Treasure trove of flags unfurled

Children unpack 377 flags stored by a woman who started a flag association.

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 4, 2000

LARGO -- To the music of Anchors Aweigh and other apple-pie tunes, they eagerly ripped open 16 musty boxes spread across the gymnasium of Southwest Recreation Center on Monday.

Inside the cardboard, the children found dozens of flags -- 377 to be exact. Many of them had never envisioned that flags could look so different from the ones that hang in their schools.

Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, New York, Virginia, West Virginia -- there were flags from just about every state.

"Some of my friends live in these states," said 7-year-old Jessica Yoder.

Sam Gamble, 10, was amazed by the dark blue flag with 13 white stars in a circle. In the center of each star was the name of one of the original 13 colonies.

"It looked cool," he said. "I hope they keep it in good shape."

Reverence for an American flag from a child: precisely the reaction Mary Jo Bell hoped for.

"I'm just excited," she said with a smile after the box openings. "What I wanted to do is get to the hearts of those kids, and I think we did."

Bell has a reverence for the American flag that is hard to match. A Kate Smith look-alike with a similar patriotic bent to the singer who made God Bless America famous, Bell started the Great American Flag Association in 1983.

When Wanamaker's department store in Philadelphia closed in 1986, Bell said it offered the flags to the Smithsonian Institution. The national museum, she said, didn't have room for the boxes, and staff members there suggested the flags be given to her.

Friends kept the boxes for her until 1996, when she put them in a 10-by-10-foot storage space in Largo.

The 70-year-old, who has lived in Largo for eight years, said she never opened the boxes. Trips to Houston to treat a bad knee took her mind off the boxes.

During a recent conversation with city athletics manager Andrew Hobbs, Bell told him about the flags. The two brainstormed and came up with the idea of having kids from area recreation centers unveil the flags. About 150 showed up.

"I hope they will get out of this an interest in our flag and a feeling of pride in our country," she said before Monday's event.

There were plenty of flags with 48 stars. A few with 13.

Some were tattered. A few had holes. Because the flags had been boxed up for at least 14 years, a musty odor filled the air.

"It's really old and it smells," said Samantha Ramos, 9.

One had 13 stripes, but the Union Jack of Great Britain in the upper left-hand corner. A beige tag with the handwriting "Unveiled by G.W. at Cambridge when he took command" had many believing it was held by George Washington.

Hobbs said he will keep the flags at the center. The ones in good condition will be unveiled at various city functions. Bell hopes an expert can come to Largo to determine their age and historical significance.

Like most of the kids and many of the adults on hand Monday, 7-year-old Ashley Young was quite impressed.

"I think it's pretty cool," she said. "They're all different and pretty."

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