ALTON - Several organizations came together for a patriotic beautification project in downtown Alton.
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There are currently 100 American flags hanging along Broadway, State and Third Streets in downtown Alton to mark America’s 250th anniversary. These flags were installed ahead of the 250 on the Mississippi celebrations and will remain until Labor Day, with plans to display the flags every year between Memorial Day and Labor Day in the future.
“If you drive up and down Broadway right now, it is absolutely beautiful,” said Pat Stewart with Pride, Inc. “It makes you so proud to see so many people taking pride in their community.”
Pride, Inc. installed the flags alongside the Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau. The tourism bureau and the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club collaborated to purchase the flags for $6,000.
Stewart believes the 250th anniversary is inspiring a greater sense of community in the Riverbend and beyond. She argued that the collaboration between these three local organizations speaks to that hometown feel.
Cory Jobe, CEO of the Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau, expressed his excitement to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. He noted that coming together with “a civic-minded organization like the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club is a great way to celebrate this semiquincentennial.”
“These flags will showcase downtown Alton throughout the summer and also pay tribute to America’s 250th,” he added. “Our joint goal is to use the flags as a celebration of our nation’s anniversary as well as the upcoming 250 on the Mississippi events planned for July 1–3 in Alton.”
The 250 on the Mississippi events kick off on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at Haskell Park in Alton. Families can enjoy a bike parade, crafts, donut-eating contest, live music, balloon art and more fun.
On Thursday, July 2, Rotary Park will host live music, vendors, crafts, and more. The Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club will also distribute pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, with prizes for anyone who gets their booklet signed by the Thomas Jefferson reenactor in town that day.
Alton’s Fireworks on the Mississippi celebration will launch from the Alton Amphitheater on Friday, July 3, in a final culmination of the 250 on the Mississippi events. The Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau will also sell commemorative t-shirts during all three days.
For Pride, Inc., the Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau, and the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club, these events speak to a greater mission to bring the community together. All three groups are proud of the American flag display in downtown Alton and hopeful that the 250th anniversary inspires civic pride through the end of the year and beyond.
“Our Rotary Club has a long history of developing and participating in local community service projects,” Donna Bemis, president of the Rotary Club, said. “Being a part of this initiative to add US flags to downtown Alton alongside Great Rivers and Routes and Pride, Inc. continues to shine the light on what organizations can do when they work together.”
Stewart agrees. She encourages community members to come together this summer to celebrate the 250th anniversary and continue to work toward Alton’s betterment.
“We are finding opportunities to get more people involved, not just making it a Pride Beautification project anymore, but more of a civic pride or a community project,” she said. “It takes a village, pardon the pun.”
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