Chris Gardner, Newtown’s “Keeper of the Flag,” was at the Main Street flagpole recently, watching while Hook & Ladder firefighters changed out the flag that had been atop the 100-foot-tall pole for a new one.

“We need this one to last until May,” Gardner said last Monday morning. “These are hard to come by, and we are out of winter flags now.”

Thanks to donations from Newtown Hardware, sturdy 18- by 24-foot flags for the winter season have been provided for the flagpole for years, according to Gardner. Recent flags arranged through hardware store owner Mike Sorrentino have been “very heavy duty, heavier than we usually do,” Gardner noted.

Despite a relatively mild winter, however, the February 19 visit to the landmark represented the third winter flag raised this season.

A summer flag generally flies from mid-May until shortly after Labor Day, at which time the smaller winter flag is raised. The summer flags measure a majestic 20 by 30 feet.

One of the things Gardner found himself thinking about last Sunday morning was the continued maintenance required for the landmark, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Regular donations from the hardware store and Newtown Lions Club — which annually donates a summer flag — have been gratefully accepted by Gardner and his predecessor, David Lydem.

The summer flags average $700 and the winter flags average $375 each, according to Gardner.

“There’s a lot of generosity behind those flags,” he said.

Between weather and traffic, the flags and the pole itself can take quite a beating. Gardner occasionally finds himself not only arranging for flags to be replaced — by Hook & Ladder, who does not charge for the time or equipment use, he also noted — but also taking care of minor painting.

“I touched it up yesterday when the firefighters were there,” he said this week. “It took a bad hit recently, and there’s a visible dent in it now. We’ll have to address that, although I’ve been told it’s safe structurally.

“At some point the whole thing will have to be painted,” he said.

Upkeep includes painting and occasionally repairing dings and dents on the flagpole, light repairs, and even the regilding of the ball at the top of the pole. Steeplejacks are hired for painting and regilding, and an electrician needs to be hired for any work on the lighting.

Fortunately, there is a Newtown Flagpole Fund. The fund was established through funds left in trust by Alida Pennie Knotts for the care and maintenance of the flagpole. Its use is governed through the Town Treasurer, Gardner explained.

The good news is, there is currently $15,739 in that fund, Gardner shared.

The challenge is, the seed money for that fund accounts for $10,000 of the balance, and Gardner is “really reluctant to tap the remaining funds,” he said. It can run between $500 to $1,000 every time an electrician is called out, Gardner told The Newtown Bee in 2020. The changing from the flagpole’s old stadium style lights to LED lighting that autumn has helped lessen those repair costs.

Gardner is hoping readers will consider donating, at any level, toward the flagpole’s maintenance.

“We’ve had people donate large sums, and I had one guy recently hand me $20 and tell me he wanted it to go toward the flagpole,” he said. “All of those funds go to the Town Treasurer, and that dedicated fund.”

Gardner took over as Keeper of the Flagpole in 2015. He has said he feels “honored and actually somewhat humbled being involved in this.” He keeps a stash of paint at his home, usually paid for out of pocket, for Sunday morning visits to the flagpole to take care of scuff marks.

The Main Street flagpole has been a staple of the five-way intersection since 1876, when the first of four poles was installed in the center of the road there. The current pole was installed in 1950.

Most people love its presence, the way it rises in the center of the road and presents the nation’s flag.

In his essay “A Brief History of Newtown: The Newtown Flagpole,” the late Dan Cruson posited there “is no more precious landmark in Newtown than its flagpole. Anyone who doubts this only has to review the furor which surrounded the recent attempt of the Department of Transportation to remove it from the intersection where it has stood for over 130 years. This pole has become a symbol of Newtown.”

While many drivers have had challenges and issues navigating around the unusual landmark, fortunately the crashes that occur within the intersection are usually minor in nature.

The listing of the Main Street flagpole on both the state and national registers of historic places means it is not going anywhere. That means maintenance and upkeep fees are not going away, either.

Readers who would like to donate to The Newtown Flagpole Fund are invited to contact Chris Gardner at 203-592-1093.

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.