GRAFTON - Grafton's old flagpoles were falling apart.
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They were made of PVC pipe, stood six feet tall and were used for village-wide celebrations. When a new reason to declare a day of patriotism revealed itself Saturday with the Fallen Heroes Ride in honor of fallen St. Louis County Officer and Godfrey native Blake Snyder, however, the village was able to present its colors with new flagpoles, courtesy of Illinois American Water.
Illinois American Water Operations Supervisor for Grafton Wastewater Dan Ebbing said the 40 new flagpoles are made of aluminum and are two feet taller than the old - standing eight feet tall, can be easily folded in half for convenient storage and were purchased from Alton's True Value Hardware store, St. Peter's Hardware, at a cost of $880. Money was provided by Illinois American Water.
"We took over putting up flags two years ago," Ebbing said. "The flagpoles were getting old and splitting. I talked to Jimmy Clayton, who heads the Grafton Chamber of Commerce about us getting new ones. We like to be involved in the communities we serve."
Ebbing and other volunteers took more than two hours last Saturday morning taking the old flags from the old poles and placing them on new poles, before lining Grafton's Main Street with 40 of them to welcome the coming influx of vehicles riding for Snyder's honor.
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