Delayed by Hurricane Nicole, Flags for Heroes charity event returns Monday to Palm Beach

Jodie Wagner, Palm Beach Daily News
·2 min read
Joan Sargent and her dad, ninety-eight year-old WWII Veteran Bill Nacinovich, walk through a field of flags during the inaugural Flags for Heroes charity event at Bradley Park in 2019. This year's event begins Monday.
Joan Sargent and her dad, ninety-eight year-old WWII Veteran Bill Nacinovich, walk through a field of flags during the inaugural Flags for Heroes charity event at Bradley Park in 2019. This year's event begins Monday.

Postponed from the fall because of Hurricane Nicole, the annual Flags for Heroes charity event returns to Bradley Park beginning Monday.

Co-sponsored by the Rotary Club of Palm Beach and the Main Street Business Association, the event features a massive display of U.S. flags honoring military veterans, parents, teachers, police officers and others who have made an impact.

More than 500 flags will be on display during the event, which runs through Feb. 15.

Those wishing to honor a hero can sponsor a flag with a donation of at least $100. Donations are tax-deductible, and can be made online at www.palmbeachrotary.org. Flags are not purchased by the flag sponsor.

Related:Palm Beach nonprofits hand out college scholarships to children of town employees

Proceeds from the event are used to fund scholarships for college-bound students and existing college undergraduate students, as well as trade school students. Recipients must be eligible children of full-time town general employees, including lifeguards.

The inaugural Flags for Heroes event was held in 2019 and raised about $33,000.

Rotary Club of Palm Beach treasurer Thomas Bradford said he hopes to raise $50,000 at this year's event, though he added that $30,000 might be more realistic in the current economy.

"As long as we can find a way to fund the scholarships and we get to see the patriotic joy the flags bring to people, we will consider the event to be a success," he said. "We all have heroes in our lives too, and it warms the heart to recognize those that got us to our station in life."

The flags will be installed Monday, Bradford said, and should be fully on display beginning Tuesday. An opening ceremony will be held Friday beginning at 5 p.m.

Palm Beach resident Eric Javits, who served as the ambassador and permanent U.S. representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from 2001 to 2003, will be the guest speaker.

For information on the Rotary Club of Palm Beach, call 561-310-4955 or visit www.palmbeachrotary.org.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Weather-delayed Flags for Heroes charity event returns Monday to Palm Beach