http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740 It&rsquo;s only six weeks until Memorial Day. Is your flag fit to fly? It may seem a bit early to prepare for a holiday many Americans barely acknowledge any more, but Fran Ramirez can&rsquo;t start soon enough. Every Memorial Day for the past decade, the 72-year-old Ramirez has made it her business to ensure that each of the 5,000 flags that flutter over the graves of American veterans buried in Union Cemetery is clean, pressed and free from wear. As a member of the United Veterans Memorial Day Committee &mdash; a collective of local veterans&rsquo; groups that organize Memorial Day services at cemeteries &mdash; Ramirez starts the process two months ahead, carefully checking each flag for stains or tears. Before she took on the job, the 8-by-12 inch cloth flags were stored tightly rolled, leaving them wrinkled and misshapen when placed on the graves the following year. The wrinkled flags &ldquo;didn&rsquo;t look right,&rdquo; says Ramirez, who is the daughter, sister, wife and foster mom to American veterans. Now when the holiday is done, the flags are removed from the graves, carefully washed and ironed, then stored flat. Ramirez soaks the flags&rsquo; 14-inch staffs in bleach water to remove dark dirt stains before they, too, are stowed away for another year. Despite such tender loving care, sun and sprinklers take their toll on the flags, which are properly disposed of by the Boy Scouts when they begin to show signs of wear. And some flags aren&rsquo;t around long enough to wear out, thanks to thieves who think nothing of plucking a few from their sacred sites. Clearly, the proper care and protection of the flags, and keeping enough on hand, is a big job. This year, Ramirez and the committee are getting some special help. The idea that there may not be enough flags to honor each veteran is repugnant to Bakersfield High School's ROTC cadets, who, in February, adopted a zero tolerance policy against such a possibility. Their solution? To buy 5,000 new flags and deliver them to Union Cemetery in time for this year&rsquo;s Memorial Day weekend. Which means the cadets must raise $5,000 &mdash; they&rsquo;ve already collected about $1,000 &mdash; by April 25. It&rsquo;s a tall order but the cadets are hustling to make it happen, selling pizza coupons and soliciting local businesses for donations. Genieca Risner, chairwoman of the committee, says they never expected the cadets to set their sights so high. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re wonderful,&rdquo; Risner says. &ldquo;We told them to replace as many as they could, so we&rsquo;re happy with whatever they can get for us.&rdquo; Privately owned cemeteries in Bakersfield furnish their own flags for veteran&rsquo;s graves, but it&rsquo;s up to the grateful citizens of Kern County to honor the veterans at rest in the county-owned Union Cemetery. Citizens who wish to do so may send donations to Bakersfield High School, ROTC, 1241 G St.. A flag on a grave &mdash; it's a small thing, but it honors great sacrifice. And it's the least we can do for our veterans. &quot;It's why I do what I do,&quot; Ramirez says. &quot;They took the time to serve, I've got the time to serve them.&quot; It&rsquo;s only six weeks until Memorial Day. Is your flag fit to fly? It may seem a bit early to prepare for a holiday many Americans barely acknowledge any more, but Fran Ramirez can&rsquo;t start soon enough. Every Memorial Day for the past decade, the 72-year-old Ramirez has made it her business to ensure that each of the 5,000 flags that flutter over the graves of American veterans buried in Union Cemetery is clean, pressed and free from wear. As a member of the United Veterans Memorial Day Committee &mdash; a collective of local veterans&rsquo; groups that organize Memorial Day services at cemeteries &mdash; Ramirez starts the process two months ahead, carefully checking each flag for stains or tears. Before she took on the job, the 8-by-12 inch cloth flags were stored tightly rolled, leaving them wrinkled and misshapen when placed on the graves the following year. The wrinkled flags &ldquo;didn&rsquo;t look right,&rdquo; says Ramirez, who is the daughter, sister, wife and foster mom to American veterans. Now when the holiday is done, the flags are removed from the graves, carefully washed and ironed, then stored flat. Ramirez soaks the flags&rsquo; 14-inch staffs in bleach water to remove dark dirt stains before they, too, are stowed away for another year. Despite such tender loving care, sun and sprinklers take their toll on the flags, which are properly disposed of by the Boy Scouts when they begin to show signs of wear. And some flags aren&rsquo;t around long enough to wear out, thanks to thieves who think nothing of plucking a few from their sacred sites. Clearly, the proper care and protection of the flags, and keeping enough on hand, is a big job. This year, Ramirez and the committee are getting some special help. The idea that there may not be enough flags to honor each veteran is repugnant to Bakersfield High School's ROTC cadets, who, in February, adopted a zero tolerance policy against such a possibility. Their solution? To buy 5,000 new flags and deliver them to Union Cemetery in time for this year&rsquo;s Memorial Day weekend. Which means the cadets must raise $5,000 &mdash; they&rsquo;ve already collected about $1,000 &mdash; by April 25. It&rsquo;s a tall order but the cadets are hustling to make it happen, selling pizza coupons and soliciting local businesses for donations. Genieca Risner, chairwoman of the committee, says they never expected the cadets to set their sights so high. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re wonderful,&rdquo; Risner says. &ldquo;We told them to replace as many as they could, so we&rsquo;re happy with whatever they can get for us.&rdquo; Privately owned cemeteries in Bakersfield furnish their own flags for veteran&rsquo;s graves, but it&rsquo;s up to the grateful citizens of Kern County to honor the veterans at rest in the county-owned Union Cemetery. Citizens who wish to do so may send donations to Bakersfield High School, ROTC, 1241 G St.. A flag on a grave &mdash; it's a small thing, but it honors great sacrifice. And it's the least we can do for our veterans. &quot;It's why I do what I do,&quot; Ramirez says. &quot;They took the time to serve, I've got the time to serve them.&quot; en-us <p>&nbsp;Thanks for the heads up on where to contribute Marylee. It's one issue I think both sides of the political spectrum agree on.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_224215 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_224215 <p>&nbsp;Thanks for the heads up on where to contribute Marylee. It's one issue I think both sides of the political spectrum agree on.</p> <p> Good stuff, Marylee.  My only nit to pick (you knew there would be one) is that the people taking the flags are probably members of the family who have come to visit their loved ones who don't understand how the system works.</p> <p>Thanks you so much for bringing this to your audience.  Great idea.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_224356 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_224356 <p> Good stuff, Marylee.  My only nit to pick (you knew there would be one) is that the people taking the flags are probably members of the family who have come to visit their loved ones who don't understand how the system works.</p> <p>Thanks you so much for bringing this to your audience.  Great idea.</p> <p> You're most welcome, Anti.</p> <p>Many thanks, Tom. It hadn't actually occured to me to include the observation about the flag thieves until Mrs. Ramierez mentioned she'd seen a couple young men run down a row of flags plucking them up as they went before running out of the cemetery. Grave theft isn't exactly a crime wave here in KC, but I hear folks frequently complain that the holiday displays they leave on loved ones graves are often stolen. Sad.</p> <p>I hope the ROTC raises enough to keep Union Cemetery in top flag shape, for a few years, at least.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_224425 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_224425 <p> You're most welcome, Anti.</p> <p>Many thanks, Tom. It hadn't actually occured to me to include the observation about the flag thieves until Mrs. Ramierez mentioned she'd seen a couple young men run down a row of flags plucking them up as they went before running out of the cemetery. Grave theft isn't exactly a crime wave here in KC, but I hear folks frequently complain that the holiday displays they leave on loved ones graves are often stolen. Sad.</p> <p>I hope the ROTC raises enough to keep Union Cemetery in top flag shape, for a few years, at least.</p> <p>&nbsp;Why isn't this effort in the local TV news in the evening? That would give the effort alot more exzposure than a blog. Thanks for the info.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_224431 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_224431 <p>&nbsp;Why isn't this effort in the local TV news in the evening? That would give the effort alot more exzposure than a blog. Thanks for the info.</p> <p>4039.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_227016 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/24740/#c_227016 <p>4039.</p>