This Memorial Day, the patriotic efforts of Sequim Sunrise Rotary Club adorned Sequim with American flags.
For more than a decade, Rotarians’ Flag Subscription Program has honored fallen service people, veterans and the country while supporting community groups across the area.
“This is how we’re able to do what we do,” said club member Ann Flack.
Each year, the club raises about $20,000 from subscriptions to support the Sequim Food Bank, Boys & Girls Club of the Olympic Peninsula, Sequim Wheelers, and other local and international service groups and projects.
This year, Rotarians are giving $20,000 in Sequim High school scholarships with funds from the flags.
Flags go out Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, and Presidents Day.
Cost is $40 per year, and $25 for each additional flag. Subscriptions are also pro-rated depending on time of registration.
To register, visit sequim sunriserotary.org, click on “forms” and mail the form and check to Sequim Sunrise Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 3482, Sequim, WA 98382.
Sequim High School’s Interact Club helps Rotarians recruit subscriptions and place flags, Flack said. City of Sequim staff post flags along Washington Street, too.
Long-time volunteer and Rotarian Charlie Johnson said they store the club’s 664 flags and metal poles in a storage unit donated by club member Tom Schaafsma.
Sequim’s flag subscription service was adapted from a successful program in Texas by late Rotarian Jim Pickett, said Club President Bill Benedict.
He said subscriptions are down slightly and they’re looking to expand further into their current routes, and more into Dungeness and to subdivisions west of Sequim.
Sequim Sunrise Rotary meets at 7 a.m. weekly on Friday mornings at the Dungeness River Nature Center.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Sequim Sunrise Rotarians say their Flag Subscription Service is meticulously tracked on charts so that no homes or businesses are missed.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ More than 600 American flags and metal poles are stored in a donated unit for Sequim Sunrise Rotary’s Flag Subscription Program.
