It may take a village, but sometimes it only takes neighbors reaching out to help
Warwick. Repair Cafe volunteer mend a familiar flag.
| 18 Sep 2023 | 03:21
Flag owners Bryan and Abbey Ashley. Photos provided by Joan Maxwell.
Bryan Ashley, Fred Rossi, the Repair Cafe’s knife and tool sharpener, and Abbey Ashley unfurled the flag on tables at the Warwick Senior Center.
Reflections.
Fred Rossi. the Repair Cafe’s knife and tool sharpener, and seamstress Elena Valentino, check the flag.
Bryan Ashley, Elena Valentino, Nancy Fernandez, Deanne Singer and Regina Shaw inspect the flag.
Elena Valentino, one of the seamstresses with Warwick Repair Cafe.
Repair Cafe seamstresses Regina Shaw, Deanne Singer and Elena Valentino work on the flag.
Bryan and Abbey Ashley’s flag flying high off Route 94 in Warwick.
Joan Maxwell of Chester shared these photos and the story behind them.
This is the story about the great American Flag, not just any flag but an heirloom flag measuring 25 feet by 40 feet.
Picture five park benches in width and a full-sized school bus in length.
This gigantic flag flies in a field just off Route 94 in Warwick.
Abbey Ashley is the owner of the flag and was trying to find someone to repair the frayed and torn flag. After making some inquires, it was suggested she dispose of the flag and get a new one.
Enter Elena Valentino, a Warwick Repair Café seamstress who thought the Warwick Repair Café team could do the job.
Elena consulted with a friend of hers named Linda Farrell, the flag expert who worked for nearly nine years making flags for the Federal Government, including the very first Space Force Flag just before the Pandemic.
Linda said it would be an honor to help maintain the legacy of this particular flag, at no charge.
Linda repaired the frayed flag but there were many holes that needed to be mended by hand that the Warwick Repair Café team could take care of.
Due to the size of the flag, a room and tables were needed that could accommodate this endeavor.
Since the Warwick Repair Café uses the Warwick Senior Center for their events, they were able to reserve the building and enlist the help of Repair Café volunteers to help unfurl the flag, do the repair then fold it up properly afterward.
As they say, it takes a village. But in this case, it takes one neighbor reaching out to help another neighbor - like it used to be, which is what this country is all about, or at least it should be.
Maybe we can all try just a little harder to get back to that place.