A year in the making! The new 110' steel internal halyard white powder coated flag pole has finally arrived in Fairhaven. On March 12th Ram Construction welded the three sections together and now the pole awaits for erection into it's final resting point at the right-of-way at 12th & Finnegan Way on March 21st. The Dedicaton & Flag raising will take place at noon on March 24th, where three of the orginal Veterans will be on hand to raise the flag. Visit www.fairhaven.com to tour the photo gallery of the process.
History: In 1989 a small group of Veterans dedicated a 110' cedar flag pole and memorial at the corner of Mill & 12th. In 2003 the pole and memorial were moved across the street to make room for the construction of a new mixed use condominium building. Then in the early morning hours of a blustery November day in 2005 the cedar pole came crashing down across Finnegan Way, due to the high wind & unknown internal rot. Fortunately, no cars, pedestrials, cyclists or buildings were damanged in the incident. But it was a sad day in Fairhaven.
On March 4th, 1885 the founder of Fairhaven, Daniel Jefferson Harris (aka Dirty Dan) raised the first 110' cedar pole in celebration of the inaugeration of Grover Cleveland as President of the United States. So to celebrate the founding father of Fairhaven we have worked to have the new pole errected during the same month.
As Chairperson for the Flag Pole Committee for the Old Fairhaven Association I have been planning and raising funds for this project for the past year. It is very exciting to physically touch the new pole and be days away from seeing the Flag flying high over Fairhaven again in memory of all Veterans. The labor & equipment donated by Ram Construction & crew and the long day of welding provided by Steve Wynkoop of Washington Marine Repair is greatly appreciated by everyone!
Fund raising still continues to put the final touches on the Fairhaven Veterans Memorial Park. The plans include two benches, a garbage can, flowers for the existing planters, picnic table and an on-going maintenance fund for the flag pole & flag. If you would like to contribute to this wonderful memorial or would like more information, please contact me at realtorstephanie@msn.com or by mail at Old Fairhaven Assocation, c/o Stephanie Johnson, 1100 11th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 or www.fairhaven.com
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