If you’ve driven through downtown Wenatchee (Wenatchee Ave, Chelan Ave, or Mission St) during November in the last few years, you may have seen the banners with old photos, names, and dates flying high above the streets. These banners are a way to recognize and honor military veterans with a connection to the Wenatchee Valley.
Late last month, I had the chance to chat with Linda Haglund, Executive Director of the Wenatchee Downtown Association, about this project. Today I’d like to share with you what I learned about the inspiration, history and growth, and future hopes for the Downtown Heroes Banners.
Inspiration and Getting Started
Linda Haglund unrolling the first batch of banners in her office, 2018
As part of her professional development as Executive Director, Linda often travels to conferences and events targeting community growth, sharing best practices, and celebrating success stories. One such event is the annual National Main Street Conference. It was at the 2018 event in Kansas City where Linda learned about a fundraiser held in Emporia, KS which included selling banners featuring local veterans and sharing those veterans’ stories. This idea really resounded with Linda, being the daughter of a very proud veteran.
When she brought the idea back to her Board, Linda specified that in doing this here in our community, she wanted it to serve 2 purposes – 1) to honor our local heroes, and 2) to benefit a local organization that is supporting veterans. Goal #1 is easily met just by having the banners on display, but in order to meet goal #2, a price had to be set for each banner, then any funds raised beyond the cost of making the banner will be donated to the selected organization.
For the first year (2018), VFW Post 3617 in East Wenatchee was selected as the beneficiary. The very first banner sold was to honor Linda’s father, Ruben F. “Rosie” Rose. Ruben was a Demolitions Expert in the US Army and had served in both WWII & Korea. A total of 21 banners were created and put on display that year.
More Than Just Banners
It’s one thing to show off an image of someone in uniform, with their name, branch, and dates of service. It’s another thing to tell the story of the Hero who’s being honored on that banner. Linda had collected the stories to go along with the Hero’s banners, but needed a way to share these stories. That’s where a partnership between the Downtown Association and the Wenatchee World added connection and value to the project. The Wenatchee World put together a booklet showcasing the Hero’s stories, and made it freely available (offset by the carefully-selected advertising). Anyone seeing the banners above the street could now read about the person, their service, their life, and their connection to this area. [2020 booklet viewable online here]
This project also gave local businesses a way to show their support for veterans. Kyle Barnes, a designer at GO USA, manages the design and creation of the banners. He’s able to take images, no matter their original form (such as newspaper clippings), and make them work on the larger format required for the banners.
Also, a few businesses have offered to help offset the price of each banner, chipping in $25 for each, reducing the cost of a single banner to $125 for the person purchasing it. Those businesses are Precision Water Jet, Plumb Perfect, and NCW Appraisal.
Powerful Impact
A series of Heroes Banners on display at the Town Toyota Center in 2019 at a Wenatchee Wild game.
Linda shared with me a few examples of the impact of this project, not just for her (hearing the stories of these Heroes) but also for the veterans and their families. As Linda told me, “I knew what it meant to be a hero in my family, but I didn’t know what it meant to be a Hero of an unpopular war”, referring to those who had served in Vietnam, and did not receive the honor they deserved when they came home. Those veterans have experienced direct personal insults, and they carry around that burden to this day. Giving them a chance to share their stories and to be recognized as heroes has been transforming.
Another example was that of a veteran who was angry after seeing a banner with his name and picture on it. When Linda reached out to him to offer to have the City take it down, she explained that his family had bought the banner to honor him not hurt him. After taking a deep breath, he admitted that he needed to be okay with it because of who had done it. Later, Linda learned that he had been able to use this as an opening for the conversation necessary to work through his PTSD and it helped those who love him understand what he’s going through. It turned from an unsettling surprise into a healing experience.
Growth and Expansion
The first year seemed to be a hit. While some of the veterans who were honored were uncomfortable with the title “hero”, it had served to spark conversations, reflections, and even some internal growth. It only seemed fitting that the Banners project would grow as well. As Linda told me, “one day, a man walked into my office by the name of George Turner […] he’s a man that’s hard to say ‘no’ to. He came in and said ‘I want to help you.’ And from that time, we have continued to grow with the help of George.”
Indeed, the dedication from both Linda and George has been instrumental in the growth of the project. Because of George and other volunteers from The Bunker, encouraging veterans and businesses to get involved as well as helping to polish stories for print in the booklet, NCW Vets Serving Vets has become the primary beneficiary of the funds raised from selling these banners.
View of a city worker installing a banner on a lightpole-mounted bracket, scanned from Wenatchee World front page, 06 March 2021.
Eventually, the number of heroes to be honored was greater than the number of brackets available to hang them each November. So a couple of measures had to be put in place: First (and this was also copied from the Emporia, KS example) when purchased, the banner will hang for 2 years, then it will be given to the purchaser. If they would like it to hang again after those first 2 years, there is an additional cost. Secondly, a waiting list had to be created, especially for those wishing to rehang. This allows for new banners to be added to the rotation each year.
Another thing that allowed for growth was connecting with the city across the river. Once it was obvious that the second year was going to max out the brackets in downtown Wenatchee, Linda reached out to Steve Lacy, then-mayor of East Wenatchee. He agreed, and brackets on 9th Street (front Valley Mall Pkwy to Eastmont and above) were now options. A total of 100 banners can now hang around downtown Wenatchee and East Wenatchee during the month of November, and those purchasing banners can select a preferred city for its display.
The booklets published by the Wenatchee World now include an opening letter from Linda, a brief message from both Mayors, and a letter from a better known hero. In 2019, that was Bill Owens, Admiral US Navy, Ret. For 2020, Linda was able to get someone from close to home: James N. Mattis, General US Army, Ret, originally from Richland, shared his thoughts on this project (which were all positive). Hearing from these other individuals who have served and understand the value of recognizing and honoring each other really meant a lot to the local veterans, included in the booklet or not.
Looking Ahead
This year, at least 3 banners will represent a Gold Star family. The title is reserved for families of military members who have died in the line of duty. Linda says she plans to spotlight these Heroes a bit better, such as Lando Jasso of Leavenworth and Eric Hedeen of Malaga. Out of the 100 total slots, 63 opened up this year (as the 2 year timer ran out for more banners). As of our conversation, all but 30 of those had been sold.
I asked Linda how she sees this project growing moving forward. With her focus on sustainability of the project and knowing that brackets here are limited, she knows that trying to expand any further in Wenatchee/East Wenatchee would be unwise. But, she says, “I would love to see Cashmere, Leavenworth, Chelan, every small community across the state honestly, take it upon themselves to do this as well. Collecting their stories, hanging banners, honoring their local veterans and heroes.” It takes a dedicated person or group to get it started and do the work, but the framework already exists now with Wenatchee being the guide. It would take someone connecting with GO USA for the banners (dimensions may not be the same as Wenatchee’s because the size of brackets varies) and either the Wenatchee World or another local publisher to produce the Stories Behind the Banners booklet. Some communities already create and hang similar banners to recognize their local graduates in June, so it seems logical to also honor their local veterans in November. What a sight that would be, to see veterans being recognized and honored by their communities in this fashion all over Washington!
Interested in purchasing a banner to honor your hero? Contact either Linda or George (see below) with the required information, (veteran’s name, branch, dates of service, an image, and additional details for their Story Behind the Banner) and they’ll make sure the veteran is honored and their story is told. You can also submit information directly online through the Wenatchee Downtown Association website. The cut-off for banner production is 01 August 2021, whereas stories can be received up to 01 October 2021 and still make it into the booklet. Any banner orders after that will be slotted for November 2022.
Linda Haglund
linda@wendowntown.org
509-662-0059
George Turner
509-679-1160
