Skelton, Cox to join Sedalia Elks for Flag Day ceremony

The Sedalia Elks Lodge 125 will host a Flag Day ceremony on Sunday in honor of Old Glory as the American flag celebrates its 233rd birthday.

The group will host its annual Flag Day celebration beginning at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the lodge, 320 S. Kentucky Ave.

A little less than a year after the United States declared their independence from England, the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, officially designated a flag for the fledgling nation comprised of “13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a field of blue, representing a new constellation.”

The day, like the flag, has a winding history, but became a recognized national holiday by an act of Congress in 1949.

Lodge 125 Exalted Leader Kathy Baron said the program — a long-standing part of yearly Elks tradition — tells the history of the flag “from conception to its current form.”

“The program starts with the first flag and goes from the beginning to our flag today. We are a very patriotic organization and this is very dear to Elks as a whole,” Baron said.

Members of the lodge will be joined at the ceremony by 4th District Congressman Ike Skelton and 118th District state Rep. Stan Cox. The ceremony will last about 30 minutes and also will feature the presentation of the flag by members of the Smith-Cotton High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, Baron said.

Baron said the event will be held outside, weather permitting, and is open to members of the public.

For more information call Lodge 125 at 826-5391.