Ground broken for Flag Day monument in Batavia, which promoter called home

This time next year, Batavians may be able to celebrate Flag Day at a monument dedicated to the national observance started by a Batavia man.

The Fox Valley Patriotic Organization broke ground Tuesday evening for it at the Batavia Riverwalk on North Island Avenue.

Hundreds of people attended. Mayor Jeff Schielke spoke of how Dr. Bernard Cigrand, a dentist who lived in Batavia from 1912 to 1932, campaigned for Flag Day. In 1885, when Cigrand was teaching school in Wisconsin, he was dismayed that immigrant students knew little about American culture. So he pointed to a small flag on his desk and asked them to write about what it meant to them. He promoted Flag Day with letters and newspaper and magazine articles. He also gave thousands of lectures. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day, and President Harry Truman signed a law in 1949.

June 14 is the date the Continental Congress adopted the flag in 1777.

Allen Lynch, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, explained how the monument will include “The Ring of Honor,” memorializing the 204 Illinoisans who have received the nation’s highest military honor.

Attendees looked up to the air and waved small flags for a drone photo. Some also held two large flags horizontally, including a huge 38-star flag.

The helical monument will include a timeline of significant events involving the flag. A 50-foot flagpole will have a prism on top that will focus sunlight on the timeline events on the days those events took place. For example, on Nov. 23, it should point to a marker for the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

The FVPO is still raising money to pay for the monument, estimated to cost $1 million, by selling commemorative challenge coins and engraved paver bricks. There also is a Sept. 14 clay-pigeon shooting event at Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation in East Dundee.

For more information or to donate, visit flagdaymonument.com.