GALION – Galion is honoring its military veterans in grandiose style.
Not just on Veteran’s Day, not just by a parade through town, but by a patriotic display of banners on lamp posts all the way down Harding Way through Public Square and overflowing into nearby Heise Park. Familiar faces of hometown heroes who proudly served in our country’s armed forces.
Give credit to the Galion Historical Society.
“I just think it’s such a visual impact going down Harding Way and the American flags just set it off,” said Tanesha Pickering, director of the Historical Society. “We hear about it all the time, which is my favorite part, when people come up and say how much it means to them.”
Pickering is actually the brainchild for the Historical Society’s Veteran Banner Project, which was launched in late 2017 after she and her husband spotted similar signs in a tiny southern Ohio town on the way to West Virginia. She pitched the idea to the society’s board of directors, and the group got to work.
They arranged for the two-by-four foot vinyl banners to be made at Photorama Studios in town, but solicited grants from the American Legion Post 243, the Walter R. Hessenauer Fund and the Community Foundation for Crawford County help pay for the brackets, poles and ties needed to mount the red, white and blue signs, Pickering said.
The next year, 123 banners went up through town, beginning at the city building and heading west down Harding Way, Pickering said. “I think the first year we were pretty happy with that number. Once they went up in 2018 and people saw what they looked like, 2019 really exploded. It was crazy.”
To be eligible for the project, a veteran must be either a Galion grad, attended high school in town or live/have lived in Galion. During registration, which is on a first-come basis, sponsors are asked to provide basic military information, submit a photograph and pay a $47 fee, which covers design and printing costs, Pickering said.
City workers hang up the banners by the Fourth of July each year, Pickering said. Two hang side by side on each light pole downtown, while four are positioned on each post in the park. Although they’re displayed for two years, line department crews remove them shortly after Veteran’s Day, she said, so they can put up Christmas decorations instead.
This year, 338 banners – the maximum capacity – pay tribute to service members who answered the call of duty. One of those near the intersection of Gill Avenue recognizes Galion native Julie Swain Standish, who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1980 to 1992 before an injury put an end to her flying career.
“I think it’s a wonderful project and I hope they keep it up,” said her mother, Jo Swain, who surprised her daughter by sponsoring the banner and providing a black-and-white photo of Julie from Leadership School. “I think it’s great, but there’s probably a lot more that could go up too.”
All of the banners are eventually returned to their sponsors, Pickering said, but the Historical Society keeps the photographs for their military archives and records. Registration for next year is already set for April 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Historic Grace Church, 130 W. Walnut St.
“I wasn’t even thinking at the time it would turn into what it’s turned into,” admitted Pickering. “There has just been an outpouring of positivity from the community the past three years. It’s been crazy.”
