Patriotic Pride at PVE
Paradise Valley Estates is a community that invites residents to be involved in day-to-day operations and activities. One way to become involved is through a committee that’s part of our Resident Council, a group of residents who serve as the collective voice of residents and lead 13 subcommittees that focus on enhancing life at PVE.
One such subcommittee is the Patriotic Committee. The 12-15 members of this group work together to plan, organize and conduct patriotic programs on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day each year. There are three officers: a chairman and a vice chairman. The third officer, the secretary, may be elected or appointed by the chairman. The committee holds regular meetings once each month at the call of the chairman.
In 1999, five residents, led by Bud Booth, formed the Patriotic Committee. Mr. Booth became the chairman of the committee and served until 2006. The committee, initially named the Patriotic Holiday Committee, still has three of its founding members: Betty St. George, Jack Albrecht and Cletus Nelson.
The group’s main function remains conducting annual patriotic holiday programs, but we have been expanding our role to promote patriotism on campus. We’ve adopted a program started by Bob and Laura McCoy that provides residents a place to retire worn and faded American flags (a bin in the internal mail room). The McCoys also make sure there are always all-weather American-made flags for sale in the PVE Store at reasonable prices, and they have supplied the store with black ribbons that can be attached to diagonal flagpoles on individuals’ homes to represent the flag at half-staff.
Another member, John Parker, has installed a lighted flagpole with an American flag and a POW/MIA flag in Bergerot Circle he also supplied a POW/MIA flag to be flown with the American flag at the entrance to the campus.
Past President Lew Martin periodically distributes a publication of flag etiquette to all residents to assist in proper display of the American flag. In addition, each week he publishes a “Did You Know” paragraph highlighting a patriotic event in our history in the Friday Flash.
In 2016, the committee initiated an “Adopt-a-Day” program that was first envisioned by Cletus Nelson in 2011. Realizing that there are more than three patriotic days in a year, the committee encourages other residents to sponsor a patriotic day. The committee assists with publicity and provides limited financial aid. Residents conducted several “Adopt-a-Day” programs in 2016, and more are being planned for 2017.
