Hess Pumice raises flag for America’s 250th
The American Legion joined Hess Pumice employees to raise the new flag.
On Monday, the Hess Pumice facility in Malad raised a set of flags on its newly installed flagpoles. Up until recently, a crane on the property had proudly displayed the colors over the south end of town. The flag that had been hanging there had, however, seen a lot of wear in its time, especially given Idaho’s famous (for all the wrong reasons) windy season, which run from August to July, and sometimes through July.
The flag pole measures a height of 60 feet.
“We looked into it, and putting in the flagpoles wasn’t actually too bad, so we decided to do it. We weren’t sure when, exactly, but when Lon contacted us about the 250 program, it sounded like now would be a perfect time,” Mike Hess, Jr. stated.
The Lon in question is County Clerk Lon Colton, who heads up the county’s America250 committee. The committee is based in Oneida County (as a result of the way the original idea came down from the state offices), but it is a committee formed from individuals throughout the county, city, and in between. The idea has been to try to spread awareness of the upcoming year of celebration to everyone who wants to take part, and encourage them to make “America250” part of their own personal mindset in addition to looking for ways to promote that mindset in their communities.
Foster Garrett led the Chamber Choir as they provided music for the flag raising.
All of which is to say that the new flag at Hess Pumice is one of many examples of the kinds of things that local businesses, groups, and individuals can do to shift their mindset toward the celebration of 250 years of American identity since the signing of that signal document, the Declaration of Independence.
Other recent examples include the America250 float in the light parade, and a visit from the Spuddy Buddies to the November Veterans Program at MES.
The unveiling of the flag at Hess brought people from across the area, who were treated to the raising of the colors by the American Legion Post #65, and the musical performance of the Malad High School Chamber Choir.
