Life Scout Ryan Carroll of Troop 9 in Palmyra has been very busy the past few months: raising funds to purchase new flags and sprucing up flag poles with help from his fellow Scouts, just in time for the Riverton 4th of July parade.
“The flags line the parade route every year. About 60 of them were damaged and we re-stained all 120 flag poles,” said Carroll, who noticed while walking on Main Street last year that many poles were missing flags and others were in poor condition.
“Ryan has participated in the annual parade since his Cub Scout days and continues to volunteer each year with Troop 9 to place and remove the flags,” noted his mother, Tara Carroll. “Wanting to preserve this long-standing community tradition, he organized and led this effort as his Eagle Scout service project.”
Thanks to Carroll and his fellow Scouts, the new flags will line the holiday parade route to mark America’s 250th anniversary. Every year, several thousand residents of Cinnaminson, Palmyra, Riverton and surrounding towns come out for one of the largest parades in South Jersey.
Troop 9 meets at Bethany Lutheran Church in Palmyra, and was established in 1947, according to Scout Lady Michele Ieradi.
“Our first Eagle Scout was in 1954,” she recalled. “The troop and crew have had 81 Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.”
“Ryan has done a tremendous job,” observed Charter Organization representative William Isard.
Carroll was one of more than 50 Scout leaders, parents and veterans at the formal American flag retirement ceremony on June 14 at Riverton Memorial Park in observance of Flag Day.
“Thank you for coming out today,” he told the crowd. “We are retiring these flags worn out after faithfully serving our country.”
Carroll then asked three military veterans in the audience to stand. Troop 9 scouts – including Henry Donnelly, Liam Donovan, Jonathan Maiz, Sean Carroll, Thomas Kline, James Klopstein, Edwin Quinn and Dylan Taylor – carefully folded the first of the 350 cloth flags 13 times, with each fold representing one of the ideals the flag represents. It was then handed it to the veterans, who placed it into the large metal trash bin fire.
“These flags are being retired with dignity,” explained Carroll, adding that 10 flags will be burned at a time, many of them came from cemeteries.
“Ryan has done a great job. He’s been working very hard on this project,” said Scoutmaster Ted Beddall, who was joined by Cinnaminson-based Troop 70 Scoutmaster Patrick Carroll and Boy Scouts Charter Organization representative Paul Villari of Palmyra.
“I am dual registered with Troop 9 in Palmyra and Troop 70 in Cinnaminson,” said Carroll, who thanked his fellow Scouts for working with him on an Eagle service project that will help this year’s parade sparkle with new flags. “I originally started as a Cub Scout with Pack 59 in Cinnaminson in 2014.”
The annual parade in 1897 was founded by Charles W. Davis and Albert J. Briggs of the Riverton Yacht Club and was called the Children’s Flag Parade. It’s one of the oldest continuous Independence Day celebrations in the nation and has turned into a massive occasion for the Tri-Boro towns.
The Riverton Fire Company has sponsored the event since 1915, and it features more than 10 local fire departments competing for best of parade prizes.
Ryan Carroll of Cinnaminson explains how U.S. flags worn out after faithful service should be properly disposed of during a Flag Day ceremony on June 14 at Riverton Memorial Park, part of his Eagle Scout service project.
