Jaycees partner with school to replace worn flags

Date: 6/22/2009

In a touching Flag Day ceremony that took place on June 15 at Meadow Brook Elementary School, members of the East Longmeadow American Legion presented new classroom flags to 37 student classroom representatives. The event was made possible through the financial support of the East Longmeadow Jaycees, who generously responded to a request for funds in this financially diffiuclt time.

As Jaycee President and guest speaker Todd Mackechnie noted, the new flags will replace flags original to the 1969 building and also fly in 16 additional classrooms added over the interventing years.

Meadow Brook School was in dire need of some new American flags for their classrooms. Fate seemed to bring a member of the Meadow Brook staff and Mackechnie, together.

Mackechnie set up a meeting between the Jaycees and Meadow Brook School personnel. After the meeting, the Jaycees voted unanimously to not only replace the worst of the flags, as asked, but to replace all the classroom flags and also to acquire additional flags so that each room would have a proper classroom American flag.

On June 15 in a ceremony honoring Flag Day, the Jaycees, with the assistance of the veterans from the American Legion, presented the flags to Meadow Brook School.

Each student representative was chosen for this honor by his or her classroom teacher as a student who exemplifies the district school character traits of kindness, perseverance, respect, responsiblity, caring, courage, empathy and honesty. The students, who wore colorful red, white and blue sashes created under the direction of Meadow Brook art teacher Donna Moore, were presented with the new flags by individual American Legion members including the recently returned Iraq veteran and East Longmeadow native son, Sgt. Mark Ecker. Also in attendance were East Longmeadow Superintendent Edward Costa, who spoke briefly to the group, school principal Judy Fletcher and assistant principal Alaena Podmore, Kevin Kennedy, a representative from Congressman Richard Neal's office, and invited family members and friends.

In addition to classroom flags, the Jaycees had requested a special flag be presented to the school. With the help of Congressman Richard Neal's office, the Jaycees presented a new flag for the school flag pole. This flag had the honor of flying over the United States Capitol before being presented to Meadow Brook School.

"As part of the official ceremony, the old flag was retired and this new flag was raised, by our veterans, in ceremony, Meadow Brook School," Mackechnie said. "The Jaycees are proud to have made this event possible. It's what the Jaycees are all about."