Last modified: 2006-07-15 by rick wyatt
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from http://www.townofflorida.org/Flag.htm
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In 1997 the 3rd, 5th, and 6th grades at the Gabriel Abbott Memorial School
took a field trip to the Statehouse in Boston where there is a large hall with
flags hanging overhead from towns all across the state. Teachers and chaperones
on the trip realized a flag from the town of Florida was not flying. A short
time after the trip, a town flag design contest was organized by art teacher
Brigitta Furhman, in which the 5th through the 8th grades participated. Teachers
Mary Scanlon, Alfred Gallese and Denise Chesbro judged the entries and chose two
designs-one centering around the eastern portal of the Hoosac Tunnel and the
other, the elk statue at the Whitcomb Summit on the Mohawk Trail. One design was
created by Ian Downey, son of Christopher Downey and the late Barbara Downey,
and the other was created by Shelby Lewis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel
Lewis. The two designs were combined with the Elk perched atop the Hoosac Tunnel
and this design was then approved by the selectmen. Carolyn Cummings of the town
of Florida has made two flags-one for the Statehouse and one that is displayed
in the school. Jeffrey Burdick, chairman of the Adrian J. Poirot Veterans
Memorial Committee, has commissioned a third flag to be hung in the town office
building and to be used at town functions, such as the Memorial Day service. At
the Memorial Day service on May 29, 2000, Shelby Lewis and Ian Downey were
awarded certificates of appreciation for their flag design and Carolyn Cummings
received the Betsy Ross award for sewing the new flags.
Dov Gutterman, 19 October 2002