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06/30/2021 08:00 AMThis July 4 marks the 245th anniversary of America’s founding. Towns all over America, including Guilford, will celebrate in their own special ways. Parades, barbeques with family, fireworks, and flags—they are all part of this special day. It’s a holiday in which symbols of our nation are everywhere.
Perhaps the most visible symbols of the principles and values that our country represents is the American flag. But driving around Guilford, I have for years noticed the decaying condition of our flag flown from residences, businesses, and conspicuous buildings around the green and elsewhere. Frequently dirty, faded, ripped, and ragged to the point that the red and white stripes wave like ribbons in the breeze, this is terribly disrespectful to our flag and to America.
Some time ago, on a walk about Guilford, I observed yet another tattered flag being flown from the flagpole of a prominent building downtown. I went into Page Hardware and purchased a new American flag and presented it, with my compliments, to the building staff in hopes they would replace their shabby one. To my immense satisfaction, the new flag was flying proudly from the flagstaff the next day, its now-vibrant colors highlighted against a brilliant blue sky.
As citizens of Guilford, if we care about the fundamental principles of liberty, equality, and self-government that our nation’s flag represents and July 4 commemorates, we owe it to our country to display an American flag that is fresh and new.
Colleen Roberts
Guilford