Last year, Boothbay American Legion Post 36 undertook a project to erect banners honoring veterans. One Legion member had seen some banners honoring veterans in a town in New York State.

The red, white and blue banners each have the veteran’s picture, along with their rank, branch of service and years of service. The banners honor veterans who have lived here and who served in the military from World War Two to the present.

A five person committee went to work, figuring there might be a couple of hundred banners.

The project became like the sorcerer’s apprentice who taught the brooms to carry water buckets — once it started, it kept on going, and going, and going. Once the banners went up, the phones started ringing, and ringing, and ringing. By year’s end, there were nearly 500 banners on the utility poles throughout the four towns of the peninsula. Many of the banners were placed near the homes of the veterans.

Management of the project was no small matter. The banners were custom printed by a firm in Pennsylvania. Jim Singer and Sarah Sherman McGrail of Southport coordinated the pictures and data.

A critical part of the project was hanging the banners. In Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor, the town workers spent a good part of the summer attaching brackets to the utility poles. Some of them worked on ladders or in the back of a truck. The town of Boothbay purchased a boom truck for the job. The truck has been put to work on other tasks as well.

This work was in addition to the regular duties of the Department of Public Works. Boothbay had to repair serious road damage from the January storms.

The work continued through the summer and fall as the orders kept coming in. By Veterans Day, Nov. 11, there were 495 banners on the poles throughout the peninsula. They were taken down for the winter but will be rehung in time for Memorial Day, and again in 2026.

The committee has presented certificates of appreciation to the DPW crews -- in Boothbay: Mike Alley, Samuel Barter, Tony Goode, Roman Peterson and Andy Wooster; in Boothbay Harbor: Nick Upham, Hunter Arsenault, Jaden Arsenault, Benedict Fabiano, Eric Hyson and Nick Livingston.