Poquoson, Va. - William Houdek and his girlfriend Candace LaVee wake up every morning to a tattered and torn American flag flying right next door.
“You can hear the flag flapping in the wind and you're going to look at it,” Houdek says. “I see the flag, it's depressing. Doesn't start my day off right.”
It stands outside of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics Lodge on Lodge Rd. in Poquoson.
For Houdek, who says he retired from the Air Force after serving 22 years, the flag's condition is unacceptable.
“They seem to take good care of the lodge itself but the flag does get overlooked,” he says.
Houdek says the flag has been up for the past several months, flying 24 hours a day, rain or shine.
LaVee tried to find somebody at the lodge to find out why this tattered flag was still flying.
But with no luck, today she took action herself.
“I wanted to find a way to make it better since the flag wasn't going to take itself down,” she says.
She reached out to Taylor’s-Do-It Center and asked if they would donate a new flag. The business agreed. NewsChannel 3 was there as LaVee picked it up at their Poquoson store.
Back at home, she wrote a note to the lodge and placed it on the front doorstep.
“Once this new flag gets put up, it won't bug me every day now,” LaVee says.
They hope every day the red white and blue will fly with pride.
“I love this country and I love the people who serve it. This is what I felt like I could do as a small token of my appreciation," says LaVee.
LaVee says the flag has since been taken down, but not replaced with the one she helped donate. NewsChannel 3 reached out to a member of the lodge to ask them about the flag, but they have not gotten back to us.
