As Mower County gathered on Memorial Day to honor those who gave the supreme sacrifice, veterans were already working to add a new element to the holiday in 2016 and to all other future patriotic celebrations.

A field of flags is coming to Austin.

The American Legion Post 91, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, the auxiliaries and other veterans groups are partnering to bring the field of flags to Bandshell Community Park for future patriotic holidays.

The flags are set to debut during Freedom Fest and will be on display July 3-5.

“It’s going to look good,” Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Scott Wiechmann said. “It’s going to enhance the area, and it just promotes Americanism.”

A group of veterans and Austin officials gathered at the park last Thursday to check out the spot for the future field of flags on each holiday. About 76 to 80 flags will be spaced about 10 to 20 feet apart and will line the trail from Main Street, past the bandshell and to Ninth Place Southwest just north of the Veteran’s Pavilion. Flags could eventually be added to another stretch of trail that runs north to south through the park.

Like the veterans, city leaders are on board with the idea.

“We think it’s fantastic,” Austin Area Chamber of Commerce Director Sandy Forstner said. “For years we wanted a field of flags as part of that celebration.”

The chamber organizes Freedom Fest each year, and Forstner said the field of flags will be a great addition to the park to remind people where our freedom comes from.

“One of the reasons we call it Freedom Fest is it’s the Fourth of July, we’re celebrating our independence,” Forstner said.

The flags will be used for holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Veterans Day, Flag Day, Patriot Day and at special request.

“I think it will be a great deal to honor all the veterans and help on the holidays kind of beautify it,” incoming American Legion Post 91 Commander Kirk Olsen said.

Outgoing American Legion Commander Rollie Hanson said he hopes the field of flags will help encourage people to recognize and show respect for veterans.

“It’s a great chance to honor our veterans and something that I think should have been done a long time ago,” Hanson said. “The veterans, they come and go, and next thing you know they’re forgotten.”

Hanson noted the flags could be a good outreach opportunity and help garner interest amongst veterans.

“If we can keep the veterans’ interest in it, we’re going to have more enrollment in our post too — the VFW, the American Legion and the DAV,” Hanson said.

Hanson envisions getting schools involved in some ways, and he noted the field of flags could help teach area young people to respect the flag and about flag etiquette.

“When you fold the flag, there’s like 13 different parts of that flag folding that the average person does not realize,” Hanson said.

“We just want to teach them that when you fold the flag into the triangle, everything has to end up blue,” Hanson said. “If you have red showing, then that’s called a bleeding flag. We want to make sure that no red is show at all when you have that into a triangle.”

Forstner noted Austin and Mower County veteran organizations serve the entire community, not just veterans, and give back to Boy Scouts, youth clubs and other groups.

Wiechman said Austin veterans groups and the Mower County Veterans Council have talked about taking on a bigger role in maintaining the Veterans Pavilion while the city keeps ownership, similar to an adopt-a-park program.

“We’re just in the infant stages of talking about that,” Parks and Rec Director Kim Underwood said.