Bob Jeckel raises the flag for Illinois

[September 10, 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.

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.

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.

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]