Butler church plants 503 flags
With all the talk of surges, boosters and variants and all the arguing over mandatory vaccination and mask mandates, the human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic sometimes is forgotten.
To remind people not to minimize the pandemic in Butler County, Hill Presbyterian Church, located at 501 Second St., created a COVID-19 memorial in conjunction with Sunday's All Saints' remembrance service at the church.
Five hundred and three flags cover a small hillside in the yard of the church, each one representing one COVID-19 death in the county.The flags, which were placed Sunday, were the idea of church elder Kathleen Davis.“There is a flag for each person in Butler County who has died of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic,” Davis said.Meanwhile, the virus continues to claim lives. As of Wednesday, 511 deaths in the county have been attributed to COVID-19, according to the state Department of Health.
Davis said she got the idea from other memorials she had seen, but Hill Presbyterian's display has a personal meaning for her.In the church display, six of the flags represent friends of Davis, including two members of the church congregation, who succumbed to the virus.Bob Graham, who was a volunteer with the Hill Presbyterian's youth group, was the seventh COVID-19 fatality in Butler County.
The second church member was John Majer, who was active in the choir and a great singer, Davis said.He was living in the Chicora Medical Center and his grandson was with the church's youth group, said Davis.It was only appropriate then that members of the youth group were the ones who set up the 503 flags, said Davis.To keep the flag rows straight, Davis' husband made a mark every foot along a 25-foot rope.
Two volunteers stretched the rope while a third planted a flag at every foot mark.A church member who works at a hardware store provided the flags, which are usually used to mark underground pipes.The memorial will tie into the church's All Saints' remembrance service at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, said the Rev. Leigh Benish, the church pastor.“Typically, it's the first Sunday in November,” Benish said. “We do read the names of our family and friends who have passed in the previous year.”Davis said the memorial was meant to counter what she called the current minimizing of the pandemic in Butler County.
People often say COVID-19 victims were old or immunocompromised.“I'm an old lady, and I got to see my granddaughter graduate from high school,” said Davis. Graham had a pre-existing condition, but he was lively and involved in the youth program, she added.“These people need to be remembered,” she said.The church being a polling place Tuesday was a bonus, said Benish and Davis.“It wasn't intentional, but it was great that people see it,” said Davis. “ It gave the display more publicity.”Benish and Davis said they haven't determined if the display will be made an annual event.
