Kane County really is the birthplace of Flag Day, and there are a number of ways to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the event on Tuesday, June 14, 2016.

Flag Day 100th Anniversary Celebration on Batavia Riverwalk

One hundred years ago, Flag Day was established to honor our nation’s flag. Batavia resident, Dr. Bernard Cigrand, was coined the “Father of Flag Day” for all his efforts to create this holiday. Now, on Tuesday, June 14, 5he city of Batavia invites residents and neighbros to an evening of celebrating the American flag and see the plans for the Flag Day Memorial honoring Dr. Cigrand.

What will you see?

• Air National Guard Band of the Midwest and the Batavia Patriotic Pop-Up Chorus will perform. (Click here for more information about the chorus)
• Batavia civic leaders will make presentations about Dr. Cigrand, Batavia’s flag day story, and  reveal the Flag Day memorial plans.
• Batavia students will light 1,777 luminaria lining the Riverwalk to commemorate the year when Continental Congress, seeking to promote national pride and unity, adopted the national flag.
• Essay Contest winners will be announced. (Click here for more information)
• Posting and Retiring the Colors will be performed by Batavia Scout troops and the VFW Color Guard.

Batavia Flag Manufacturer to Give Tours on the 100th Anniversary of Flag Day

• UPDATE: ALL TUESDAY FLAG TOURS ARE FILLED AS OF MONDAY, JUNE 13. ADDITIONAL INFO ABOUT THE COMMEMORATIVE FLAGS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE TUESDAY EVENT.

It isn’t every day the public can watch the manufacture of the American flag. Even rarer is the opportunity to tour a flag manufacturer on the 100^thAnniversary of Flag Day. Batavia business FlagSource, 951 Swanson Dr., is conducting four tours on Tuesday, June 14.

Because a Batavia resident, Dr. Bernard Cigrand, is often called the “Father of Flag Day” for all his efforts to create this designation, Batavia is planning a grand celebration for the observance.

Jeffery Schielke, Batavia’s Mayor and an avid local historian, finds it apt that FlagSource’s headquarters are in Batavia.

“Given the unique and strong historical connection that Batavia enjoys in the story of how American Flag Day was commenced, it is something of a modern day rendezvous with our nation’s past that FlagSource built its impressive manufacturing facility here in our town,” Schielke remarked. “As a recognized leader in producing American Flags of all sizes, which are distributed to a worldwide market, there is a sense of local historic irony that FlagSource flies its production in the town credited with being the home of the man known as being the founder of National Flag Day on June 14 of each year.”

Limited-edition flags finished on the 100^th Anniversary of Flag Day will be available for purchase. The 3-foot by 5-foot flag is made of nylon with embroidered stars. One hundred flags are expected to be available at the 100^th Anniversary of Flag Day Celebration that takes place at 7 p.m. at the Batavia Riverwalk later that day. Additional commemorative flags may be available at a later date.

More information about all the festivities surrounding Batavia’s celebration of the 100^th Anniversary of Flag Day is available on the website www.bataviaflagday.com.

About FlagSource/ J.C. Schultz Enterprises, Inc.

FlagSource has grown to become a world-class provider of custom printed and manufactured material products since its founding in 1920 as J.C. Shultz/the FlagSource. The family-owned company operates in Batavia, Illinois with a commitment to quality, growth and integrity. Janice Christiansen, along with her two sons, Jon and Spencer, manage the business. More history, company information and an online catalog is available at flagsource.com. The company is located at 951 Swanson Dr., Batavia, Illinois 60510. Phone: (800) 323-9127.

East Dundee Depot Hosts Flag Day Ceremony June 14

VFW Post #2298 will present its annual Flag Day Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at the Depot, 319 N. River St., East Dundee.  The ceremony will take place during Tail Waggin’ Tuesdays that is being offered as part of Dundee’s Sizzlin’ Summer Events 2016.

With the help of the post’s color guard, the flag ceremony will include the lowering and replacement of the American flag; music; the Pledge of Allegiance and more. Members of the public are encouraged to bring  and drop off any used, tattered flags for proper disposal.

Tail Waggin Tuesdays (TWT) will be held from  6 p.m. to 8 p.m. June 14 and is the first of three scheduled for the second Tuesday of the month during June, July and August. The events, held July 12 and Aug. 9,  are especially designed for owners and their dogs and feature vendors from the area that offer pet supplies, services, products  and treats. Sponsored by Dundee Animal Hospital, Tail Waggin Tuesdays is free to the public. For the safety of owners and their pets, all dogs are required to be leashed by a flat leash. Retractable leashes are prohibited.

Oswego Will Announce Vietnam Moving Wall Visit

Flag Day is particularly special this year in Oswego. An official ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on June 14, 2016, announcing that the Village of Oswego has been selected to host the Vietnam Moving Wall next summer from June 29-July 3, 2017. The announcement ceremony will take place at the Veterans Memorial located in downtown Oswego. For more information contact Herschel Luckinbill at 630-801-9591 or Dave Krahn at 630-373-3299.

About Flag Day and Dr. Cigrand

Dr. Bernard Cigrand, the “father of Flag Day,” had ties to both Batavia and Aurora and there are still places to visit locally that commemorate his contributions to American culture.

Born in Wisconsin to parents who immigrated from Luxembourg, he early on developed a love of the American flag and at the age of 19, teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in Wisconsin, he began his campaign to have a special day set aside to honor the flag, which was adopted by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.  He spent the next 30 years of his life writing and speaking on the topic and was rewarded by the adoption of the observance by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916.  The proclamation became law in 1949.

He put himself through dental school in Chicago and later taught dentistry and became dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Dentistry.  He moved to Batavia in 1913 at the age of 47 and practiced dentistry there for several years before, in 1920, relocating his office to 47 1/2 Fox Street in Aurora.  He died suddenly of a heart attack in 1932.

His homes and his Aurora office building still stand and Blackberry Farm in Aurora has a mockup of his office in the Streets of Aurora exhibit.  Several years ago the Luxembourg American Cultural Society donated a bronze bust of Cigrand which is also located at the park.

The city of Dearborn, MI, celebrates Flag Day by burning flags. That’s in the proper and respectful way to dispose of flags, by the way. Here’s an article we posted awhile back on how to properly display and dispose the American flag.