Each year on the Fourth of July, in a tradition many residents have come to value and expect, 40-plus flags are flown along Main Avenue in downtown Durango.
This year, for the first time, locks and solar powered lights appeared at the base of the flags. The new features are both a preventive measure and a response to a desire to see the flags displayed for longer during the Independence Day celebrations, said Ellen Babers, community events manager for the city of Durango.
The flags did not fly multiple days last year, she said, due to a lack of volunteers to post the flags and take them down each night in accordance with proper flag etiquette.
American flags, which are donated to the city of Durango by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031, must be lit at night, raised at dawn, and lowered at dusk to align with U.S. flag protocol, which proved too strenuous a routine for the small number of VFW flag volunteers in 2024.
A solution was to install solar powered lights that don’t require daily human operation, Babers said.
Another solution to ensure that the flags flew safely this year, and were able to remain up for four consecutive days beginning on July 1, was to install locks at the base of the flagpoles.
Babers said there hasn’t been a vandalism problem with Main Avenue flags as of yet – decorative, holiday or patriotic – and the locks are merely a preventive measure against possible “pranksters,” as well as a way to keep the flags secure in heavy winds.
“It’s our job to say, ‘OK, well, what could go wrong here?’” Babers said.
The overall cost of the lights and locks was shared four ways among Visit Durango, the VFW, the Durango Business Improvement District and the city of Durango. The lights, which were the contribution of the city, came out to about $1,300, Babers said.
The locks and lights will continue to be used along Main Avenue, for Fourth of July tributes and for other decorative and holiday flag displays.
epond@durangoherald.com
