BACKGROUND
This idea is not original with the Rochester Lions Clubs. Avenue of Flags is a park in the city of Hermitage in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States, erected during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979 - 1981 to honor the American diplomats held hostage in Tehran, Iran. The park is on the grounds of the Hillcrest Memorial Park cemetery and is open to the public and is run by the Non-profit Avenue of Flags Foundation.
Inspired by this example, a few service organizations throughout the nation have voluntarily taken this idea to their local communities to serve as a public display of patriotism. They give their time to put up and take down these flags on the selected days. In return, participating residences pay a subscription for this service and these funds allow that service organization to provide a host of services and good will.
The Rochester Host Lions Club initiated the project in Rochester, Minnesota in 2010. It found out from the City of Rochester that prior to this time, the City prevented anything to be placed on the boulevards in the City. Therefore, the City Council, wanting to be supportive of this project, adopted a special ordinance to allow for the placement of certain flags in the boulevards and created a permit process along with fees payable to the city for each site. The city charges an annual fee of $200 which includes 100 new sites plus all the renewals from past years. In addition it charges $10 per new site above the 100 limit each year. The Lions pay for these fees as a part of the project expenses. Fortunately for this project, the City has now agreed to no charges and will hold the Lions responsible for placement according to city regulations.
In 2011, the Rochester ’76 Lions Club joined the Rochester Host Lions Club in this patriotic community project.