By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

Over 1,500 flags were retired in last year’s retirement ceremony at the Worcester County Veterans Memorial in Ocean Pines.

(Nov. 22, 2019) Strong winds last Saturday forced the flag retirement ceremony hosted by the American Legion and Scouts of America to be rescheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 23.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 261, Cub Scouts of Pack 261 and Girl Scouts of Troop 621 will properly discard hundreds of flags during the annual retirement ceremony, held at the Worcester County Veterans Memorial at Ocean Pines, Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

The Ocean City-based scout troops will place worn and torn flags into a fire pit for a respectful burning, in accordance with the U.S. Flag Code. Ocean Pines Public Works and the Bishopville Volunteer Fire Company will assist during the ceremony.

Worn U.S. flags are still being collected at American Legion Post #166 on 24th Street in Ocean City, Post #123 (10111 Old Ocean City Blvd.) and Post #231 (104 Showell Street) in Berlin, and at the Ocean Pines Community Center in White Horse Park, until Friday.

Last year, around 1,500 flags were collected and retired, Scoutmaster Ken Nichols said.

A large fire pit will be set up in order to properly retire the flags. Before being placed in the pit, flags will be folded properly, and then sent into the flames with a salute in respect to those who fought and served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

“The American flag isn’t just a piece of cloth … we’re not just retiring the cloth, we’re retiring the emotion and everything else with it,” Nichols said. “We don’t want that flag to end up in a garbage dump somewhere and that’s why we retire it [this] way.”

The ceremony will end with scouts working together to fold the final flag before sending it into retirement.

For more information, call American Legion Post #166 at 410-289-3166.