4-H students lead flag tribute to veterans, first responders as club numbers shrink

Each November, a field in Mariposa fills with flags and 4-H students stand in front to read each and every name aloud.

This year, Della Erickson, 14, is co-chair of the effort for the Hornitos 4-H Club for the second year.

The field at the Mariposa Museum and History Center is open Nov. 8 though Nov. 15, with opening and closing ceremonies.

Honoring anyone who serves

The Field of Service flags honor veterans, first responders and local law enforcement, Erickson said.

“Basically anybody that serves in our community, in our country, that you can honor, and you can fly a flag in honor of somebody in the past or the present that is serving,” Megan Erickson, Della’s mom, said.

The 4-H club doesn’t sponsor anyone in particular, she said. The community sponsors whomever it chooses.

The tribute is part of America’s 250th anniversary this year, and organizers hope to make it bigger, with banners and more publicity, Della said.

How it works

Students mail flyers and letters with a pledge form to a list of past sponsors and others in the community. A sponsorship costs $35 for a new flag and $15 to re-sponsor.

The club bought new flags last year and 285 were raised.

They continue to work with Colonial Flag’s Healing Field and Field of Honor programs to honor the symbols of freedom, liberty, honor and respect that the U.S. flag represents.

Della and her co-chair, Keelie Tucker, redid this year’s flyer and letter, keeping the same format but adding more information and hundreds of letters got sent out.

The field is open for people to walk through, and volunteers are on hand all week to help visitors find specific flags. At the closing ceremony, sponsors can pick up their flags or have them stored for next year.

Reading the names

At the opening ceremony, the students read every name. For each flag, they say who sponsored it, who it honors and the war or branch of service.

The guest speaker for the opening ceremony will be Harry Steed, a Vietnam War Veteran. For the closing ceremony, the speaker will be Amanda Brum, a U.S. Army veteran and dedicated public servant.

If 300 flags are sponsored, students share the reading, and in years with only about 15 readers and 200 flags, each can read 20 to 30.

The ceremony takes about 30 to 40 minutes.

A guest speaker talks about serving, a local church representative gives the invocation, younger 4-H members lead the Pledge of Allegiance, and two members play or sing the national anthem.

Parents help with names that are hard to pronounce, such as Vietnam and Pearl Harbor, Megan said.

“Those names are very important to remember.”

Della said the public speaking is her favorite part.

“I like being involved, being able to stand up and talk to people about history,” she said.

Joseph (Jaq) Quinn, a former Hornitos 4-H member, started the project for his Platinum Star award, Della said.

He graduated, moved away for work in agriculture and has since returned to Hornitos.

After he left, a student named Brianna Maietto took it over as her senior project.

A smaller club

Planning for the Mariposa 12th Annual Field of Service began in September, with three meetings since, and the club has visited the VFW and plans to meet with the American Legion this week.

Both groups were excited to see students involved, Megan said.

The club has about 10 or 11 active members for this project and 25 to 30 students altogether when other clubs join.

However, membership in Mariposa County 4-H is shrinking, she said, and many members are under 12, so the club has invited other clubs to take part.

“Our club is aging out,” Della said. “Most kids are moving to (Future Farmers of America) FFA.”

The service counts toward members’ record books regardless of what 4-H club they are coming from.

Supervisors approved a UC Cooperative Extension agreement on Oct. 20 to fill the county’s 4-H coordinator job, which has been vacant for more than a year.

Cooperative Extension’s local director Karmjot Randhawa said there are about 105 registered members, compared with roughly 200 at this time of year.

Proceeds and additional information

All proceeds will benefit the American Legion POST 567, the Mariposa VFW and the Mariposa Museum and History Center.

As for the flags, if you are interested in sponsoring you will need to deliver it on or before Nov. 1 to Sandy McRae 5011 Smith Road.

The opening ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. on Nov. 8 and the closing ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. on Nov. 15.

Why it matters to her

Della, who began 4-H at age eight, said her club leader, Mary Ann Visher, always made community service a big part of it.

“She made sure every member is involved.”

She said the response from the community is positive.

“It’s easy to think that people forget. So it’s really nice that they see young people involved in remembering,” Megan said.

People drive by and stop to look, and many see a relative’s name.

By the end of the week, the field will be full.

“It gives you a very strong sense of patriotism to see all those flags fly,” Della said.