Field of Honor: Orrville flag display is Exchange Club annual tradition

ORRVILLE − Roughly 140 flags are flying this Veterans Day week in the city.

The Field of Honor flag program is an annual tradition by the Orrville Exchange Club.

The display was set up on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, and runs through Nov. 15 at the field next to the Orrville Fire Station along Crown Hill Road.

The program aims to honor veterans, those in any branch of the military, police officers and firefighters whether they are active, retired, living, or deceased.

“Basically, the reason we have them is for the community to see all the people who help to keep us safe, whether from far away, here or passed away,” said Lisa Reusser president of the Exchange Club.

The club first adopted the program in 2016. The event takes place twice a year, during the week of Memorial Day and the week of Veterans Day, weather permitting.

“One time we had to move it up because bad weather was coming through and another time, we had to move it back a day,” Reusser said.

The cost of sponsoring a flag is $45, up $15 from past years.

“The cost is for the 2022 and 2023 season,” she said, explaining the money is distributed among the Orrville Police and Fire departments, and helps fund other projects the club sponsors within the community. “From each flag cost we give $10 to the Orrville Police Department, $10 goes to the Fire Department and we keep the rest for other projects,” she said.

Orrville's Field of Honor flags can be purchased for military or safety services members across the country

Members of the community can sponsor a flag for anyone who is or was in the military or safety services.

Sponsors can send a check to the Exchange Club at P.O. Box 64, Orrville, Ohio 44667. They should include their name and contact information, as well as the name of the person they are dedicating the flag to with the service they represent.

Each 3-by-5-foot flag has a white name tag that denotes the person being honored and branch of service.

Members of the Orrville Exchange Club met at 10 a.m. on Nov. 8 to set up the flags.

“Almost all of our members contribute to this event to get it done,” said the club vice president Dean Sullivan.

Sullivan said the flags were purchased from another Exchange Club in Ohio in 2016. “Some of them were missing the poles, but we managed to have around 140 with an excellent condition,” he said.

It took about two hours for members to lay out the flags on a liner and install each flag on poles in the ground.

“It’s a beautiful scene and a good feeling when it’s done,” Sullivan said.

Before tearing down the flags on Nov. 15, families can walk through the field with their children and grandchildren and see their loved one’s flags.

“People just walk through and feel all the pride that they have a member of a service who helped keep people safe,” Reusser said.

Flags can honor any safety or service member in Ohio or across the country. Reusser said she sponsors a flag for her brother who lives in Nevada and her late father.

“I find it very important to let people know there are all kind of people, whether they know them personally or not, they have a flag in the field, and we want to thank them for their service,” she said.

The local Exchange Club was established in 1924. Besides the Field of Honor program, the club contributes to different projects in Orrville, such as Orr Park improvements and pavilion remodeling. It granted more than $300,000 in scholarships to Orrville High School seniors since 1980.

The club aims to continue exchanging ideas to inspire communities in becoming better places.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Field of Honor: Orrville flag display is Exchange Club tradition