Flags

Now that Mom's been served breakfast in bed or treated to a day at the spa, why not look ahead to the next occasion and plan for something more meaningful to do than flipping burgers on a backyard grill this coming Memorial Day weekend? After all, the original intent of the holiday tends to get a bit lost these days, what with all the department store sales and the enticing whiff of summer on the way. Sometimes, a little perspective is in order. Memorial Day was declared a national holiday in 1971, but it arose out of an array of observances of our nation's war dead that took place in various places around the country since the Civil War. Throughout much of that history, it was more commonly referred to as Decoration Day, reflecting the intention that the occasion be used to decorate veterans' grave sites as a show of gratitude and respect.

The Exchange Club of Newport Harbor plans to line a scenic trail at Castaways Park with 1,776 American flags this month in honor of military veterans. “It’s a way for us to pay tribute to all veterans, living or dead,” said Exchange Club member Ed Romeo, who is helping to organize the display. The group chose to raise the flags in honor of year the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The “Field of Honor,” as the Exchange Club has dubbed the project, is one of 16 similar efforts that will be sponsored by Exchange Clubs nationwide this year.

When looking at Kent Treptow's photograph of the flags set up at Newport Beach Fire Station No. 8 for the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, the first thing I notice are the flags. By crouching low to the ground and using a wide-angle lens, Kent was able use two flags as bookends, and two others to form a line that draws the eye into the framed New York Fire Department T-shirt. Paramedic Justin Carr in the frame reminds us of those in public service who risk their lives when tragedies large and small occur.

Student group will provide brightly colored flags for high schoolers using crosswalks near Newport Harbor High.Newport Harbor High School plans to install brightly colored flags for pedestrians at its two crosswalks next week, following a December traffic accident that put a student in the hospital. The school's Student Political Action Committee, led by advisor Phil D'Agostino, initiated the project last month and announced it to students Tuesday. Starting Monday, the crosswalks at Irvine Avenue and 15th Street, where hundreds of students pass every day, will feature stands on each side holding eight painted flags apiece.

UC Irvine medical students marked World AIDS Day on Tuesday by planting 1,250 red flags on the campus and at the UCI Medical Center in Orange. Each flag represented 20,000 people who have died of the disease. More than half of the flags were planted in Aldrich Park in the shape of a large red bow. At noon, medical students and faculty met in the school’s Nelson Auditorium for a moment of silence, and paid tribute to those who have died from the disease — as well as those who continue to fight against it. — Candice Baker

American flags swaying in the ocean breeze blanketed the hilltop of Castaways Park on Friday afternoon as a crowd gathered to honor and memorialize American service men and women. Through Monday at noon, the 1,776 flags are transforming the leisure park into a “Field of Honor.” The Field of Honor was erected by The Exchange Club of Newport Harbor in recognition of approaching Memorial Day. The club, whose members are primarily 70- to 90-year-old veterans of the Armed Forces, put on a dedication ceremony Friday afternoon that included a Color Guard presentation, retiring of the colors, address by Newport Beach Mayor Keith Curry, a helicopter flyover by Newport Beach and Costa Mesa police departments and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

The Exchange Club of Newport Harbor honored Jeanette Chernovy, a member of the Costa Mesa Police Department traffic bureau staff, at a recent meeting by entering her name in the Book of Golden Deeds. In presenting the award, club member Gary Tewinkle noted Chernovy lost her father in the Vietnam conflict and decided to honor his memory by replacing torn and weathered American flags, at her cost. "She actually makes new flags and distributes them to those that seem to need them replaced," Tewinkle said.

Pedestrian accident prompts Newport Harbor students to mount crosswalk campaign.NEWPORT BEACH -- The wind whistled around Newport Harbor High School Monday morning, shaking the branches of trees and bending street signs back and forth. It wasn't the most auspicious weather for setting up traffic flags, but the members of the school's Student Political Action Committee pressed on anyway. Shortly after 7 a.m., three committee officers stationed themselves by a pair of crosswalks outside the campus.

Nobody seems to remember quite how long volunteers have been getting up at 6 a.m. to line East Coast Highway with American flags on holidays. “For decades, it has just been a tradition in this little village,” said Jacqueline Wittmeyer, a board member of the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the holiday displays. “It has kept this patriotic sense in Corona del Mar and has been a blessing for anyone who has ever wanted to participate.” Around town, Wittmeyer is known as the “Flag Lady of Corona del Mar.” She’s been volunteering to help put up the flags since 1993.

Hand-colored flags lined the walls and cut-outs of people of different nationalities decorated the stage for a performance celebrating the community's diverse dance and musical heritage. Paularino Elementary School hosted its annual Multicultural Night on Friday with homemade food, and student and professional performances that crossed a spectrum of the world. "We want each child to be proud and understand their unique background," said interim Principal Bonnie Swann. "Paularino is a salad bowl.

Now that Mom's been served breakfast in bed or treated to a day at the spa, why not look ahead to the next occasion and plan for something more meaningful to do than flipping burgers on a backyard grill this coming Memorial Day weekend? After all, the original intent of the holiday tends to get a bit lost these days, what with all the department store sales and the enticing whiff of summer on the way. Sometimes, a little perspective is in order. Memorial Day was declared a national holiday in 1971, but it arose out of an array of observances of our nation's war dead that took place in various places around the country since the Civil War. Throughout much of that history, it was more commonly referred to as Decoration Day, reflecting the intention that the occasion be used to decorate veterans' grave sites as a show of gratitude and respect.

Hand-colored flags lined the walls and cut-outs of people of different nationalities decorated the stage for a performance celebrating the community's diverse dance and musical heritage. Paularino Elementary School hosted its annual Multicultural Night on Friday with homemade food, and student and professional performances that crossed a spectrum of the world. "We want each child to be proud and understand their unique background," said interim Principal Bonnie Swann. "Paularino is a salad bowl.

President Obama visited Corona del Mar for a meet-and-greet fundraiser Feb. 16, and the news media reported the event with pictures. Where was the fair and the balanced? Only one brave reporter, Brian Calle with the Orange County Register, reported what he witnessed. The other press members must have been given a lesson on how to distort the truth. Hmmm, who is paying their salaries? As a local patriotic resident of CdM, I began my walk on Coast Highway to meet my girl friends at 7:25 am carrying American flags and our protest signs.

The Costa Mesa Flag Black Eagles league champions, who went 7-1, fell a game short of the always elusive perfect season. The Mesa Eagles 5- and 6-year old flag team is the precursor to the program's tackle program. After a season in which the young Eagles earned their wings and became the first flag team in Costa Mesa Pop Warner history to finish the regular season unbeaten, their season-long flight for an undefeated season fell a game short. Falling to the Yorba Linda Rattlers, 30-6, a game in which the ball just didn't bounce the Eagles way, the Eagles displayed a valiant fight to the last whistle.

COSTA MESA - Anyone would think just completing 80 miles in eight days culminating with climbing Mt. Whitney with about 55-pound packs would be special enough. Not Boy Scouts Aaron Schott, 17, Michael Williams,15, or Jack Donnell,15. The three each snuck their dress uniforms and an American flag into their packs, to do something special - and possibly never done before - at the top of Mt. Whitney. Aaron, dressed in his Sea Scout uniform, Michael in a Venture Crew uniform and Jack in a traditional Boy Scouts uniform, hastily performed a flag ceremony in front of the dozens of people trying to beat the black storm clouds coming their way at the top of Mount Whitney.

Clay Tucker is back home, happy to be in Newport Beach. It's where he grew up. It's where he fell in love with the game of football. And now he's helping spread that love. Tucker, the son of the great Orange Coast College football coach Dick Tucker, has formed a flag football league in Newport Beach. He's also helping start another one in Costa Mesa. Clay Tucker played quarterback at Corona del Mar High and then for his dad at OCC. Before that, while growing up and playing on fields in Newport Beach, he also learned about the game in Costa Mesa, at OCC to be exact.

NEWPORT BEACH — Drawn by unusually high summer surf, die-hard body surfers, some burning their sick days, took to the Wedge on Tuesday. They rode 10-foot waves with nothing but fins as three major storms in the Southern Hemisphere made their presence felt along Balboa Peninsula and much of coastal Orange County. Onlookers cheered. Fellow surfers strategically whistled from the shore, giving the body surfers ample warning of the monster waves approaching from behind.

Looking for a good way to commemorate our national holiday Sunday? Newport-Mesa is chock-full of patriotic, char-grilled and explosive ways to celebrate independence. Here's a sampling. Tops on many lists is the 17th annual Balboa Island Parade on Marina Avenue from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Expect to see beach dogs, classic cars, tots on bikes and lots of decorated island-friendly forms of transportation — like golf carts. For more information, visit balboa-island.net/eip.htm.

The Field of Honor, with the planting of 1,776 American flags and commemorating Armed Forces Day, was not only a successful fundraising event, but a massive show of support honoring our men and women currently serving — or who have served — our country both in war and in peace. A steady stream of visitors stopped by the Exchange Club's information booth to dedicate flags to loved ones or to strangers, to seek more information, to volunteer, to assist, even for an hour, to post flags, tie ribbons, to place dedication labels on the ribbons.

“You’re a grand old flag, you’re a high-flying flag, and forever in peace may you wave. You’re the emblem of the land I love, the home of the free and the brave.” That was George M. Cohan, 1906. Remember 1906? Neither do I. But there is one number we all remember — 1776 — and if you were anywhere near Castaways Park on Friday, you saw at least some of the 1,776 American flags the Exchange Club of Newport is putting up as a heartfelt nod to Memorial Day. The effort is heartfelt because most of the Exchange Club’s members are not only fully mature but veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam — the people to whom Memorial Day means more than a three-day weekend.