As Denton South Rotary Club members raise more than 800 flags in honor of the Fourth of July, they are raising money to support local charity efforts.

For each of the five patriotic holidays of the year — Memorial Day, Flag Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and Veterans Day — Denton and Corinth residents and businesses can pay a $40 yearly fee to have a flag placed outside their home, said Scott Walker, club president.

DRC/Candace Carlisle

Scott Walker, president of Denton South Rotary Club, walks around Oakmont neighborhood in Denton helping volunteers place American flags for the Fourth of July.

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All of the net proceeds from the flag business, ranging from $30,000 to $35,000 for the year, support local charities including the Denton Food Bank and Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s Home, AIDS research and a scholarship for an Advanced Technology Center student, he said.

“This is our main way of raising money for the Rotary Club,” Walker said.

This year, several members of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at the University of North Texas helped the club place flags, Walker said.

“We need the help; we have a lot of guys who are older and cannot physically do the work,” he said. “When it’s a hot day like today, this is when we need the help.”

Rotary members have provided the flag service for more than 10 years, so they have their work down to a science.

Each flag pole sits in a 10-inch PVC pipe drilled into the ground in front of patrons’ homes, much like a flag marking a golf hole. The pipe sits just above the soil with a dollop of paint marking the site of the pipe for volunteers.

Nine different teams spread out throughout Denton and Corinth on Friday to place flags in neighborhoods and outside businesses on the Denton Square.

“This is what Rotary does — it’s all about community service,” said club member Ralph Wiley, working his way down a list of flag patrons.

About 150 to 200 of the 800 flags will decorate the Square this Fourth of July, making it both attractive and patriotic, said Bill Thomas, owner of Thomas’ Ethan Allen Interiors.

As a veteran of World War II, Thomas wanted downtown businesses to show their patriotism by supporting the flag service, which raises money for the needy in the Denton area, he said.

 “We do get a lot of comments from visitors and from local shoppers,” Thomas said. “It’s beautiful when the wind gets up; it makes me feel proud to be an American.”

The downtown area is harder to serve, and vandals have already destroyed 20 flags so far this year, Walker said.

The flags, owned by the Rotary Club, cost about $5 each, but the screw-in poles, specially designed for the Square, are expensive to replace, he said.

As club members walk around the neighborhoods, some residents come out of their homes in appreciation and others remember they hadn’t renewed their flag service for the year and would like to have a flag placed in front of their home for the Fourth of July.

One resident, Wayne Hitt, said he’d drape his entire house with American flags if the homeowners’ association would let him.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Hitt said. “You can’t have too many flags — anything you do to show support for the military. … They’re the reason for this country and everything we do.”

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.