City to honor vets
Veterans will be celebrated all over Butler this summer.
The city and the American Legion Post 117 will hang banners of military veterans on utility poles throughout the city from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Mayor Tom Donaldson said, “We’ve got a lot of poles, we’ve got a lot of veterans, and anything we can do to honor the veterans’ service and improve the look of our town, I’m for it.”
Anyone who is serving or was honorably discharged from the United States military, or who has a family member who was honorably discharged from the U.S. military can buy a banner.
The banners will feature photographs of the veterans and will be made by Harry Munson of TroopBanners in Pittsburgh.
The cost of each banner is $100. Buyers get one large and two small banners or two large banners. The large banners are 24-by-36 inches, while the small banners are 12-by-18 inches.
Proceeds will go to Post 117.
Banners are free for veterans who were killed in action.
Donaldson and American Legion Commander Jim Dittmer got the banner idea from Evans City, which last year started this project of hanging banners for veterans.
“It’ll take some help getting it going and it may start slow, but we got a lot of poles in Butler so we’re looking forward to having a successful program,” Donaldson said.
The American Legion is putting together the brackets that hold the banners.
Dittmer said, “I was a Vietnam War vet so I know what it’s like to be blown off. So that’s why I think this is a nice project to bring some attention to our veterans.”
Donaldson said the banners will be visible on the poles.
“We look forward to working with the utility company so that we can put these banners on the poles for these troops,” he said.
Banners may be bought at the American Legion Post 117, 413 S. Main St., Butler. There is no deadline to buy a banner, but Dittmer said “basically the sooner the better.”
