Volunteer’s Patriotic Spirit Never Flags

A few years back, Bette Frazier was so appalled by City Hall’s tattered, faded flags that she wrote a letter to the mayor asking him to create a job that would give someone the responsibility of mending them.

Three months later, in a congratulatory letter dated March 1993, Mayor William D. Mahoney appointed Frazier the city’s official flag commissioner.

Her job, a volunteer position unique to La Habra, consists of scanning the city’s streets in search of filthy, ripped and faded flags.

When she spots one, she visits its owner and requests that it be replaced. Most people do so with pleasure.

After she recently alerted a local bank that its flag was torn and caught in a tree, the banner was replaced immediately and the tree was trimmed.

A vendor at the city’s I Love La Habra Fair quickly reversed his flag after Frazier pointed out that he had hung it backward. The blue field of stars should always be on the upper left hand corner, Frazier explained to him.

Only one business owner and one homeowner have refused to fix or replace their frayed flags, Frazier said. The homeowner even rejected a new flag from Frazier and has since moved out of town.

“Seeing a ripped flag just hanging there makes me feel terrible because I’m so proud to be an American, and the flag is a symbol of that feeling,” she said. “I just want everybody to respect the flag.”

It’s just a matter of respect, Frazier says. She has explained her mission to numerous residents and children, and many of them now call her to tell her if they sight a flag problem or use a city hotline, (562) 905-9743. Her job is to ask the owners to take action and to offer help.

Since Frazier got the job, the number of badly kept flags has decreased dramatically, officials say.

Encouraged by her success, she said, she hopes to persuade the City Council to invite residents to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at its meetings.