A Date to Remember

A Date to Remember. . , In 1947 a project was begun to restore this building and the surrounding grounds as the National Flag Day Memorial dedicated to the American flag by Fraternal Benefit Societies of Wisconsin. It was at this school in 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand as a young teacher conceived the idea to encourage our citizens to observe the birthday of our nation's flag each year., Flag Day, June 14, began here., Those fraternalists formed the National Fraternal Flag Day Foundation and it was then chartered by the State of Wisconsin as a corporation, Over the years more fraternalists from across the nation joined the effort. On June 14, 1976, their Bicentennial commemorative project was a dedication and Flag Day observance of national prominence. On that day the ninety-eight member societies of the National Fraternal Congress of America gave these gifts to the Flag Day shrine: the avenue of flags pathway extensive landscaping and fencing, fifty flag poles, one named for each state of the union, a state flag, brought here by a representative from each state, and a portfolio from each state that was buried in a time capsule on these grounds., On June 14, 1977 to mark the 200th birthday of our nation's flag, the National Fraternal Flag Day Foundation deeded this building and these grounds to the Ozaukee County Historical Society to be used by their community and the nation's citizens as a shrine to National Flag Day.