Once again, Oliver’s Funeral Home in Grande Prairie is preparing to honour veterans. For the sixth year, staff will host a flag retirement ceremony to properly dispose of old flags.
Liesa Peters with Oliver’s first started the ceremony back in 2015 as part of National Flag Day.
“Once a year we lay the flags to rest when they are tattered and torn. February hosts National Flag Day so we have put together a little program to honour the flags and the veterans that fought for the freedom here.”
Flags are collected throughout the year, then on the day of the ceremony, they are bundled up and lowered into the ground by local veterans. The first year they hosted the ceremony, Peters says they had 92 flags. Last year that number rose to 163.
Peters adds that the proper way to dispose of an old flag is by burning them, which they tried to do the first year with unexpected results.
“We started burning them and very soon found out that we could never do that again because of all the nylon in there, it just ended up being this big puddle of oil. Then I went back to the veterans and asked what was supposed to be done with them then and we came to the best way that we thought which would be burying them.”
This year’s event will be held on February 13th at 10:30 at Oliver’s Funeral Home on 107 Avenue. After the ceremony, there will be a luncheon. To attend the event, please register by calling 780-532-2929.