The Lions Swim Team is picking up its American flags Thursday evening, the one-month anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Todd Obrecht of the team asked that all businesses leave their flags flying for the team to retrieve.
The swim team asked businesses to help it put the flags up and take them down every night after people in the community urged that the flags be flown. It normally takes the team about six hours every day to put up the flags and take them down, which it normally does for 10 major holidays during the year.
The team also asked for donations to help it replace flags damaged because of the extra time they've been used. Businesses in Havre pay the team $30 a year to fly the flags on the 10 holidays, which is used to fund the Lions Swim Team and to replace worn-out flags.
"It's been fantastic, it really has. The people in this town are really generous," Obrecht said. "The businesses in this town have been really outstanding."
Obrecht said the team now has 130 accounts to fly flags, compared with 116 before the terrorist attacks. The team has ordered 50 new flags to replace worn-out flags with the donations it has received, and has had more donations since ordering the flags and expects still more.
Obrecht said businesses that wish to keep flying the flags should contact him or his wife, Sherry. They oversee the flag program for the Lions team. The team will extend the agreements or make new ones, he said, but its members thought it would be better to collect the flags first and repair or replace any that were worn.
For more information about the Lions Swim Team flag program, contact Obrecht at 265-1800.
