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American flags are constantly outside, braving the worst of what Mother Nature has to offer. Because of what they represent, a special ceremony is required for the disposal of each American Flag. The ceremony, held once every year by Scout Troop 258, burns flags one at a time to pay respect to each and every one.

The main problem is that some people don’t know how – or to whom – they should give their flags. As the senior patrol leader from Troop 258, I am looking to change that while working toward my Eagle Scout rank.

For my Eagle Project, I am leading a team of Prospect residents in the construction of three flag retirement boxes. The boxes will be placed at the Prospect Town Hall, the Prospect Fire Department, and the Prospect Senior Center. These will be open to the public for residents to drop off flags that need to be retired. The flags will be collected by myself and the adults from Troop 258.

“I think these flag retirement boxes will help the community by taking flags off their hands, because a lot of times they have them stuck in their houses and don’t know where to bring them,” said Tyler Gibeau, Eagle Scout of Troop 258.

 Work began on March 14th. Everyone helping showed up to the Prospect Fire Department at 8:30 a.m. The team split into three groups of three. Each group was responsible for creating one box. Each box was made out of a 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood and paint.

Starting off was a little slow, but once we got rolling, there was no stopping us. Originally, I expected the work to take six hours in one day; however, that was not the case.

The first day, the team constructed the boxes and applied a base layer of white paint.  On the second day, they finished the paint job by adding red stripes and a blue top. They also installed the lids and locks. For the final step they will deliver the boxes to their three designated spots on Thursday, March 19th. At that time, the boxes will be open for public drop-off.

 “I think the project went really well, everyone worked hard despite them goofing off a little bit throughout. It still went extremely well since the boxes were completed well and on time,” said Arthur Schultz, Eagle Scout of Troop 258. 

No matter who you are, where you live or how bad of condition your flags are in, you are encouraged to drop off your flags so Troop 258 can retire them how all flags should be retired.

My project ensures that the community’s flags are treated with the respect they deserve. These boxes represent more than just a successful Eagle Scout service project; they are a permanent bridge between the residents of Prospect and the scouts of Troop 258. As the last locks are clicked into place, I hope the boxes serve as a lasting tribute to both the American people and all the members of Scouting America from past years.