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Local group wants to decorate Huntington with flags

A local group is looking at decorating the downtown section of Huntington with American flags for the summer season.

After the suggestion came up at a recent meeting of the Huntington Downtown Business Group, Denise Bard, superintendent of the Huntington Parks and Recreation Department, decided she had the resources to look into this idea.

She says having flags up "makes a really nice statement" and it's "appealing to the eye." She also says it will make the downtown area more inviting and encourage people to care about what's going on down there.

As of Thursday, June 11, almost 30 flags had been sponsored and installed, but the group is still looking for more sponsors, adds Bard.

There are 43 light posts in the downtown section of Jefferson Street in Huntington.

After these posts are filled, Rose Wall, a member of the Downtown Business and owner of Wehr Into Flowers, hopes to expand the project into streets surrounding Jefferson downtown, such as Warren and Cherry Streets.

But this expansion will need permission to proceed; Duke Energy owns the light posts on Warren and Cherry streets, so Wall and Bard need permission to decorate them.

"I (started) it just to dress up downtown," Wall says.

She began looking into the project last year, but this spring the project fully bloomed. She says the flags will be used in the spring and summer seasons next year as well.

Bard has seen such projects in towns all over northern Indiana in their business districts.

She says she wants to make Huntington's business district look nice as well make outside merchants want to come in and do their business in Huntington.

"We all have to work together," Wall says, as Bard adds it's a "cumulative effort." Other groups involved in the project include the economic development group and the chamber of commerce.

For a business, family or individual to sponsor a flag, call Wall at 356-8324.