Scouts from Troop 835 in Wright City Saturday celebrated the annual tradition of retiring local flags through the honorary burning ceremony at Diekroeger Park.Both beginning Scouts and those nearing their Eagle Scout honor contributed in one of the most coveted events hosted by the group.“We’ve seen a lot more contributions, because after 9-11 more people started flying flags, but they didn’t know what to do with them once they were retired,” said Scoutmaster John White, who says the event is in its 11th year.The ceremony began with the retirement of the American flag flying at the park in Wright City, with a new flag being raised.An invocation was held followed by Scouts reading oaths and the meanings of the colors and symbols on the flag.Bob Brendel was on hand to present information about Patriot Packages, which ships care packages to soldiers overseas on a monthly basis.The Scouts then began cutting the flags to preserve the stars as momentos for the soldiers serving.“I have two brothers in the Marines so the flags mean a lot, because they’re a symbol of our freedom,” said Trent Bruning, who has been participating for five years. “People have a lot of respect for this ceremony, and it’s very humbling.”Bruning has three Eagle Scout brothers and another about to earn the honor. He too plans on eventually achieving his Eagle Scout honor.Andrew Tucker just completed his Eagle Scout project, building an information stand for his church.“To me this shows our love for our country and that no matter what happens to our flag, we still symbolize how much we care about each other,” said Tucker.Boy Scout Shane Vehige will soon follow in his footsteps, as he plans to complete his playground Eagle Scout project at Holy Rosary in the next few weeks.“(This ceremony) shows me that we’re representing our country by retiring the flags and that our country is still going strong through all of our armed forces,” said Vehige.By the end of the day, the Scouts had retired 122 American, state or POW flags.

Above are Rich and 7-year-old Madeline Brockman at the flag retirement event held in Wright City June 17. The event was hosted by the Wright City Parks Department along with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts. To see more photos, see the gallery at the Warren County Record website. Record photo/ Bill Barrett.