Rotary and Ruritan Clubs, scouts put flags out for the 4th!
By WILLIAM PAINE
Patriot Publishing
The Dublin-Radford Ruritan Club and the Rotary Club of Pulaski spent last Saturday making sure that Pulaski County was properly decorated for this year’s Independence Day Celebration.
Members of the Dublin-Radford Ruritan Club spent early Saturday morning placing 21 American flags in the median of Route 100 between Dublin Baptist Church and the Dollar Tree store.
“We try to do this on Labor Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day,” said club President Jan Harris.
Past president Charles Black walked in front of his fellow club members using a magnet to find the flag stands hidden in the grassy median, while Jaime Graham drove her pickup carrying the flags and flag poles alongside the group. A member of the Dublin Police Department followed the pickup to make sure the flag planters were safe in the heavy morning traffic.
“I started back when I was in Boy Scouts,” said Black. “The club sponsored my troop, so I started working with them. Back then they had the Boy Scouts run the booth at the fair. We would help them with that. So, I started working with them and then I joined Ruritan. We still sponsor a Cub Scout troop.”
According to Black, the Dublin-Radford Ruritan Club has been putting out flags for the holidays for more than 40 years.
For the past eight years, the Rotary Club of Pulaski has worked with the Scouting America Troop 249 to raise the red, white and blue. The Rotary’s flag program operates as a subscription service, where residents and business owners pay a fee to have an American flag placed on their property for patriotic holidays.
“We do this five times a year,” said Peter Huber, who acts as liaison between the Scouts and the Pulaski Rotary Club. “The flags go up on Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, 9-11 and Veterans Day, usually 3 days before the holiday and three days afterwards. So the flags are out for about a week.”
For the price of $35 a year or $65 for two years, members of Troop 249 will come to your house and raise Old Glory, but how did this program come about?
“Our President at the time, Spencer Rygas, was casting about for a club-wide project that would impact the community,” said Stu Schwarzer, who currently serves as president of the Rotary Club of Pulaski. “I moved here from northeast Ohio. We got involved in a flag project in the city of Orrville, Ohio and we were raising some serious money for a community project there. The Scouts of Troop 249 became the labor force for the project.”
On Schwarzer’s suggestion, the Rotary Club of Pulaski agreed to start their flag subscription service, with an eye towards raising money for backpack feeding programs, established to feed underprivileged children. The program turned out to be a success.
“We have 165 flags put out and had an income of $5,536 for flags put out in 2024,” said Huber. “Income for 2025 is $4,475. In addition to the cost of the subscription, we had 30 customers pay $845 above and beyond the amount requested.”
In addition to donating to backpack feeding programs, the Rotary Club of Pulaski pays each scout $125 for their labor. The scouts use this money to pay for their annual summer stay at Camp Powhattan, which began the following Sunday, June 29.
“The program enables kids to earn money for summer camp, while showing patriotism and putting forth the effort to make the community better,” said Troop 249 Assistant Scoutmaster Brian Bishop.
“We just had our 75th Anniversary at Powhattan,” said former Scout Master Dan Grubb. “Troop 249 has been going to Powhattan since 1951. The camp opened in 1950.”
A week at Camp Powhattan costs $450 for each member of the troop. In addition to raising flags, Boy Scouts spread mulch during their Spring Break to help pay for camp (and they’re always looking for new customers).
“We’re wanting to invite the public to participate in the program,” said Grubb. “We started with the premise that we wanted the Town of Pulaski and its environs to be the most patriotic in Virginia. We had some strong competition between neighborhoods, pushing for having the flag in their neighborhood and we’d like to expand that to more neighborhoods in Pulaski County. We’d like to have all of Pulaski and Dublin covered up in flags if we could!”
According to Grubb, Boy Scout Troop 249 formed just before the start of WWII and currently has 12 members.
“We reached an all-time low during COVID with five members, but now we’re rebounding back up,” said Grubb, who went on to invite any boy to join the troop. Troop 249 does not accept girls, but according to Grubb, a female Scouting America Troop is currently forming in Radford.
The COVID era was tough on most all service organizations. The Dublin-Radford Ruritan Club is down to eight members and the Rotary Club of Pulaski currently has a dozen dues paying members. Both organizations are inviting more members to join.
“We’re launching a membership drive,” said Schwarzer. “We meet the second Monday of the month at the Dublin United Methodist Church and we invite any and all to contact the Rotary Club at stuschwarzer@gmail.com.
The Dublin-Radford Ruritan Club is also engaged in a membership drive. Ruritan Keaton Hanks enjoys his time in the club.
“I like putting up the flags, I like doing Bingo and I like doing yard sales,” said Hanks. “But more than that, I love the people here in the Ruritan Club and the Ruritan Club has been very kind and welcoming.”
“And we’re always looking for new members,” Harris interjected.
The Dublin-Radford Ruritan Club meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month at a chosen restaurant for a meal. Potential new members can call Jamie Graham at (540) 449-4788.