Local veteran asks city for help funding Hometown Heroes banner brackets

CHEBOYGAN — The City of Cheboygan received a request recently from Joe Longstreet and Pat Bolen of the Cheboygan County Veterans Subcommittee to potentially help pay for the brackets used to hang memorial banners.

The banners, from the History of Hometown Heroes group, would be hung on different utility poles throughout the city — mostly around Veterans Memorial Park on Court Street — telling the stories of local veterans. The brackets used to hang them would become city property, so the veterans were asking the city to help pick up the cost.

"You had Abby (Cherry) here and she talked to you about the Hometown Hero banners," said Bolen.

More:Hometown Heroes displays to honor Cheboygan area veterans

Bolen said he feels this History of Hometown Heroes program is something that will be good for the community, as well as the veterans who live here.

He shared the story of when he came home from Vietnam and the negative reception he received from the community, so he burned his uniforms and everything related to his time in the service, and never spoke about his time in the service until he got involved in Veterans Memorial Park and the veterans subcommittee. He is now more comfortable telling his story after learning about this program.

The memorial park is meant to honor all the local veterans who have served the country in the military. Bolen said the banners would allow members of the community to learn the stories of area veterans and keep that local history alive.

"I have seen what Abby has done with these banners. We've only sold seven banners so far," said Bolen. "I'm very lucky. I had the money where I could put a banner up, put my story on the banner, so that the people around town and the little guys that help us with Veterans Park will learn what it is to be in the military and why they're even there."

The banners are costing the veterans and those who want to honor veterans $350 each, to be on display for two years. Whoever is purchasing the banner is also incurring the cost of the brackets being put on the poles to display the banners. If the city were to purchase the brackets, it could make the cost of the banners more manageable for veterans to purchase them and participate in the program.

More:City DDA to work with Hometown Heroes banner program

Bolen said once the brackets have been placed on the poles, they will belong to the City of Cheboygan, and will be in place forever, or until the city decides to take them down.

"We live in a community that's a working class community. We've got a lot of young veterans in town that have never been thanked for their service," said Bolen. "They don't want to talk about what they did when they were in. This is a good opportunity."

Bolen was asking the city as an individual — not as representing Veterans Memorial Park or the county's veterans subcommittee —to help out with the cost of the brackets. He asked city officials to contact Cherry, who is the organizer of the Hometown Heroes banner program, or to get in touch with the city's Downtown Development Authority to find a way to fund the hardware to mount the banners.

"I don't care if it's the city that puts these brackets up and pays for the brackets, but it should not be the veteran that the city's trying to honor," he said. "When these banners go up, it brings people into town."

Bolen said people will be coming to the city to see the banners when they are on display. There is a special code that people will be able to scan with their cell phones to hear all about the veterans.

The banners would be put up in the spring and then be taken down in the late fall each year. They could be put up with a bucket truck, if the brackets were in place.

"So please, think about getting ahold of Abby and finding a way to put these up," said Bolen.

Contact Features Writer Kortny Hahn at khahn1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @khahnCDT.