Flags

Dear Editor, What's the big deal? Flags on Main Street looked good to me. I pass through Danville every day on my way to work. There is no difference between the flags on Main Street and Bob Allen's flags and signs all the way down the car lot. At least the college is promoting continuing education. Bob Allen is trying to sell something. The college is paying business taxes and other fees, I'm sure. That's the least that the town could do! They easily could pack up and leave and then you have nothing.

Wondering what the point of the 250 white flags on the courthouse lawn is? That's the idea, said Darlene Thomas, executive director of the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program. "We hope people ask what are those white flags doing (there)," she said. "In our rural communities, what we did is we put flags out at the courthouse lawn that represent how many protective orders were filed for safety in their community. It's a way for us to raise awareness in the community. " BDVP, which serves 17 counties in central Kentucky, is an organization designed to help women who are victims of domestic abuse.

Dear Editor: As the nation pays tribute to the 40th president of the United States, we all can find, regardless of our background or philosophy, something in his achievements to admire. We can all find something to emulate in the principles he held high-liberty, optimism, faith in the American people, a joyful appreciation of life. Across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, flags will fly at half staff through the fifth of July. All who display the "Stars and Stripes" in Danville and Boyle County are encouraged to do the same in honor of Ronald Reagan, a great American who, by his leadership, left the world a better place.

PERRYVILLE - Military service personnel carry special things in their pockets, everything from a pocket knife and Bible to pictures of their sweetheart or spouse and family. Now they can carry miniature flags. Local veterans are taking part in the Pocket Flag Project that distributes miniature flags to servicemen around the world. Auxiliary members of American Legion, Battlefield Post 301, have taken on the project and will attempt to get miniature flags into the pockets of as many front line military personnel as possible, according to Sue Milburn, auxiliary member.

I am not a big fan of Clint Eastwood's movies, at least not the ones he has directed. I especially dislike his last two efforts, the well-produced but thematically amoral "Mystic River" and the thoroughly depressing "Million Dollar Baby. " I suppose I have problems with some of the ideas he tries to stick in people's heads. When I heard that Eastwood's next directing foray would be two movies about Iwo Jima, including one from the Japanese perspective, I became slightly frightened.

A few weekends ago, I saw the movie "Flags of Our Fathers. " I can't remember the last time I have been so affected by a film. After it was over I sat in my seat - and tried not to embarrass myself in front of my friends and other movie goers by breaking down in tears. I just gripped the arm rest and held on for a few minutes until I could get up and walk out. Every American should watch this film. I have always been a supporter of the war on terror. Seeing this film didn't shake my support, but it did put war and sacrifice in perspective.

This year, there will be one already planted at his grave when she gets there.About 20 Junior ROTC students from George Rogers Clark High School spent their day off from school Tuesday at the Winchester Cemetery, marking veteran graves with flags. Lt. Col. Brett Morris, JROTC instructor, said the cemetery bought 2,000 for the project, which his students began placing at graves of servicemen and women at 9 Tuesday morning. By noon, they'd found and marked about 400 graves with the little flags, which rustled in the breeze of a fabulous May afternoon.

Cousins, from left, Blaytin Anderson, 2, Steven Adams, 4, Carrie Lewis, 10 and Casey Lewis, 10, spend part of a morning running and playing with their twirl flags at College Park. The flags encouraged a lot of exercise by getting them to twirl around.

June 16, 1983 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Five astronauts, including America's first space-faring woman, conducted launch site training today after countdown began for Saturday's early morning blast-off. There was one early technical problem aboard Challenger, but the space agency said it may have been a false alarm. In any event, the problem went away. A brief history of flags in America was presented at Wednesday's luncheon meeting of the Kiwanis Club by Robert F. Collins.

Dec. 19, 1987 Three Clark County schools recently were awarded flags of excellence or progress by the Kentucky Educational Foundation. Recognized with their flags at Thursday night's meeting of the Clark County Board of Education were Brant Williams, principal James Wells and Michele Fuller of Hannah McClure School; Crystal Mills, principal Melvin Howard and Cathy Chandler of Pilot View School; and principal Bill Lockhart and Richard Estes of...

Behind every hero, there is a story.  As for Roy Bates, a local hero, his story about his battle in the Korean War and his recent honor is one that is memorable. When an American flag arrived at the Bates' home last week, the entire family was elated. “Someone in Andy Barr's office called me,” Roy's wife of 60 years, Betty Bates, said. “They told me they were planning something special for my husband and they wanted it to be a surprise. And it was.” The flag sent to the Bates' home was flown over Washington on Jan. 28 and was then sent to Kentucky.

Dec. 19, 1987 Three Clark County schools recently were awarded flags of excellence or progress by the Kentucky Educational Foundation. Recognized with their flags at Thursday night's meeting of the Clark County Board of Education were Brant Williams, principal James Wells and Michele Fuller of Hannah McClure School; Crystal Mills, principal Melvin Howard and Cathy Chandler of Pilot View School; and principal Bill Lockhart and Richard Estes of...

JUNCTION CITY - It was a teachable moment, and being a retired teacher, Margaret Frisby not only recognized it but was inspired by it. Over Memorial Day Weekend, Frisby's young grandsons made it known that they did not have any American flags for the flag flying holiday. She got the flags and then began thinking.   “Being a teacher, I¿had to give them a lesson when I gave them the flags,” she said. But instead of an historical lecture on Old Glory, Frisby was moved to write a simple poem she called “Sons of Glory,” 12 lines in four verses dedicated to those who have fought and died to preserve the principles the banner represents.

I would like to thank the Buell-Bragg VFW Post 3634 and the American Legion Post 18 Honor Guard of Stanford for performing the opening flag ceremony for the Boyle County Fair. They did a stupendous job of honoring our veterans, both living and deceased. When asked to do this, they said, “What time?” A motion was made and then passed with an unanimous, “Yes.” The veterans did this, even though it would take them away from their families on Memorial Day and it would be the third ceremony they would perform that day!

Though he now lives in Lexington, Jimmy Lou Banks has been making his presence felt in Danville since being released on bond last week from the Fayette County Detention Center, where he was being held on a drug trafficking charge. On May 17, the day after his release, Banks and his wife Regina were at the Boyle County Courthouse to post bond for Banks' stepson, who had been jailed at the Boyle County Detention Center since Feb. 28 related to a charge of possession of oxycontin.

We have reached the halfway point of the 2012 General Assembly session. There are daily committee meetings, policy briefings, visits from constituents and meetings with various advocacy groups. Early in the week, the Senate passed Senate Bill 103 in a bipartisan vote that will require a doctor performing an abortion to first perform an ultrasound (which is done anyway) so that the woman may view it, if she wishes. The woman will not be forced to look at the picture. However, it is important, as with any medical procedure, for the woman to have the most information possible.

Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Winchester First Baptist Church for Petty Officer Second Class Taylor Gallant, the Winchester sailor who died Jan. 26 during a training exercise with theU.S. Navyoff the coast of North Carolina. Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner asked Clark County residents to come out Saturday to pay tribute to Gallant and to show support for his family by lining the funeral procession route leading to Winchester Cemetery. The funeral procession will begin at Winchester First Baptist Church on East Lexington Avenue, travel north on Main Street to Washington Street, then west on Washington Street to Maple Street, south on Maple Street to Lexington venue, then west on Lexington Avenue to the Winchester Cemetery.

Jared Kesterman, a George Rogers Clark High School junior member of the JROTC, kneels to place an American flag at the grave of a veteran Tuesday morning in the Winchester Cemetery, top photo. Members placed about 1,100 flags in the cemetery as part of the JROTC's tribute to veterans and Veteran's Day Friday. Elexus McIntosh, left, and Amanda Anderson place flags in a different section of the cemetery, bottom photo. Many of the local schools will be hosting Veteran's Day events on Friday.

Shearer Elementary School fifth grade students Gabby Henderson, left, and Ashley Smyth help State Senator R. J. Palmer raise a U.S. flag in front of the school early Thursday morning, top photo. Palmer presented the flag from the state to replace the school's worn and tattered flag. Attending the flag rasing were students in the fifth grade taught by Heather Crowl, Stephen Daugherty and Shannon Spradlin. Henderson, bottom photo, carefully raise the flag before the students say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Longtime readers may notice today the change in our flag, the large type at the top of the front page that displays the name of the newspaper. Ever since The Kentucky Advocate and The Danville Messenger merged in 1940 to become The Advocate-Messenger, the Sunday edition has kept “The Kentucky Advocate” as its standard.  Until today. We have maintained separate templates for design of the Sunday product for all those years, with the only difference being the name of the newspaper at the top of the front page, the section fronts and the folios (the small type at the top of each page denoting the date and the page number)