Members of Dr. Silas Hamilton Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) performed a flag retirement ceremony at the Oct. 8 meeting at the Elsah Township Building on Route 3 and Fessler Road at 1 p.m. The ceremony is used when the flag is no longer a fitting emblem for use and is to be destroyed by burning. The ceremony began with a prayer by the Chapter Chaplain, Roberta Groppel, and Regent Sandra Cornelius then paid tribute to the flag, gave a history of the flag, which was followed by the actual disposal by Flag Chairman Patsy Halemeyer and assisted by Mary Strebel, Rita Heneghan, Carol Swearingen and Ann Badasch.
The union is removed first and when it is gone, the flag is no longer a flag. Then each stripe is separated and disposed of individually with the union to be burned last. As each stripe is placed in the fire, the name of each of the original 13 states and the date of admission into the union is read, beginning with Delaware (Dec. 7, 1787) and ending with Rhode Island (May 29, 1790). The last to be placed in the fire is the union, which represents the whole. The ceremony ends with prayer. The ashes are to be buried.
The next meeting will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Jerseyville Library.
