight weeks for the flagpole they ordered to arrive.

The flagpole was raised Saturday with the help of the Fire Department’s ladder truck, lowered onto the base and bolted into place. A new U.S. flag was then attached to the line and raised to the top of the flagpole.

Heyer said he will do some landscaping around the base in the spring, adding some block and rock “to dress it up.”

Raising flagpoles is something of a family tradition now. Heyer’s brother, Justin, installed the flagpoles and did the landscaping at the new baseball and softball fields at the Charles City High School as his Eagle Scout project in 2020.