Iola Boy Scout Troop 55 will host a ceremony Saturday to properly dispose of worn or tattered flags.
The retirement ceremony runs from 1 to 4 p.m. near the rodeo arena at Iolas Riverside Park.
Iola firefighters will be on hand to monitor the ceremony, which will include incinerating the old flags.
Its not the first time Troop 55 has hosted such an event, having done so a few years back at Iolas Elks Lake.
An adult suggested making it an annual event, said Spencer Ames, one of the Eagle Scouts helping coordinate the ceremony. Hell be assisted by fellow Eagle Scout Alec Sager, and a number of others throughout the three-hour event.
The event is designed to properly honor the flags as theyre retired and burned.
A series of barrels will be set up to handle the large number, perhaps as many as 300.
We have several flags already, Ames said, with more being donated on a daily basis at collection boxes at Iola City Hall, Humboldt City Hall and the Bank of Gas.
Flags can still be deposited at each of those locations, or taken to the park for Saturdays ceremony.
The event is part of a busy weekend for the Scout troop, which also will be responsible for placing small American flags on veterans gravestones at Iolas Highland Cemetery for Mondays Memorial Day services.
Additionally, the Scouts must properly dispose of the ashes after the flags are burned. Theyll likely be buried at the farm of Ames grandparents, John and Vera Sheehan.
As an aside, John Sheehan, a veteran of the Vietnam and Iraq conflicts, will deliver the keynote address at Iolas Memorial Day service at 11 a.m. Monday.
Its a lot to plan for, but we can manage, Ames said.
