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Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Old Glory flies in Highland Landing Park
Mark Reynolds
As a rainstorm moves in, Old Glory flies at the Highland Landing Park.
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
After several years of planning, a 50
foot tall nautical yard-arm flagpole was
upraised at the Highland Landing Park
in memory of the late Leo Rizzo. The pole
was donated by the Highland Rotary Club
to honor Rizzo, one of their charter members. A temporary 10’ x 15’ flag from Dan
McLaughlin is being used until a dedication ceremony by the Rotary is scheduled
when a flag they will purchase will be
hoisted up the pole.
Rotary member Sue Naglieri said at
the time Rizzo passed away his family
requested that any donations go to the
Highland Rotary Club. Naglieri, who was
Rotary President that year, conceived the
idea of erecting a flagpole in his memory.
She said Rizzo was a “great American
who loved being a citizen of the United
States and he loved fishing. So we thought
fishing, the river, the fact that he was a
great American; that would be a good
tribute.”
Naglieri said it was Rizzo who influenced her to become involved in Rotary.
“We had an instant connection when I
came to meetings and he was just the epitome of what Rotary is; it was about service above self and that’s what he taught
the rest of us,” she said. “Leo was a great
man and it’s been a long time coming and
we appreciate the fact that his family has
been so patient with us.”
Highland Landing Park Director Matt
Smith thanked many people who worked
on the project: Dillon Hawks, of Custom
Concrete, for 3.5 yards of material for the
pole base; Ricky Moretti for assembling
the pole; Jerry Erichsen Jr. for operating
his 75-ton rotator tow truck that effortlessly lifted the pole and set it in place;
Alan Van De Bogart for the halyards
[braided rope used for raising and lowering the flag] and Lenny Auchmoody
and Hank Behr for assisting Smith in the
installation.
Smith actually suggested a nautical
yard arm style pole and its height to the
Rotary after they initiated the idea for a
flagpole.
Smith said in the days of the great sailing ships each had masts with yard arms
to fly the sails and several flags for a yacht
club or for signal flags, “and still keep Old
Glory at the head of the flagpole.”
Smith said having the flag at the park
is very meaningful to everyone, especially
for those who have served the country in
uniform.
Jerry Erichsen Sr. said having the flag
at the park is “good for the community
and is a very nice thing to do for him [Leo
Rizzo] in his honor.”
Erichsen said raising the flagpole
went very smoothly and credits his son
with skillfully hoisting the pole into place
with the tow truck.
“They had it all planned out and on
how it was going to be done and it was no
problem at all,” he said. “We boomed it up
and everything went into place beautifully.”