Saturday, November 17, 2012 – American Flag Retirement Ceremony
I joined the local Elks Club this spring and have really enjoyed the experience. Especially since the Lodge is right across the street from my apartment! But the Elks do good work. This particular Lodge has many charities and functions, but primarily concentrate on veteran’s assistance and placing new flags in schools.
They also have a Flag Retirement Ceremony once a year and I took some photos of the event, held yesterday (11/17/2012).
I learned a lot about the ceremony. There is no law for retiring a flag – but that it be done in a dignified manner. The ceremony conducted at the Elks was very nice.
There were dozens of individuals in attendance, mostly veterans. One flag was displayed as a symbolic flag for the ceremony, while other flags lay on a table in the back – cut into pieces (I’ll explain that below).
While an Honor Guard stood by the flag, a speaker led the crowd with the playing of patriotic songs and what the flag means.
Included was a great reading of the origin of Frances Scott Key’s inspiration of our National Anthem, where he was aboard a British ship in the harbor, trying to negotiate a prisoner exchange. He viewed the 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry where 1500-1800 cannon balls and bombs were lobbed at the Fort.
Next, the flag is removed from it’s mount and dissected – removing the blue and stars from the stripes. By doing this, you have two pieces of cloth to be burned, not a flag.
Next the the Blue and Stars, along with the Blue and Stars from the previously dissected flags are burned.
Next, each stripe is dissected separately, with each strip representing one of the original 13 colonies – in order of statehood.
After the flag is completely dissected and all stripes are incinerated, Taps is played and the ceremony is complete.
2003 Flight Centennial Documentary
In 1993, my brother and I were given the honor of documenting the making of the Wright Brother’s Sculpture that now sits at the National Park at Kill Devil Hills, NC at the Outer Banks. It’s a life-sized, interactive sculpture that includes the 1903 Flyer and statues of Orville/Wilbur Wright, John Daniels (who took the iconic photo of the first flight) and members of the Kill Devil Hills life saving station who helped Orville and Wilbur move the Flyer to and from storage.
We were also given press credentials for the 2003 Flight Centennial to put a finish on the documentary. It is that footage that I intend to re-cut into a short piece on the Centennial.
From time to time, I’ll post frame grabs from the video. Remember, in 2003, I wasn’t using HD, but mini-DV (Canon GL-1), but regardless, I think there are some interesting shots and footage.
Enjoy.
There were 100 sky divers. This one was pretty awesome!
Lines – September 24, 2011
I was playing with my camera at a soccer game recently and trying out a few shots and thought this was interesting. I just happened to be at the correct height and angle to shoot the opposite side of the stadium and the bleachers just sort of lined up. Sometimes shots come from nowhere.
Lines
Friday Camera-Phone Pic – August 12-2011
No.
A powerful word and one that bothers me almost as much as “hate”. I was playing with my camera phone and shooting random things when I caught part of a “NO PARKING” paint in the asphalt.
Don’t take “NO” for an answer . . . unless it’s parking! Enjoy.
No.
Some OIder, Random Photos
A few pictures that I scanned several months ago and found on a hard drive! Enjoy.
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- An interesting par 3 from The Waterfront in VA. It was about 165 yards, straight down hill!
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- The White House, from the 90s. Whose little red car?
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- The Spirit of St. Louis. Can you imagine over 20 hours in that cockpit?
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- The Washington Monument from the 90s.
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- From Ford’s Theatre, the pistol that killed President Lincoln.
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- From downtown Washington DC. I liked this view and waited forever for the water to rise “just right”!
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- Inside Ford’s Theatre. The box where President Lincoln was shot.
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- I liked the variety of color in this shot. Washington DC.
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- Cherry Blossoms up close. I did not cut them down.
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- The Capital Building.
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- At the Smithsonian, the 1903 Flyer. This is a replica. The original Flyer was damaged at the Outer Banks in a wind storm.
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- The big gun on the USS NC aims at downtown Wilmington.
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- From the USS NC.
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- This machine controlled the signal flags on the USS NC.
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- From the USS NC.
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- The USS NC campaign ribbons. If I read them correctly, 9 different campaigns, shot down 24 enemy planes and sunk one enemy ship.
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- The organ at the Mormon Church at Salt Lake City.
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- The Mormon Church in Salt Lake City had the huge murals throughout.
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- The Mormon Church in Salt Lake City.
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- Salt Lake City at dusk.
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- The Golden Gate Bridge.
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- The Light House at Savannah.
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- I thought an interesting shot of the bulbs at the Light House in Savannah.
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- The jail inside the Savannah Fort.
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- Tables/desks from the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
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- Go to Philadelphia and there is history everywhere!
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- The old jail at Park City, Utah. Literally built into rock.
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- Park City, Utah.
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- Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.
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- A jelly fish from the NC Aquarium.
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- A grave marker for slaves at Mt. Vernon.
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- The tomb of George Washington from Mt. Vernon.
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- Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington. If you visit, you’ll notice the facade of the house looks as if it’s made of brick, but it isn’t. The lines are carved into wood, as it was less expensive than brick.
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- Mountains between Las Vegas and Hoover Dam.
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- Hoover Dam. Do you think that lake is deep?
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- A rare Tucker automobile. From the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit.
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- A pay phone. From the Henry Ford Museum.
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- The chair that President Lincoln was seated in when he was shot. From the Henry Ford Museum.
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- The Cone House from the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC.
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- Back in the 70s, I took this photo of what I thought was the Cone House in the NC mountains. I’m not sure what house this is now!
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- Chicago from the top of the John Hancock Building.
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- A mist fountain from the Atlanta Olympic in 1996. It was very hot!
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- I think this was the general area where the bomb went off at the 96 Atlanta Olympics. Scary. Look at the crowds.
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- I thought this was an interesting tree located in the yard at Arlington.
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- The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington.
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- The kitchen at Arlington. It was located downstairs (basement) as it was cooler to keep food fresh.
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- The grave of John F. Kennedy at Arlington.
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- The dining room at Arlington.
A Few Random Pics
Here are a few random pics from the last couple of days. I don’t know why I’m fascinated by things “abandoned” (old barns, buildings, etc.), but I’ve also found some old golf course remnants. Interesting for me. Enjoy!
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- The Great Smoky Mountains National Park are filled with graves from the former families and communities that lived there before the park. This is from Proctor.
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- Played the Pilot Knob Golf Course, with the “Knob” in the distance. Great course to play!
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- Another angle of Pilot Knob.
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- Pilot Knob, part of Pilot Mountain. Yes, “Mt. Pilot” from the Andy Griffith Show!
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- This part of the path meanders behind a neighborhood and near an office complex.
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- What’s left of the Green Valley Golf Course in Greensboro. This piece of cart path.
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- The Calhoun House, located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The house was part of a community and sat on Front Street, opposite a river. Taken about 5 yrs ago.
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- The back side of the Calhoun House. It rained very hard that day and the house is about a 45 minute hike from Fontana Lake.
