Rotary Club keeps the home flags flying
Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Basildon Drive, near the Kingswood Recreation area in Bella Vista, is well known for the flags lining the street several times a year.
What is not as well known is that those are a small part of more than 400 flags proudly displayed in many neighborhoods in Bella Vista and Bentonville by the Daybreak Rotary Club.
The flags are placed on seven holidays: Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Patriots Day (Sept. 11 ) and Columbus Day.
Twenty five flags are currently exhibited on Basildon Drive, where residents pay a minimal annual fee of $ 35 for their placement by local Rotarians.
"It's wonderful", says Jo Ellen Thomas, a Basildon Dr. resident. "I had company from out of state on Memorial Day and they commented on how terrific the street looked."
All of the money paid to Daybreak Rotary is used for community service projects in the area, including scholarships to Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Camp for students in Bentonville, Gravette and Pea Ridge high schools.
They also provide a Single Parent Scholarship.
Camp RYLA, in Tahlequah, Okla., lasts 3-4 days and hosts 15-20 students, said Gene Roy, initiator of the flag program.
"I've never heard kids so excited about a program. That's what does it for me, the kids enthusiasm when I drive them home from camp", said Roy.
After moving to Bella Vista, he began the flag program because of his participation in a similar showcase in the Dallas area.
For those wanting to start a flag program in their neighborhood, the minimum requirement is 10 total participants. Then, contact Roy at 876-2664.
Their goal this year is to expand the program to 500 flags.
Founded in 1905 in Chicago, Rotary International was the first service organization in the world. The name derived from their early practice of rotating meetings to different members offices.
They provide humanitarian service and promote high ethical standards in all vocations.
Rotary also leads the fight against polio and promotes peace and goodwill throughout the globe.
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