Eagle Scout Project Behind Collection, Retirement Of Flags

By Joel Hillan

EVERGREEN, Colo. (CBS4)- The United States Flag Code gives instructions for everything from folding the flag to flying a flag correctly. The American Legion and one Boy Scout came together for Coloradans looking to respectfully retire their used or old flags.

Matt Bacher has been raising money and organizing for these boxes to be built for his Eagle Scout project.

"There's not a lot of great resources for flag retirement and so I wanted to give the opportunity for the community to put in their own flag retirement for proper disposal," said Matt.

Today he placed his eighth flag retirement box at Evergreen National Bank. The first flag placed in this box was by the bank itself.

"This is the one that we had last year and it's a little old and tired and I've been just so excited for Matt to come in with his flag box so we could retire it properly," said Diedre Darling, an employee at Evergreen National Bank.

Nearby at the Big R, the box has gotten some good use as well.

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"It sat empty for the first part of the week it was there and then I walked in one day and it was full, and that's when I went home that day and picked up my flag from my house," said John McInerney who works at the Big R in Evergreen.

It was filled by a nearby base that decided to retire its flags.

For Matt and for each of us, the flag is more than a simple symbol.

"Each star represents a state and the entire country so I think it's really important that we give it a proper retirement," said Matt.

"It represents our country, and all of the drivers and fabrics that everybody comes together and makes us one," said Darling.

The flags will be collected and then properly disposed of in a special ceremony in Evergreen in June.

Joel Hillan anchors CBS4 This Morning on weekends as well as reports stories for CBS4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. Follow Joel on Twitter @joelhillan.