A recent award for Pennsylvania College of Technology's support of Williamsport's Flag Day march has been presented to the General Services department for its maintenance of the "Flags Across America" site that now serves as the annual event's destination.The honor was one of three "Tony Awards" presented this year by Anthony L. DiSalvo, who chairs the local National Flag Foundation chapter and has been the driving force behind the "God, Country and Community Flag March" throughout its 22-year history. Since the installation of the 1,800-square-foot American flag at the college's main entrance several years ago, the march has culminated in a patriotic rally near the 120-foot flagpole by the Student and Administrative Services Center.
In a brief Thursday afternoon presentation along Reach Road, the trophy was handed over to General Services representatives by William J. Martin, the college's senior vice president and local flag chapter's vice chairman
"They coordinate raising and lowering the flag when appropriate, and they see to its repair and replacement," he explained, adding that it takes a team of workers to handle the flag due to its size. The lights and ground cover at the well-appointed base of the flag also are tended by GS staff.
General Services also is the repository for replacement flags, several of which are on hand at any one time.
"Each flag flies for about six weeks before wind stress forces us to have it repaired," Martin said, noting that a flag normally lasts about three repair cycles before it is ceremonially destroyed by a local Scout troop. The local chapter of the Flag Foundation pays those repair and replacement costs and is conducting an endowment campaign to cover the expenses in perpetuity, he said.