The children in the community are watching your example and learning more than you know. This story all started because my 5-year-old daughter Iva was watching our family and how we respected the flag. She learned that respect by the flag we fly in our front yard, always making sure it is in its best condition. In addition, she has been coming to the Hinckley–Big Rock Cub Scout pack meetings to support her brother and watched how they properly retire tattered flags. To bring this full circle, one day when I was picking her up from school she said to me, “Daddy that flag needs to be changed because it’s tattered.” I let her know that I agreed. So that night I went ahead and ordered a flag to replace it and went to sleep. The next day I was sitting in the pickup line at her school and thought I'd better ask permission to change it out, and then maybe the kids could participate. After getting my daughter I went up to ask her teacher Tamera Reddington, who was immediately excited but said I needed to talk to the principal. Once in talking with the Hinckley-Big Rock Elementary principal Mrs. Hervey, she was immediately ecstatic. She and other staff in the office said they were just talking that they needed to change it out and that to have The American Legion, Cub Scouts and preschoolers all help was an amazing idea. So the following week the Hinckley American Legion taught the kids about the different parts of the flag, the colors and the meanings behind them. Each of the preschoolers got to help lower and hoist the new flag by pulling on the rope. The Cub Scouts helped by holding the flags and making sure they didn’t touch the ground. This was an amazing program that made a big impact on these preschoolers. The moral of the story is if you get an idea, run with it as you have no idea the impact it can make. Things don’t have to be big - they just have to be done with the love of teaching others about the values and traditions supported by many Americans and The American Legion.

Special thanks to those not mentioned in the story but were a huge part:
Allen Thorson, Matt Hansen, Michelle Hansen, Mandy Kreitzer, Mallory Wassmann, Sharri Hane

Respectfully,
Steven Kreitzer
Hinckley, Ill., American Legion member