Borough Council Approves Main Street Flag Plan

Local residents should expect to see a lot of red, white and blue along Main Street in Hellertown next summer, thanks to the Hellertown Patriot Project.

The project is the brainchild of the Hellertown Borough Business Revitalization Program, .

As part of the program, local businesses and individuals will be encouraged to sponsor American flags for display along a four-block section of Main Street in downtown Hellertown.

Individual American-made flags are now available for one-year sponsorships at a cost of $50 each, and entire blocks can be sponsored for $400, according to the sponsorship form available for download via the Borough of Hellertown's website.

The flags will help to beautify the busy Main Street/Route 412 corridor and--it is hoped--encourage property owners throughout the borough to display flags and patriotic bunting, according to the HBBRP.

Flags will be available for sponsorship in memory or in honor of an individual, and donors will receive recognition on a "digital plaque" that will be displayed on the borough's website.

The Hellertown Patriot Project's cloth flags will only be displayed from Memorial Day to Labor Day, in order to minimize wear and tear, Borough Manager Cathy Kichline said at borough council's Nov. 21 meeting.

Unanimously approved by council at the meeting, the Patriot Project was in part inspired by the patriotism he observed while driving through small towns in upstate New York this past summer, councilman Tom Rieger said.

In that area, "every town right down Main Street has flags on every pole," he told council.

In Hellertown, the plan calls for the flags to initially be displayed on Main Street between Penn Street and Hampton Avenue.