4-H club to erect flag pole on Delaware County Fairgrounds

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·2 min read

Aug. 3—A 4-H club will erect a 40-foot flagpole on the Delaware County Fairgrounds.

"We've been looking to do this for a while," Christina Losie, a leader of the Futures Finest 4-H'ers club, said. "We started talking about it four or so years ago and it never came to fruition."

During the fair, the national anthem is played at 9 a.m. every day and judging is stopped so people can salute the flag she said. However, members of the 4-H club would "struggle to find an American flag in the barns or wherever they were and wanted one centrally located," Losie said.

The club has 15 members from ages 5 through 17 from the Stamford and Davenport area. Last year, the then-13 members of the club presented their plan to place a flagpole on the fairgrounds to the Delaware Valley Agricultural Society members. Being 4-Hers helped the club members prepare for public speaking in front of the board, she said.

"The opportunities they get being in 4-H is awesome," she said. "The biggest thing is public presentation. They learn how to speak in front of people and to interact with other people."

The society approved the club's proposal and the club started fundraising and reaching out to area businesses for help. The flagpole will be right outside Gate B on the fairgrounds in Walton.

Losie said the group first tried to get the flagpole from the former Nissan car dealership on Southside in Oneonta, but the new owner wouldn't sell it and plans to use it.

However, the club was met with multiple companies who wanted to help them achieve their goal. "I was flabbergasted at the help and assistance we received," Losie said.

New York State Electric & Gas employee Nick Coons marked the lines and the company dug the hole for the pole, she said. Clark Companies supplied the rebar cage and sleeve, while Sportsfield Specialties supplied the pole. "Matt Moyse works for Sportsfield and his boys are in the club," she said. Ryan Harlen at Otsego Ready Mix is supplying the concrete. Losie's Gun Shop, which is owned by Christina's husband, purchased a 16-foot flag, and Gerster's Triple E Towing, owned by Phil and Jennifer Gerster, will erect the pole.

"We did fundraise, but then everyone donated their time and products," she said. The club will use what they raised to buy plants for landscaping around the base of the pole and may need to buy lights to illuminate the flag at night.

Losie said the group will hold a flag-raising ceremony Tuesday evening, Aug. 8, at the fairgrounds that will be livestreamed on the Delaware County Fair's Facebook page by Jason Craig.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.