Bob Jeckel raises the flag for
Illinois
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[September 05, 2020]
LINCOLN
- On Saturday, August 29th, there was a private flag raising
ceremony held at All Veterans Park in Lincoln. The ceremony was at
the request of Bob Jeckel with Frontier-Mt. Carroll Insurance in
Lincoln.
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Jeckel was called upon by the National Association
of Mutual Insurance Companies to make a video of a flag presentation
for the state of Illinois. The video will be used as part of the
opening ceremony for the association’s national convention to be
held later this month.
Jeckel explained that the convention is held annually and that he
and wife Celia attend representing the Lincoln insurance agency. In
past years, the opening ceremony included a person from each state
entering the convention center carrying their state flag. Jeckel has
had that honor, representing Illinois on several occasions.
This year, due to the pandemic, there will be no gathering together
of people in one place for the convention. Instead, the convention
will be held in a virtual setting.
Jeckel said that when he was contacted by the association to raise a
flag for Illinois he was honored to be chosen. He said that all his
life his mom had told him to never say NO to a request, but to
figure out a way to get things done.
He thought at first that making a video of the Illinois flag would
be an easy task, but it ended up being a little more difficult than
he expected. His first plan was to raise the flag at the Logan
County Courthouse. However, because he is a private individual, he
was advised that the request would have to have full board approval
by vote in order to happen. Unfortunately, Jeckel was working with a
deadline, so he didn’t have time to wait for the next voting session
of the Logan County Board.
Using the courthouse meant that the Illinois flag would already be
there. With that option no longer available, Jeckel’s next challenge
was finding a flag he could borrow. He found one with the city of
Lincoln. Walt Landers with the city’s streets department provided a
flag. Then Jeckel needed to find a new
location. He reached out to Bill Dennis, a member of the Lincoln
American Legion Honor Guard and sought help from him. The second
choice became the Christian Village in Lincoln. Then, came the idea
to use the All Veteran’s Park, perhaps the very best choice of all.
Dennis said he would bring members of the Honor Guard and they would
do it up right.
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Thus, on Saturday afternoon, a small group gathered at the park to
perform the task. The Honor Guard slowly lowered the American flag
at the front of the park. Following perfect protocol, the flag was
brought down and folded carefully.
Then the Illinois flag was brought out and with assistance from the
honor guard Jeckel raised the flag as video was being made for the
convention. To assure that they got good video, the flag went up and
down the flag pole three times for three separate videos.
When the task was completed, the Honor Guard then returned the
American flag to its place on the pole.
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Dennis shared some flag raising etiquette with the group on hand.
When being taken down the American flag is to be lowered very
slowly. But, when being raised the action is to be taken quickly.
The national convention will be held from September 20th through the
24th. Jeckel said he will be attending via the internet.
He said he is honored to have been chosen to make the video, and
wants to express his gratitude to the American Legion Honor Guard
for their assistance and also to Walt Landers of the city for the
use of the flag.
[Nila Smith] |