Central Oregon prepares for Veterans Day

Veterans Day is a sea of red, white and blue, but those flags don’t just pop up out of nowhere. NewsChannel 21 was given a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on before those many flags fly in Central Oregon.

“We have approximately 1,450 flags,” Randy Povey, co-chair of Flag City USA, said Thursday.

A total of 6 1/2 miles of wall-to-wall flags will soon grace the streets of Redmond. Seven trailers, with about 200 flags each, will follow a pre-planned route for drop off and pickup.

According to Povey, it only takes about a half-hour for all the flags to go up — and when they do, it’s an amazing sight. Even after doing this job for 25 years, he hopes for many more, saying, “It’s my passion.”

Robert Hurzeler has similar feelings. The Vietnam vet has been watching over the flags used for Bend’s celebration for over a decade.

“I’m very proud to be able to do my little part for this, and there’s a whole lot of other people involved, and it’s just fantastic,” Hurzeler said.

About 400 flags are kept at the storage lot he manages in Bend. They are separated and organized by where they will be displayed, then loaded into a truck.

Hurdler said once they are up, it’s a stirring sight.

“Putting up these flags and seeing them fly downtown means an awful lot to us,” he said.