FLAGS TO BE RETIRED IN CAPE, JACKSON CEREMONIES

Flag Day ceremonies will be held Sunday in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

In Cape Girardeau, the American Legion will hold a flag retirement ceremony at 1:30 p.m. at the Missouri Veterans' Home. The ceremony is open to the public.

Individuals with torn or faded flags that need to be destroyed may take the flags to the Veterans' Home or call the American Legion at 335-0305.

In Jackson, an educational Flag Day ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. at Brookside Veterans Memorial. It is sponsored by the Jackson Elks Lodge and Jackson Veterans of Foreign Wars.

During the ceremony, U.S. flags through history will be presented and information will be read about each. The public is invited.

Jerry Stauber, chairman of the Cape Girardeau Flag Day committee and first vice president of the American Legion, said Flag Day observances are an important way to honor the nation.

"The flag does represent us as a nation," Stauber said. "It is our symbol that everyone in the world recognizes."

As such, he said, the flag deserves honor, even when it is old and faded. "We will make sure to properly dispose of the flags," Stauber said.

The retirement ceremony will be held indoors.

"This will be a ceremonial retirement," Stauber said. "Then the flags will be disposed of."