CELEBRATING FLAG DAY IN HARTFORD

---NEWS RELEASE---

(June 13, 2007)--- Thursday, June 14^th is Flag Day--- a time specifically dedicated to the celebration of America’s red, white, and blue Stars and Stripes.  Mayor Eddie A. Perez, who also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Education says, “With Flag Day having its roots in the educational community, it is fitting that our young people learn about and participate in these events.” 

In Hartford, more than 600 students and staff at Naylor School will say the Pledge of Allegiance, sing patriotic songs, and then march in a parade from Cromwell Street to Brown Street and back again--- flags in hand.  The festivities take place on Thursday, June 14^th starting at the school (639 Franklin Avenue in the City’s South End) between 8:45 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.

The first recorded observance dates back to 1885 when a schoolteacher in Fredonia, Wisconsin arranged for pupils to recognize the anniversary of the adoption of The Stars and Stripes.  On June 14, 1889, a kindergarten teacher in New York City planned flag ceremonies for the children of his school and the State Board of Education in New York later made that ceremony official.

The idea took off from there:  In 1993, school children waved flags and sang patriotic songs; in 1894, 300,000 school children in Chicago participated in an official event; and in 1914, the Secretary of the Interior said, “I am what you make me; nothing more.  I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself.”