By KELLY WILSON
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
For more than a decade, Chris Black has ensured that the 7,000-plus flags that are placed on graves at the Illinois Veterans Home during the Memorial Day holiday look respectable.
It's her way of helping to honor veterans, specifically those buried at Sunset Cemetery on the home's grounds.
"I started in 1999 and I've done it every year since," Black said.
"We're so appreciative," said Rick Gengenbacher of the Veterans Home. "We know those flags are going to be ready to go, they're going to look good and we're going to have the right amount."
One flag is in front of every grave marker at Sunset Cemetery.
Washington School second- and third-graders put the flags out on Thursday, and they will remain in place through June 1.
"I tear up just talking about it," Black said of the flag display in the cemetery. "It's just so pretty, and such a nice tribute. My daddy was a veteran of World War II and my husband (George) is a veteran, too. I would encourage (people) to take 10 minutes to drive out there. It's just gorgeous."
Black volunteered to iron the flags after she and her husband took children from their church to the Veterans Home for a service project. They were going to put the flags out on the graves, and were asked to come early to smooth them out with their hands because they're stored in big laundry bins.
"They're just thrown in these bins," Black said. "When it's time to put them up, they're all wrinkled and dirty.
"When we took them down, I asked the guys, couldn't you get some organization to press these flags and make them look nice, and they laughed at me. They said nobody would do that, and I said I would. ... I didn't realize how many there were."
It takes Black about an hour to press 100 of the 8- by 12-inch flags, and that adds up to more than 70 hours of ironing.
"I iron them at my leisure," she said. "It just depends on my mood and my time. If I get tired, I quit."
She also launders by hand the flags that need cleaning.
"Last year I laundered 200 flags or more because they were dirty," Black said.
Black is looking for a group to take over the flag-ironing duty. She thinks it would be a nice project for a service club or church group.
Gengenbacher says the flag display at Sunset Cemetery is an integral part of the home's Memorial Day activities.
The home's Memorial Day program will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 30. 1st Lt. Scott Grimes, commander of the Illinois Army National Guard 1844th Transportation Company, based in Quincy, will be the guest speaker. A meal for residents, their families and guests will take place at 11:30 a.m.
The flag display "really adds to the program," Gengenbacher said.
-- kwilson@whig.com/221-3391
