Stoystown honors local veterans with Hometown Hero banner display

Residents of Stoystown and surrounding communities are honoring their local veterans with a Hometown Hero flag display lining the borough’s Main Street.

On Tuesday, Dave Fox, president of the Stoyestown Area Historical Society, and others helped Brennan Nicklow, an employee of Weyand Sign Company, install most of the 103 patriotic banners that will hang from poles in the borough through this summer and fall.

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The banners honor men and women who served in the military and lived for at least 30 years within a three-mile radius of Stoystown, including the communities of Kantner, Lambertsville, Kimmelton and Wilbur, Fox said.

The Hometown Heroes Banner Program is produced by Rileigh’s Outdoor Décor of Allentown.

“We still have 15 (banners) coming from the factory, we’ll put those up before Memorial Day,” Fox said. “They’ll all be up for Memorial Day.

“Our historical society talked about it during COVID (the COVID-19 pandemic), and of course, that got sidetracked. So then we talked to the Stoystown American Legion to see if they would co-sponsor with us, since it’s for the veterans. So we have a committee from both organizations that gets together to make the rules and regulations on it.”

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The banners include names such as Daniel Stoy, the founder of Stoystown (once spelled as Stoyestown) who served in the Army during the American Revolution, and John W. Mostoller, a private in the Union Army who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for meritorious service during the American Civil War.

Family members, friends, businesses and organizations purchased the banners and hanging brackets in honor or in memory of each veteran, while the committee oversees the ordering and placement of the banners.

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Sixty banners were placed in the borough last year, and since then, through word of mouth, many more were ordered for placement this year, Fox said. The banners are put up before Memorial Day and taken down in November, after Veterans’ Day, to protect them from the damage of winter weather.

“We’ve had good input, a lot of thank yous from the families, and the people are glad to see them up,” Fox said.

“We’ve seen this, of course, in other communities around, and the historical society knew that we had a pretty rich history, of history here in Stoystown. (It’s) a good way to honor our veterans who have served for us who have not been able to.”

'We're very proud of them'

Lois Miller of Stoystown watched from her porch steps Tuesday afternoon as three banners were placed on a pole outside her East Main Street home.

One of the three banners featured her brother, Lynn Boyer, who served in the Army during the Vietnam War. Boyer’s son, Keith, and daughter, Angela Boyer Hause, sponsored the banner for their dad, Miller said.

She shared that banners have also been ordered for her father, Robert Boyer, who served in the Army Air Force during World War II and a nephew, Brett Boyer (Lynn Boyer’s son), a Navy veteran. A brother-in-law, Sam Donia, who served in the Navy during Vietnam, is also featured on a banner.

Seeing her brother’s banner going up "makes my heart smile,” she said.

“I’m so proud of them. My brother is my hero, and to have so many military (veterans) in our family is wonderful. We’re very proud of our country, and we’re very proud of them.”

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Miller said she was pleased to see so many of the community’s veterans honored in this way.

“They should be recognized,” she said. “It’s an honor to serve our country and protect us. They should be very proud of themselves. I had to look at all of them; a lot gave their lives for their country. I’m glad mine made it home.

“It’s a proud little town we have here.”

Anyone who wants more information about sponsoring a Hometown Hero Banner in Stoystown can contact Fox by phone at 814-442-4950 or email, foxfire15563@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Historical Society, American Legion lead Stoystown's Hometown Heroes display