The worries of fall and winter usually follow the mourning of Sept. 11 in Eastlake.
It’s been that way for years, as the final months on the calendar remain the most concerning for the Eastlake Memorial Committee.
After people travel from all over to the city’s Boulevard of 500 Flags to commemorate lives lost during the 2001 terrorist attacks, the committee is charged with a way to replace worn flags and make sure their poles hold up amid Northeast Ohio’s harsh wind, rain and snow. About 2,000 veterans’ names are listed on the plaques affixed to the flag poles, and the site is used to celebrate all major holidays involving veterans, including Veterans Day in November.
With so many flags flying, some are bound to need replacements each year. Additionally, the poles that hold up the flags are mostly tubes that rust easily and don’t fare too well against Mother Nature.
The committee typically scrambles for donations, and eventually finds individuals and organizations with enough willingness and patriotism to contribute the needed funds.
After a storm brought on 60 mph winds that ripped several of the site’s flags, more than $9,000 was provided or pledged to the committee.
This spring, Eastlake-based T & D Fabricating donated 20 aluminum poles valued at about $120 apiece.
The volunteer-driven Memorial Committee hopes to raise about $57,000 to replace the remainder of its poles, so that its fundraising efforts won’t be relied on as often. The organization already needs $7,000 to $8,000 annually just to maintain the park, which sits adjacent to and behind Eastlake’s city hall.
Eastlake Council President Dennis Morley said he thinks that purchasing more of the T & D poles will keep the flags flying high for “at least 10 or 15 years.”
They also would cut down the group’s maintenance costs.
“These poles are really in bad shape,” Committee Chairman Joe Strand said. The poles, aside from the 20 from T & D, haven’t been replaced since 1995.
Committee member Jim Barclay said he thinks the importance of the flags, poles and plaques can’t be overstated.
“Looking at these plaques, each one means something to some family — whether it be a son, a husband, a kid, whatever — those plaques mean something,” Barclay said. “If the flagpoles are not replaced, there may not be a Boulevard of 500 Flags, either.
“If I’m on Lake Shore and look over this way, I feel pretty damn proud. I’m sure a lot of people feel that way.”
Twenty-two of the flags memorialize city residents who were killed in combat, and 478 others represent Eastlake veterans.
The committee’s next effort to raise money will be a fundraiser on Oct. 22 at the hall of the American Legion’s Willowick Eastlake Post 678, at 570 E. 328th St. It will be a $15 dinner and dance that will feature a DJ, door prizes and possibly a Chinese auction.
Aside from that event, Strand, Barclay and Morley know the group will need to continue its efforts if it wants to secure the money needed to finally secure quality poles. Morley said the group has contacted some of the area’s larger firms known for philanthropy, but thinks that the biggest ones don’t feel as much of an allegiance to the effort, because none of them are located in Eastlake.
“I’d imagine most of their major donations are to the cities they’re in,” Morley said. “We just don’t have those giant corporations in our city ... We’ve been doing our due diligence in trying to find (donors).”
Strand said his volunteer organization always has been lucky to have contributions from many individuals.
“History has proved in the situations we’ve been in and the problems we’ve had, it wasn’t the big corporations that stepped up to get us out of the woods,” Strand said. “It was that little person, when we passed a hat around. People stepped up, which they’re doing right now, buying just one pole. In their budget, that’s a lot of money.
“We have enough in our fund now that I know we’ll be able to put the flags up — if the poles are still up. That’s the part we’re concerned about.”
To make a donation, make checks payable to the City of Eastlake Memorial Fund. Drop them off at city hall or mail them to City of Eastlake, 35150 Lakeshore Blvd., Eastlake, OH 44095. Donations are tax deductible. For more information, call chairman Joe Strand at 440-942-9344.
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