Tattered flag box gets a makeover of its own, Falls City High senior earns his Eagle Badge

Several years ago C. Ken Simpson realized there was a growing issue in Falls City. People always called him to ask what they should do with their tattered and old flags.
Simpson went to the Post Office and asked if they had an old mail box they would be willing to part with; he wanted it to serve as a drop-off site for retired American flags. It just so happened that the USPS did have one it wanted to part with. Simpson took the mailbox to Fred Deckinger and asked him if he could paint it camouflage green. Once the box was painted, it was placed near the back door of the American Legion Post #102 in Falls City.
The drop-off sight for tattered and old flags has worked out wonderfully, but over the years the old box has lost its color and was in dire need of some TLC.
Trenton Pentecost, wanting to earn his Eagle Badge and needing a project, set his sites on the old mailbox. Pentecost thought it would be a good idea to clean it up and make it more accessible for vehicles.
“It (the mailbox) was very brown and not very appealing to see and most people probably had no idea what it even was,” Pentecost said.
He took the old box, sandblasted it and powder coated it with the help of the good people at WASP. But Pentecost wasn’t done; he contacted Sportin’ FC and asked them for some help with stickers to better inform the public of just what purpose the bin served. Now the old brown box is a shiny bright red, prominently adorned with the Stars and Stripes.
“A great reason to do this is so that all the flags that really need to be disposed of, can get done properly by the American Legion,” Pentecost said.
If you have a flag that needs to be properly disposed of, you can use the beautiful refurnished mail box that sits at 723 Harlan St.