Local Elks announce Flag Day service

Submitted information

Local residents are encouraged to attend the annual Flag Day services held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, at Elks Lodge 1197.

The annual event is sponsored by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Also participating will be the Van Wert unit of the Civil Air Patrol.

Flag Day, celebrated each June 14 as specified by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, honors the creation of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States. Flag Day did not become formally recognized until President Truman, himself an Elk, signed the resolution in 1949 declaring Flag Day an official national holiday.

The continental Congress adopted the design of the Stars and Stripes on June 14, 1777, resolving that “The flag of the United States shall be 13 stripes, alternate red and white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

The Elks is the first and only fraternal organization to mandate that on June 14 every year, each lodge must conduct a solemn and beautiful Flag Day ceremony. This ceremony is open to the public so that lodge members can show local communities that Elks honor their flag and all it represents.

As part of this year’s ceremony, local lodge winners of the Grand Lodge Americanism Contest will read their winning essays.

Elks Lodge 1197 Exalted Ruler Charles White encourages all local residents to attend the lodge’s Flag Day ceremony and demonstrate their love of flag and county. Residents are also asked to proudly display the American flag on Flag Day.