Volunteers from Viola and Galesburg, and Knox and Warren Counties in Illinois asked to support “The Flagman’s Mission Continues” setting up US Flags for the funeral of Sheriff’s Deputy for Knox County Nicholas “Nick” Weist killed in the line of duty
Help is needed to set up between 1,000 and 2,000 US 3×5 foot flags on Friday May 6th for the funeral of Sherriff’s Deputy for Knox County Nicholas “Nick” Weist, killed in the line of duty. After the event concludes, help is needed on Sunday May 8th to take the flags down and reload them into the trailer.
Flags will be set up on Friday May 6th. Meet at 9:15 AM at Galesburg High School parking lot located at 1135 West Fremont Street. Jeff Hastings, President of “The Flagman’s Mission Continues”, will provide instruction on how to use the post drivers and how to unfurl the flags for display. Please bring work gloves and wear comfortable walking shoes! Anyone able to walk and carry 10 pounds can help. Rain or shine. Pickup trucks are most welcome and are very useful in taking the flags from the trailer at the school to the setup locations. We prefer volunteers 12 years and older.
Dennison Funeral Home – Viola, Illinois has been entrusted with the arrangements. A memorial service, open to the public, will be held on Saturday, May 7th at Galesburg High School at 2:00 PM. A first responder walk through will take place at the beginning of the service – line up for the walk through begins at 1:00 PM.
Flags will be taken down on Sunday May 8th. We recognize this is on Mothers’ Day but we need to get all of the flags in the van and drive directly to the next Flagman’s mission in Missouri. Meet at 9:00 AM at the Galesburg High School parking lot. Jeff will provide instructions on how to prepare the flags to put back in the trailer. Pickup trucks are again most welcome. Please bring work gloves!
This mission is special because our founder, Larry Eckhardt, was from this area. Many of the volunteers from Knox and Warren Counties assisted Larry in the missions he supported near his “home town” of Little York until he died in March 2020. We continue Larry’s vision and passion as “The Flagman’s Mission Continues” to honor our fallen heroes.
Normally setup and take down can be completed in two hours or less. A very worthwhile and enjoyable use of your volunteer time! Bring your cameras – the flags provide a lot of photo opportunities that can be shared with the family and others in the community! Show your support for the Weist family and the communities in Knox and Warren Counties!
Questions, call or text Jeff Hastings at 618-409-0323. For information about “The Flagman’s Mission Continues”, please visit www.theflagmanmission.org
