Junction City to display banners of first responders through July 4

Holly Hendershot, The Junction City Union, Kan.
·2 min read

Apr. 28—Light poles in Junction City have held the banners of veterans from mid-September through Veterans Day for two years now, with this year to be the third. This year, banners are also available to honor current and retired first responders from mid-June through July 4, including firefighters, EMTs, police officers and emergency response nurses.

Craig Bender, director of the Military Affairs Council, said with the veteran banners growing in number each year and the number of first responders in the area, he and members of Junction City Main Street thought it would be a great idea to honor those who serve the community in that way, as well.

"(Our first responders) have done an awful lot over covid, and they always do a lot for us, so I think it important that we try to honor them as well," he said. "We thought it seemed like something our community would get behind."

The banners will work similarly to the veteran banners. People can purchase a banner to be produced and placed in town for $150. In succeeding years, the same banners can be put up for $25. Bender said he hopes the banners will continue past this first year and grow in number each year, like the veteran banners.

Bender said the city of Emporia puts up banners for first responders, and the demand for banners is so high that not every request for a banner can be granted. With so much support for the veteran banners in Junction City so far, Bender said the Military Affairs Council and Junction City Main Street members believed the first responder banners would gain support in Junction City as well and would be a good reminder for their service in the community.

Bender said the organization plans to put the banners up around June 15 and keep them up until after July 4. In addition to honoring community members, Bender said he hopes the banners will bring people into town more often to see the banners and recognize their friends and family members.

"It's another chance to get people downtown by highlighting our community," he said.

Terry Butler, development director for JC Main Street, said the organizations are continuing to look at what other banners they could place in the city in other months, as well, to represent the community.

"It brings people downtown, it gives some connectivity with a theme and what's going on," she said. "It's positive publicity, it's part of the design and aesthetic of downtown and the list could go on and on."