Broadcaster Press 9 July 7, 2015 www.broadcasteronline.com Watching As The Flag Goes By ... Home Country BY SLIM RANDLES We all watched as the flag came by. It was the first thing in the parade, of course. Great big one, carried by two of the kids from the ROTC at the high school. The bands followed, along with the mounted patrol, the ski patrol in their summer-weight jackets, the float with the princesses on it, and the local kids leading dogs and cats – some rather reluctantly – on leashes. For some of us, the Fourth of July parade is a chance to see just how much the local kids have grown over the past year. For others, it’s a chance to see something that is really ours. This is our valley. This is our town. This is our parade. These are our people. These are the people who make our little valley unique in the whole world. This is a chance for us all to get together and celebrate us, you know? But all that comes later. What comes first on this day above all others is the American flag. Oh, it’s a great big one. Where they found this one, I don’t know, but it takes two high school boys to carry it. It really doesn’t matter what size it is, because it’s what it means to us that counts. To Herb over there, there are memories of his terrible days in Korea, I’m sure, and the wounds that sent him home early. To Doc, maybe it’s the way the G.I. Bill let him go back to college and fulfill his life’s dream of taking care of sick people. To Annette, over across the street there, there is a look in her eyes that tells us that flag meant she could protest whatever the complaintdu-jour was during her college days. She knows there are few places in the world this tolerant of unpopular opinions. And then there’s Dewey down on the corner. He’s got his hand over his heart as the flag goes by. Maybe he’s thinking of a country that will allow him to start a business with a borrowed pickup and a shovel and supply our flower beds with fertilizer. He sure wasn’t able to make anything else work for him. And today this accident-prone pal of ours has branched out into fishing worms and compost. But these are just speculations, because what the flag means to each of us is personal. We don’t have to tell anyone. We never have Hartington Tree LLC to explain. We even have the freedom not to be here looking as the flag goes by. PRECISION PAINTING It’s an American thing. A very private American moment. INTERIOR • EXTERIOR COMMERCIAL • RESIDENTIAL Quality Workmanship, Reasonable Rates Since 1983 CLINT TUCKER • 624-4621 Grain Bin Dealer TREE TRIMMING, REMOVALS & TRANSPLANTING TREES FOR SALE EVERGREEN • SHADE • ORNAMENTAL Yankton 605-260-1490 Hartington 402-254-6710 Serving Southeast SD & Northeast NE for 20 Years Kent & Kyle Hochstein • Licensed Arborists www.hartingtontree.com • AUTOMOTIVE COLLISION REPAIR • PAINT • FRAMEWORK • GLASS REPLACEMENT HOURS: M-F 9AM-6PM SAT 9AM-12PM 1205 CARR STREET • VERMILLION • 605.670.0471 BlainesBodyShop@gmail.com Now Accepting New Clientele Touching Lives Caregiver, LLC “Live Life To the Fullest” Ana Nesselhuf, Owner IRRIGATION SALES & SERVICE Irrigation PVC, Wire Installed, Well Drilling Domestic & Irrigation Pump Installation WATERLINE & ELECTRIC TRENCHING Tree & Concrete Removal, Site Clearing, & Ditch Trenching Phone: 605.202.0987 ana@TouchingLivesCaregiver.com www.TouchingLivesCaregiver.com ALL TYPES OF DIRT WORK - FREE ESTIMATES Services Provided: Personal Care | Transitional/Respite Care Companionship, Medication Reminders | Appointment Accompaniment | Meal Preperation, Team Services Available 24/7 | Long/Short Term Care | Activities of Daily Living Vermillion, SD (605)670-9567 Hartington, NE (402)254-2568 Bobcats • Crane • Dozers • Excavators • Grader Grain Trailer • Scrapers • Side Dumps • Trenchers Licensed in SD, NE & IA