Massive American flag display surprises Wales residents

WALES—An unexpected display of patriotism was revealed over the weekend as the American Flag was strung across Wales Canyon. The flag, unfurled in celebration of Independence Day, surprised even city officials but was a welcome sight for all.

“It must have been two to four people who put it up there. It wasn’t involved with the town, but it was pretty fantastic,” Wales Town Clerk Kevin Washburn said.

 The people who put up the flag would like to be anonymous, as they just want people to enjoy it and not wonder about who put the flag up.

“We got a crazy idea in our heads. We tried it and it worked out,” said one of the people who put up the flag.

The flying of Old Glory was inspired by the Follow the Flag organization. This Utah based organization has been placing flags across the State since 2015 to honor the people who sacrifice their time and potentially their lives to protect the USA.

The man from the group who put up the flag said he and others had some motivations besides simply seeing if they could get a flag suspended over the canyon.

“Our dad had passed away” in the past year, “and he was a veteran,” the man said. It was the 250th anniversary of the country. And the flag is always an inspiring symbol.

Money to purchase both the flag and the cable that holds the flag across the canyon was donated. The cable the flag was hung upon stretched across several hundred feet of the canyon. The flag itself was 30 feet by 60 feet. A flag of that caliber can weigh between 35 to 95 pounds.

The process of putting up the flag started with getting a spool of 1-inch braided rope and 30-foot by 60-foot flag and climbing the north side of the canyon. There, the group looped at one end of the rope around a 15-foot rock. They then allowed the other end of the rope to dangle.

The group then went back to the bottom of the canyon. They went over to the south side of the canyon, and with the other end of the rope and the flag, they climbed. Once high enough, they put a pulley on the rope and used it to tighten the rope to move the flag to the center of the canyon.

While that may seem like a daunting task, the group had climbed those cliffs all their lives.

“It was just done by some people here in Wales,” former town clerk Velva Sherman said.