Volunteers from the community are needed to hang a last batch of veterans banners in the streets of Butler, where more than 400 of the flags now fly.

The banners are hung and organized by a team at American Legion Post 117. Jim Dittmer, the legion's former commander who has handled the signs, said the work is being held up because they are without a bucket truck.

“We have 28 banners ready to go, but we need a truck,” Dittmer said.

Butler started getting the banners in 2016. Since then, the program has grown dramatically in popularity and coated the light posts of Main Street and other parts of town.

In recent months, Dittmer explained, their efforts have hit some roadblocks. They have had a few sources of bucket trucks fall through, Dittmer said, and are now putting the signs up using an extension ladder. The practice is somewhat dangerous and is much slower work, particularly when dealing with higher-up signs.

Some of the signs that need to be hung fell during the winter. They are hung using PVC pipe frames Legion volunteers build, but the frigid cold combined with wind knocked several down.

Dittmer said they were in talks with a company to have metal frames ordered, possibly solving the problem. They delayed their efforts while waiting for the frames, but their connection at the company recently fell through.

In short, there is a stash of the banners sitting in the basement of the Legion hall, but they're without the means to hang them.

Limits on new banners

Other issues led to the Legion's April 15 decision to stop the banner program, excluding the banners they still have to hang. They're no longer taking applications from families for new banners.

There is a caveat — they will still add veterans who were killed in action or missing in action. They've previously done so for free, and will do so while their funding lasts.

Two factors motivated the decision to stop the program: a lack of volunteers and a lack of space.

Dittmer said he's at the point where he thinks the streets are almost saturated with the signs.

“We're running out of room, and people don't want theirs down side streets,” Dittmer said.

Kate Shuler, the Legion's new commander, said she would plan to reinstate the program if a team of new volunteers comes forward, enabling Dittmer and current volunteers to pass the torch.

“If we had a team that was committed to doing it regularly, not just on an odd one-off weekend, we would bring it back,” Shuler said.

Troop banners trends

The veterans banners on display in Butler, East Butler, Evans City and other towns share common origin: TroopBanners.com.

Harry Munson, the website's operator, made the first banner in 2009 for a veteran's funeral. Many families approached him for similar banners afterward, and things snowballed from there.

Munson said the program has gone on so long that the original volunteer groups need to be replaced in several communities.

Several towns now have as many as eight veterans posted on a single street post, he said, to accommodate numbers they never expected when the program began.

“We're never going to stop doing this,” Munson said. “You need a team to build the brackets and get them hung.”

In other communities with situations like Butler's, Munson explained, new volunteer groups have rekindled the banners after periods of low activity just by giving the regulars a break.

“If people who want this to exist would donate some of their time, that would make all the difference in the world,” Munson said.

Get involved

Dittmer is looking for a bucket truck to put up the 28 banners he has ready to hang.

He said the signs should be hung within a few weeks, if they're able to get a truck.

He can be reached at 724-679-4005.

Shuler is seeking volunteers, either Legion members or other dedicated residents, to restart the banner program.

She can be reached at 724-991-6617.