Special boxes at Woodlawn and Greenwood cemeteries will collect flags for proper disposal

ZANESVILLE − This Memorial Day holiday visitors to Woodlawn Cemetery , 603 Pershing Road, and Greenwood Cemetery , 1413 Greenwood Ave., will see new additions to the military sections of the graveyards — flag boxes.

“The goal is to provide a place where people can dispose of the flags in a respectable way,” said Cemetery Superintendent Howard Bailey.

In Woodlawn, the flag box will be at the front entrance, close to the military section. In Greenwood, the flag box will be in the Spanish-American war area in the military section.

Bailey said one of two things typically happens in cemeteries: Visitors either throw the American flag in the trash or flags on graves get worn and tattered, then fly away in the wind and end up on the ground.

“With the flag boxes, visitors can properly dispose of the flag themselves,” said Bailey. “Then we take the flags from the boxes and deliver them to the Boy Scouts, who dispose of them in the traditional way.”

Bailey said every year the cemeteries partner with Muskingum County Veterans Services for a project in the military section. Past projects have included lights on the flagpoles and painting the cannon at Woodlawn. This year’s project was the flag boxes.

“It’s great that they’re taking a look at something that needed fixed,” said Colton Touvell, director of the Muskingum County Veterans Service Office. “It shows a lot of respect for veterans and service members.”

Touvell said anyone in the public can bring an American flag to the veterans office, the VFW, or the Boy Scouts of America for proper disposal. He said there’s also a flag disposal box outside the American Legion in downtown Zanesville and outside the Muskingum County Courthouse.

Touvell said proper disposal requires the flag to be folded into a triangle shape, burned, and either say the Pledge of Allegiance or be given a proper salute.

Bailey said the flag boxes will be installed before Memorial Day.

“Every year people change out the old flags with new ones, and with these boxes, they can dispose of the old ones properly,” he said of the permanent boxes. “This gives people a way to dispose of them in a way that is dignified of the American flag."

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Special boxes at Woodlawn and Greenwood cemeteries will collect flags for proper disposal