Girl Scouts Honor Country with Avenue of Flags Dedication

Posted: May 8, 2012 at 11:17 AM [May 8, 2012]

The Pinckney-Hamburg-Lakeland Service Area of Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan dedicated the new Avenue of Flags at Camp Linden May 5 during the PHL Encampment.   Mackinac Island Honor Scouts raised the magnificent 20’ x 30’ United States flag and eight smaller US flags in unison as American Legion Post 419 offered a three-volley salute.

Each summer, Mackinac Island Honor Scouts, an elite corps of patriotic Girl Scouts, conduct daily flag ceremonies on Mackinac Island with military precision, fulfilling the Girl Scout Promise “to serve my country.”

 Without a practice ground, MIHS Patrol 7901 had no way to practice synchronizing the raising and lowering of the flags along the island’s “Avenue of Flags” with the historic US flag that flies over Fort Mackinac.  Because they are Girl Scouts, the girls took action to solve that problem.  They raised the funds to purchase their own Avenue of Flags , and had those flagpoles installed at a practice field at Camp Linden, the GSHOM resident camp  in Livingston County.  The girls conducted bottle and can drives, held garage sales and sold concessions at University of Michigan football and basketball games. 
They also conducted patriotism workshops with the help of VFW Post  423, Ann Arbor, to teach younger Girl Scouts how to treat our flag with respect.

Earlier in the day, the Girl Scouts dedicated another flag at Camp Linden to the memory of US Navy Seaman Joseph Pilotti, who lost his life in the service of his country while stationed in San Diego in 1979.  Seaman Pilotti’s family accepted the dedication flag and engraved case presented by the girls as part of the dedication.  Four of the US flags from the avenue were replaced with the flags of GSHOM, MIHS, the PHL Service Area and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. The four US flags were then presented to the American Legion Post 419, GSHOM, MIHS Director Sally Ashley and Kellie Bagnick, concession stand leader.

“Thanks to their hard work and the support of the Pinckney-Hamburg-Lakeland Service Area Girl Scouts, Mackinac Island Honor Scouts from Patrol 7901 can now properly show the flag of our country the honor it deserves,” said Jacquline Jeffery, PHL Area Manager for Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan.  “The Avenue of Flags at Camp Linden will also inspire patriotism in the thousands of girls and families who camp there eachsummer,” she said.