American Celebration Flag in the news!
Flag Float to make another inauguration parade appearence
By Preston Knight -- Daily Staff Writer
From nvdaily.com
QUICKSBURG -- The president's name, administration scandals and White House pets may change, but the American flag float that has appeared in each inaugural parade for nearly a quarter of a century is often the same.
Since its opening in 2000, American Celebration on Parade has featured a 24-foot tall, 55-foot long American flag float that has been a part of at least five inauguration parades, General Manager Joe Proctor said. President-elect Obama's event, on Jan. 20, is included on the list.
"A lot of local people don't realize how much history is here," Proctor said.
Built by Hargrove Inc., which owns American Celebration and Shenandoah Caverns, for Ronald Reagan's first inauguration, the float didn't actually appear in a parade until his re-election. It was too cold for the parade during Reagan's second inauguration in 1985, so the float was instead used as a backdrop for musicians for an event indoors, Proctor said.
Uncle Sam always rides on the float, he said, but only two prominent people, and no presidents, have done the same -- Bob Hope and retired Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager. It is not yet known, at least publicly, who will be riding on it in January.
"The inaugural committee has been quiet about the parade," Proctor said.
Each president has a special float for his inauguration, and Reagan had Hargrove construct the American flag for his. A couple of other inaugural floats, including Vice President Dick Cheney's Wyoming-themed one, are also on display at American Celebration. Hargrove has made 75 percent of the presidential inaugural floats, Proctor said.
The enormity of the flag float is only half of what might lead people to be in awe of it. The way its makers developed the "velvet" look it has from a distance requires a painstaking amount of detail, Proctor said.
The material is a type of satin, and to achieve its unique appearance a person must scrunch the material in his or her hand and staple it onto the float between their fingers until the entire float is covered, he said. The same person must do it because each person's hand might be a different size.
The last time the stapling was done was for President Bush four years ago. Company owner Earl Hargrove, 80, has done the work in the past, Proctor said, and he advised workers this time not to have anything go wrong with the float's disassembly and transportation to the headquarters in Maryland that would require a repetition of that tedious process.
The float required three days to be taken apart, Proctor said. It is leaving in two tractor-trailers today for Maryland, where some changes, including the construction of stages, will be made. American Celebration will cover the area where the float was located with a curtain and have photos of it, all serving to inform visitors of its scheduled spot in the inaugural parade.
The float should return to the attraction in less than two weeks following the parade, Proctor said. An increase in visitation is possible.
"Any time you can increase business in the winter time, it's a good thing," Proctor said, "especially in January."
* Contact Preston Knight at pknight@nvdaily.com
Photo by Rich Cooley/Daily
