Our Aids Awareness flag will be displayed at one of the newest Extreme Makeover: Home Edition sites! We are lucky enough to have had a local family chosen for the show! Here's a letter from a neighbor who had the idea:

Gettysburg Flag Works Draws Flagpole Winner

East Greenbush, NY – February 20, 2007  – Gettysburg Flag Works has drawn the winner of a 20’ in-ground flagpole. This is the second year Gettysburg Flag Works has displayed at the Great Northeast Home Show and the second year it has had a drawing for a 20’ in-ground flagpole.  The flagpole having a retail value of $356, is a single piece aluminum pole complete with US flag, and can be easily installed by most homeowners.  Congratulations to this years’ winner, Jerry Greene of Menands, NY.

Gettysburg Flag Works has found that the Great Northeast Home Show is a valuable tool in connecting with both residential and business customers.   According to Gettysburg Flag Works owner Mike Cronin over 650 ballots were filled out at the Home Show.

Gettysburg Flag Works, Inc. was founded in 1993 by Mike Cronin.  The company sells and manufactures quality stock and custom flags, banners, display graphics, and flagpoles.  The business has grown to become the largest supplier of flags and banners in the Capital District, operating out of a modern manufacturing and retail sales facility located in East Greenbush, NY, and has an on-line catalog at www.gettysburgflag.com.

European Union

The European Union will welcome two new members , Bulgaria and Romania, on Jan. 1, 2007, bringing the total number of members to 27.  The addition of Bulgaria and Romania will cause no changes in the stars on the flag of the European Union, which is permanently fixed at 12 yellow stars in a circle on a blue field.  The European Union will then consist of the following countries:

Flag from past an inspiration
MARGARITA RAYCHEVA, The Saratogian
11/25/2006
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SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Christina Giammuso, 16, had not imagined she would

But the remains of the 145-year-old Civil War flag she saw at the state Military Museum and Veterans Research Center Tuesday were simply too 'cool' to ignore.

'So it's just, like, shriveled up?' Giammuso said, as she looked at the curled up fragments that made up the body of the flag what it was first taken out of its resting place for restoration.

'You should hang it up so people can see the front and the back of it,' she said, as she inspected the rips and tears in the flag Saratoga's 77th Volunteers carried in the battle of Gettysburg.

The flag was first scarred by enemy fire. Then it got damaged while lying in storage for more than a century. Its silver rubbed off, its tassels fell out and the paint crumpled off leaving gaping white areas in the middle of the silk body.

Now, it is up to Giammuso and a group of other students from Saratoga Springs High School and Saratoga Central Catholic School to tell the community about the flag's past glory.

By June 2007, they will work together to paint a replica of the flag, study the soldiers who died to protect it and create a display of the flag, portraying its story inside the museum.

In the process, students will have a chance to peek inside a real conservation laboratory, dig through local history archives and even map out a walking tour of the city highlighting sites related to soldiers who fought with Saratoga's 77th volunteer regiment.

About 25 Saratoga Springs High School students together with 35 seventh and eighth-graders from Saratoga Central Catholic School volunteered to dig out and put together the background for the flag exhibit. Meanwhile, about six art students from Saratoga Catholic School with draw a replica of the original flag.

The project is part of the first-ever collaboration between the two schools. Through a unique collaborative project, involving the museum and the Elks Club, historians are hoping to stimulate interest in local history.

The goal is to have a full exhibit of the flag ready by June 9, 2007 in time for the Elks' annual Flag Day parade in Saratoga Springs.

The final product will be a full exhibit, featuring the original flag, video of its restoration, panels on the personalities and the history of the regiment and the hand-drawn replica of the flag.

Originally, the flag was painted on blue silk and featured a rendition of John Trumbull's 'Surrender of John Burgoyne.'

'It shows the evolution of the American flag,' said Chris Morton, assistant curator at the museum, who started working with students on Tuesday. 'It a little piece of history in itself.'

The flag was presented to 77th regiment on Nov. 29, 1861 in front of City Hall in New York City and the regiment carried it through the siege of Yorktown and the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. After the war, the flag was deposited in the New York State Battle Flag Collection, where it remained until September this year.

The flag is currently being conserved at Peebles Island Resource Center in Waterford, where students will have a chance to see it in December.

But even before that many of them have already started working on the flag display project.

Saratoga Central Catholic school art teacher Joe McGee and a group of art students have already started looking for a modern fabric and paints, which would allow them to best replicate the flag.

'We are doing a lot of testing,' McGee said. 'But every student that I have approached has been totally enamored with the project.'

McGee attributed the interest to the growing popularity of TV shows such as CSI, which have given a new attractive image to lab work and technology.

Students agreed but said they also wanted to learn more about the local people involved in this part of American history.

'I didn't think it would be interesting, but it is really cool,' said Giammuso.

©The Saratogian 2006

Law Suit starts over Confederate flag prom dress
Russell, Kentucky 12/30/05

A lawsuit against Russell Independent Schools, the principal Sean Howard & the superintendent Ronnie Back (retired) is set for trial in August 2006.

Jacqueline Duty claims that her right to free speech was denied when her confederate flag dress got her barred from her senior prom in May of 2004.

Jacqueline claims that the dress was her expression of her heritage and has submitted genealogical records to prove that she is descendent from Confederate soldiers.