Category — Memorials

This Memorial Day Weekend (“Big M Weekend”) our good friends at the Miller Motorsports Park will host the SBK World Super Bike race.  It will be the only race held in the western hemisphere of this prestigious event.  The race is only behind the Le Mans series and GT Moto as the third most followed motorized racing event in the world.  It is expected to draw over 130 million viewers worldwide.

The “BigM Weekend” is Utah’s new Memorial Day tradition.  Kick off the summer with three days of motorcycle racing, music and military tributes at Miller Motorsports Park.  Also, there will be a powerful Military Tribute Field of Honor Flag Display sponsored by the Colonial Flag Foundation and Healing Field.

The BigM Weekend includes world class racing from the FIM Superbike World Championship USA Round and AMA Pro Road Racing and the Larry H Miller AMA SuperSport Challenge, plus concerts by country music stars Dierks Bentley & Sawyer Brown on Saturday and Creedence Clearwater Revisited & Blue Oyster Cult on Sunday.

Discounted tickets are available for partners & friends of Colonial Flag by visiting www.bigmweekend.com/promo, selecting your desired tickets & then entering the promo code: RW8024

Come join us at Miller Motorsports Park for a great, exciting & Big M Weekend, a new Memorial Day tradition!

Those drawn to set up Field of Honor Displays in their communities are typically very involved people.  So, it did not really surprise us to learn that the Red Cross chose to honor Newburyport’s Field of Honor Project Chair, Kathleen Bailey.  The team at Colonial Flag Foundation has grown to appreciate Kathleen’s skill, dedication and service.  Nonetheless, we have learned that her community involvement is not limited to the Field of Honor Flag Display that has proved so successful in Newburyport.  Check out the Katie Lovett’s feature article from the Newburyport Daily News at the link: http://bit.ly/he9Sw8

Specifically, the Red Cross honored Kathleen as a “community hero” at their annual awards ceremony.  Although she has only lived in the area for a relatively short time, her impact is evident in many organizations throughout the community.  A member of the Exchange Club of Greater Newburyport, she spearheaded the establishment of a Field of Honor flag display in Newburyport.  Additionally, she has served as the Chairwoman of the 2009 Yankee Homecoming celebration; she led efforts to donate gift boxes for youth and senior groups; and she ran as a successful city Charter Commission candidate.

Typically modest, she observed “I just do what I do, and I enjoy doing it.”  Still, it is the words she has described as her motto that best explain Kathleen, “Don’t just sit there, do something.”  Yes, that about sums it up for Kathleen Bailey.  We are pleased that she has received this well deserved recognition.

Kathleen, we salute you!

The Japanese have suffered not only from a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, but they have experienced a devastating tsunami.  Even though Japan is the world’s third wealthiest nation, these events would present overwhelming challenges for any nation.  Its location has subjected the country to repeated earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic activity.  Over 127 million people live in an area roughly the size of California, which further complicates their dire situation.  As nations of the world respond in the face of catastrophic destruction, death tolls and extent of damage are still unknown.

Japanese flags in their homeland and around the word fly at half-staff following the custom practiced in most countries.  As everywhere this shows that the mourning for loss is shared by the Japanese people and others.  Indeed the world shares the sense of tragic loss suffered by Japan.

A second method of mourning is sometimes visible in Japanese flag display.  Dating from the death of the Emperor Meiji in 1912, the Hinomaru or flag of the sun disc is raised on a flagpole where the ball ornament topping the pole has been covered with black cloth.  Above the Japanese flag flies a black pennant .

The Japanese Cabinet has the authority to specify the display of Japan’s national flag in times of mourning.  Whatever form that may take, the world mourns with Japan.