Worn flag retired from Western Cemetery after visitor gets help from Quincy City Hall

Allen Campbell rides his motorcycle through Quincy on a regular basis.

“I grew up there and lived on Franklin Street,” Campbell said. “Since I attended Quincy High School, I always look over it as I go by it.”

During a recent ride, Campbell noticed a flagpole in the Western Cemetery behind the school, on West Sharon Street.

“There was an old flag hanging there that was in bad shape and needed to be replaced,” Campbell said. “When I checked it out, I found the line the flag is mounted on was worn out.”

Campbell said the flag was so worn he couldn’t use it to lower the flag.

According to Quincy Main Street’s website, Western Cemetery is one of Quincy’s oldest cemeteries.

First and second-generation Gadsden County pioneers are buried there. Many were descendants of well-to-do families from the Colonies and of Scottish or Irish descent.

They came to the Florida territory seeking opportunity in the newly opened frontier.

Among them were early political leaders and the town’s social elite.

Oral tradition says slaves too were buried there at the cemetery’s northern edge where wildflowers grew in the Spring.

Campbell said if he could have, he would have replaced the flag himself.

Since the fire station is nearby on Washington Street, Campbell went there to see if they could take it down.

He spoke with someone there and was told they would check it out and take the old flag down if they could.

About a week later he was riding down Franklin Street again and the old flag was still up.

“I stopped at the fire station and was told they were not allowed to remove it since it was on private property,” Campbell said.

It was recommended that he speak with someone at the city hall across the parking lot.

“I went in and met the secretary for the city manager,” Campbell said. “I told her what the issue was, and she contacted Mr. Robert Nixon, the city manager. He came out to meet me and I was able to tell him the story.”

Nixon said he would check it out and replace the old flag if he could.

A week later Campbell called the city again and the city manager’s secretary LaTrenda Gainous told him that the flag had been replaced.

Campbell said during his next ride he had to check it out.

“The old flag has been replaced, is the right size and looks excellent,” Campbell shared.

Nixon also told Campbell he would replace other flags as needed.

It turns out that Nixon and Campbell have something in common, besides their love for Quincy.

Quincy's Western Cemetery, one of the city's oldest cemeteries, has a new flag flying over it. After a visiting native of Quincy notices the old flag was in tatters, he brought it to the attention of City Manager Richard Nixon, who made immediate effort to replace the flag.

Nixon is an army veteran and Campbell air force veteran.

The city manager said replacing tattered flags is a city-wide effort.

He said he has staff direct orders to retire those flags and has also set up a routine to monitor the American flags at all city facilities and parks.

Nixon said the city invests in high quality American flags, so they usually last about two years, depending on the weather.

The city manager said the flags are never just taken down and thrown away.

“There is a ceremonial process,” Nixon shared. “We lower them slowly, handle them with care, and fold them properly.”

Nixon said the old flags are then shipped somewhere where they are burned.

He said Quincy has many veterans that help with this effort.

“I couldn’t be happier at how this was handled,” Campbell expressed.

Campbell said with there being so much bad news every day, he wanted to share a positive story about his hometown.

Erin Hill - erin@gadsdencountytimes.com

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Worn flag retired from Western Cemetery after visitor gets help from Quincy City Hall

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County hosts meet-and-greet in Midway

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