Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011 • Council, Blue Star Moms retire first wave of Main Street banners
Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011 edition of the Lassen County Times.
A happy celebration of the men and women from the community who have served in the armed forces and returned took place at the Susanville City Council’s Jan. 19 meeting, when the banners of seven servicemen were officially retired from Main Street.
District 2 Supervisor Jim Chapman discusses on Wednesday, Jan. 19, the success of the Soaring Eagles Blue Star Mothers banner program, at a Susanville City Council presentation designed to give retired banners to the families.Seven families attended the meeting in order to honor a family member who had served in the military and were now retired from active duty.
The banner program, which has been primarily funded and maintained through the efforts of the local Soaring Eagles Chapter of the Blue Star Mothers, has been running strong in the community for roughly two years. Much of the effort for the program has come from the parents of the enlisted service men and women, but also with the help of Lassen County District 2 Supervisor Jim Chapman.
“When a service person is discharged or no longer on active duty and are back home and pursuing their regular life, it was our hope that the banner would be retired and the mayor would be able to present the banner to the person and their family,” said Chapman to those who packed the council chamber. “The banners are significant in the fact that they are not just honoring the service or the service person, but it honors the family because they have a lot to do with the person.”
Chapman said currently, 120 banners have been made, and through the efforts of former city administrator Rob Hill there are now 65 bracket locations in Susanville for banners to be hung. Chapman added the banners are still cycled on a six-month basis.
Pearl Burns, left, holds up the banner of her son that was once located near the Susanville Fire Department on Main Street. She stands with her husband David, her son Hank and Hank’s wife Jamie.The seven individuals honored at the council meeting included: Hank Burns, U.S. Air Force; Kevin Cochrane, U.S. Army; Justin Denton, U.S. Marine Corps, Cory Harper, U.S. Army; Drew Kelley, U.S. Army; Christopher Prater and Jason D. Timblin, U.S. Marine Corps.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone whose been involved in this,” said Dina Cochrane, mother while receiving the banner of her son Kevin. “When I went to work every morning down Main Street and see my son’s picture when he was in Iraq and be able to talk to him, it really is a connection.”
Susanville Mayor Lino Callegari, left, reads a plaque to Dina and Pat Cochrane honoring their son at the Susanville City Council’s Jan. 19 meeting honoring the sons of the Soaring Eagles Blue Star Mothers.When Chapman said he first saw the idea of the banners while watching CBS Sunday Morning about a town of about 1,000 in Vermont honoring about 15 of its young men and women he said he knew it was an idea that would resonate in Susanville, judging from the high concentration of servicemen and women in the county. Chapman said he understood in his talks with local recruiters how its people from the rural parts of the country that tend to enlist most often.
Chapman also said the positive effect of the banners is starting to catch on as well, with other areas of Northeastern California considering adopting similar programs. He said people traveling through town have seen the banners and then stopped by the city hall building at 66 N. Lassen St. inquiring about the banners. Another positive effect has been how the banners have even helped stimulate the economy. People have asked for banner maker Andy Warren for work on separate projects.
Bill Denton holds up the banner of his son Justin at the Jan. 19 Susanville City Council. Justin’s banner was located in front of Alliance gas Station on Main Street.The costs for the banners hasn’t been cheap.
Chapman said Warren was able to make the first 100 banners at cost, which is roughly $50. Chapman said there was a lady in a Washington Community that was charging $300 for similar banners. Chapman said once all the cost, equipment and labor is factored into putting up a banner, that’s actually not a bad price.
Angela Harper holds a plaque while standing next to the banner of her son, Cory Harper, which was hung in front of the Frontier Communications building on Main Street.“But how do you honor somebody while charging them,” Chapman said. “The board of Supervisors has contributed out of its discretionary funds in the neighborhood of $5,000 cumulatively over the last two years. Assemblyman Dan Logue has made contributions, and even some of the (Lassen Municipal Utility District boys took up a collection and were able to purchase a group of ten banners. Brackets can cost $110 per set, but fortunately we had a bunch leftover from a previous celebration.”
Susanville Mayor Lino Callegari, left, holds up the banner of Drew Kelley with Kelley’s mother Kelley, while her granddaughter, Emma Luna looks at Drew’s banner.Chapman said as more of the community’s service men and women retire from active duty, a presentation of the banners would become more commonplace at the council.
Bruce Prater, left, and his son, Christopher Prater, hold up Christopher’s banner at the Jan. 19 city council meeting. Christopher’s banner was located at the corner of Main and N. Pine streets.For more information about the Soaring Eagles Chapter of the Blue Star Mothers, visit soaringeaglebluestarmoms.com.
Susanville Mayor Lino Callegari, left, reads the plaque honoring Jason D. Timblin while holding up Timblin’s banner with Timblin’s stepfather Robin Robinson and Timblin’s mother Alice Robinson listen to the proclamation.
