The flags started in 2010.
This is the story and insight to the flags appearing the Saturday before the 4th of July since then.
Me, my wife and soon to be first born daughter had just moved to College-Glen from Rosemont. I have been a full time Realtor since 2006 and saw other agents put the flags out in East-Sac or areas like Land Park. I thought "Why not College-Glen too?" It's an amazing neighborhood that we love and want to support. We decided it would be fun, so the first year we did 200 houses around where we were living on Cliffwood way.
I have always wanted to make sure i maintain respect for the flag and all that it stands for. That's why i try to keep the "marketing" on the tag very discrete with only my name and website. I don't feel it's very classy to have your photo and all your contact information on the flag. I also take extra time to cut and hole punch cards that can be slid up the pole. This way it can easily be removed by the homeowner if they want. Once it's placed in your yard, it is yours. If you want it lit at night, you are more than welcome to bring it in to the porch where the light is. We also make sure to push the sticks into the ground as best as possible so they do not fall over (this was a big challenge during the peak of the drought with extremely firm ground). I feel blessed and fortunate to have been born and raised in the USA and want to thank everyone that has ever served or given their lives for our freedom. The flags are made in the USA and a portion of the proceeds (for the company i buy them from) goes towards supporting veterans as well.
In 2011, a friend helped us and we pushed around the stroller and expanded to 300 flags. We received great feedback the second year so we decided to expand more. Everyone loved how festive and patriotic it made the streets look for 4th of July.
In 2012, we did 500 homes but after putting 500 flags into the ground my hands had blisters. We decided we needed more than 3 adults if we were going to expand further.
2013 - i recruited more friends and it was the first year of being an "event" We spread out into the neighborhood and put 700 flags out that year.
By this time, NextDoor.com was starting to expand so people that did not receive any flags would message me. I would always do my best to get them a leftover flag and also invite them to join us the next year. Many of the new streets in recent years have been from excited neighbors raising their hand saying "I love it, i want my street to be involved, i'd love to help."
2014 was an exciting combination of friends, clients i had sold homes to in the neighborhood and also other neighbors that liked the idea and wanted to help. That way, the proactive people were able to get their street covered/expanded to. We did 900 flags that year and did all of the major through streets in College-Glen, all the streets that had a volunteer and any street that i had previously sold a house on.
2015 grew to 1,000 flags.
2016 saw 1,200 flags go up and even more community involvement from neighbors all over helping to get their street dotted with the flags as well.
This year, in 2017, we will be putting out 1,600 flags and having over 20 groups/families volunteering to help.
I want to say thank you to the many friends, clients and neighbors that have spent many hours each year volunteering to help in so many different ways from prepping the flags to walking the streets on the Saturday morning before July 4th each year. Out in the heat, supporting me, supporting our neighborhood, and supporting our country.
Wishing you a wonderful 4th of July where we get to celebrate our freedom in this amazing country!
clear skies,
Doug Reynolds
Realtor
916-494-8441
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