A community-wide Pledge of Allegiance gathering is being planned Saturday, May 22, as a group of volunteers led by Newtown “Keeper of the Flagpole” Chris Gardner honor a long tradition of raising the annual summer flag on Main Street before Memorial Day.

Gardner, who is also a Borough of Newtown Senior Burgess and a Town Board of Finance member, reached out to The Newtown Bee to announce that at 8 am that morning, the Borough, in collaboration with Newtown Lions Club and Newtown Hook & Ladder, will be hosting a community Pledge of Allegiance.

Anyone wishing to attend the brief activity is asked to gather socially distant just before 8 am in front of Newtown Meeting House, at 31 Main Street, adjacent to the flagpole, to watch as the winter flag is formally retired and the new summer flag is hoisted up.

As in the past, Lions Club members and Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters will assist with retiring of the winter flag and the unfurling and raising of the summer flag. The Lions Club donates the summer flag, which measures 20 by 30 feet.

The winter flag, which measures 12 by 18 feet, is much lighter to help minimize stress on the pole during winter storms. That flag is donated every year by Newtown Hardware owner Mike Sorrentino.

“We thought it would be a nice opportunity for people to come down and watch as the flags are changed over for the season,” said Gardner “It’s very moving to watch as the larger summer flag is unfurled on Main Street and raised. It takes a lot of hands to do it properly.”

In related news, and barring weather complications, Gardner said a contractor is expected to do a full top-to-bottom painting of the flagpole today. That work and the reinstallation of new safety reflectors will bring to near completion a years-long project to bring the iconic flagpole up to contemporary standards with new upward facing LED lighting that was underwritten by a 2020 fundraiser.

Garner said Eversource completed its part of the upgrade work by installing new downward facing LED lighting.

“This is a big week for the flagpole,” Gardner said. “I’m really hopeful that we can have all the work completed by Memorial Day weekend to mark the unofficial start of summer.”

Associate Editor John Voket can be reached at john@thebee.com.