Color Guard Club Members: Isaiah Saxton-Barnes, Corrine Bailey, Jeremiah Holman, Cheyenne Baumann, and Ryker Armes. (Submitted photo)
A very special flag was raised at the Boys & Girls Club of Oak Ridge on July 1. Rick Dearholt, vice chair of the organization’s Board of Directors, worked through Congressman Chuck Fleischmann’s office to purchase the flag. It was flown over the United States Capitol on June 6, 2016, in honor of D-Day.
D-Day was June 6, 1944, when more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France.
Dearholt, a retired U.S. Marine, saw the Club’s flag needed to be replaced, and he wanted to do something special.
“I was honored to be able to coordinate this effort and equally proud of the color guard of Club members when they raised this flag over our Club,” Dearholt said. “The patriotism displayed by our members was amazing. It is clear to me that great futures do start at the Club.”
Club members were trained in proper color guard procedure and presented the colors before a gathering of Club members, board, and community members. There was a moment of silence to remember Pat Henry and Jimmy Henry, the wife and son of Jim Henry, deputy governor and friend of the organization; UT coaching legend Pat Summitt; and to celebrate the nation’s independence on Fourth of July.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Clinch Valley provides after-school, summer and athletic programming, and enables all young people, especially those who need the club the most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
This press release was submitted by Jennifer Pettyjohn.
Flag (Submitted photo)
Color Guard (Submitted photo)
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