Flags of Freedom seeks to keep flags flying with November fundraiser

For years, residents and those passing through Princeton on Interstate 80 and Route 26 have been welcomed to the community by four 153-foot tall flag poles each holding a 30 by 60 feet American Flag.

While this site has become a staple that many have come to remember Princeton for, many are not aware of the effort, maintenance and the funds that are required to keep the Flags of Freedom flying year round.

“As an Air Force Veteran its important,” Organizer Brad Oeder said. “A lot of times Veterans don’t get recognized. The last 10 years us Veterans have been getting recognized more, but back in my day a lot of Veterans coming home from Vietnam were cussed at, yelled at and called names.”

Oeder said that more many Veterans there is no welcome home and Flags of Freedom looks to be a reminder of the sacrifices they made and continue to make throughout the community.

Flags of Freedom is the local organization that has assumed the responsibility of maintaining, repairing and replacing the flags as needed throughout the years.

“We take them down and we repair them with a commercial sewing machine,” Oeder said. “A couple ladies on the Flags of Freedom committee will cut parts off, resew them and then we will hang them.”

Throughout the year, as the large flags are exposed to the elements, they become ripped and tattered and in need of repair.

Flags of Freedom makes attempts to repair the 60-feet long flags by removing sections and resewing when possible, but once a flag drops below 48 feet, they are either scrapped or kept on hand to be sold to communities and organizations.

Despite their best repair efforts, Flags of Freedom estimates they end up replacing between 12 and 16 flags a year at the cost of $2,000 per flag.

“One question we get asked is how often do we change the flags?” Oeder said. “The shortest we’ve ever done it is three days. We had brand new flags and we put them up one winter and sleet just stuck to the flags and shredded them. It can vary from three days to weeks.”

The idea for the Flags of Freedom first came to Princeton in 2003 after organizers saw similar large flags on a trip to the southern United States. They decided this would be a good thing to try and bring to Princeton.

After talking with the Police Chief at the time and other city officials, they decided instead of one flag; they were going to install four.

“They raised over $230,000 over two years,” Oeder said. “They had to go through and get property rights to put the flags up at the intersection. At that time it was a big deal. They had flyovers from helicopters, they had dignitaries speaking, it was a pretty big deal.”

The leftover money and maintenance responsibilities where then turning over to the city until 2015 when some city officials toyed with the idea of going forward with one flag and only putting on display during special occasions.

“At that point we had a meeting and went back to city council and asked the city if we could take it over as an organization,” Oeder said. “We did and we have been doing it ever since.”

Oeder added that the organization of 15-20 individuals have worked hard since taking on the project to keep all four flags flying year round.

The group works closely with the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation and the Quilts of Valor in order to make sure all the needs of the flags and local veterans are met to the best of their ability.

In order to keep up with the need for new flags and the repair costs, the group holds multiple fundraisers throughout the year including auctions and cookouts; all leading up to its largest event of the year, Rockin the Runway.

This fifth annual event will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, at Hundred Acres Orchard, 14180 1800 E. St. in Princeton.

“This is about how important it is to keep the flags flying,” Organizer Rodney Johnson said. “This is in memory of our past, future and present war veterans that we have. This is why we have this big fundraiser to keep the supply of flags on hand and keep them going.”

The event will feature a live auction and silent auction, live music and food for all to enjoy. Tickets for the event are $35 a person or $60 per couple and can be purchased by visiting Central Bank, Heartland Bank and Trust and First State Bank in Princeton.

Tickets also can be purchased by calling Rodney Johnson at 815-866-1534, Victor Register at 815-325-3865, Brad Oeder at 815-866-9349 or Terry Robison at 309-854-2692.

All of the funds raised through the Rockin the Runway event and other Flags of Freedom events go directly toward flag replacement and maintenance throughout the year.

“We do love to have new people come to this organization and see what this is about and stay with us,” Johnson said. “We are open to people coming to help us and make our organization grow. We welcome new people to come in, we really do.”