(Atlantic) To say the Atlantic Rotary Club’s flag drop-off program has been a success is an understatement. The Rotarians started the Flag drop-off program in 2004.
Today, over 11,385 damaged or unused flags have been left in the box located near the entrance to the Armory, and the same person, Bob Boots, known to some as the flagman, is still repairing the salvageable flags in a small room in the lower level of the Armory. This is where he sorts the flags and runs them through the twenty-year-old sewing machine he used at his upholstery business when he retired twenty years ago.
Boots estimates about one in 120 flags are repairable. He admits the repaired flags don’t last as long as new ones. The new sewn flags are given to organizations, and he once fixed 23 flags for a school’s classrooms.
The Flags beyond repair are bagged and given to an organization for proper disposal.
And the flagman, Bob Boots, says he will continue to repair the tattered and salvageable flags as long as possible.
Anyone with a tattered or unused flag can drop it off in the box located at the Armory located at 2nd and Poplar Street in Atlantic.
