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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CITY OF PALMDALE NEWS RELEASE CONTACT: John Mlynar PHONE: 661/267-5115 DATE: June 9, 2016 Flag Day Celebration & Essay Contest Winner Recognition Coming to Joe Davies Heritage Airpark June 14 PALMDALE – The City of Palmdale will host its second annual Flag Day Celebration on Wednesday, June 14 at 9:30 am at Joe Davies Heritage Airpark at Palmdale Plant 42, located at 2001 East Ave. P. The ceremony will include a welcome by dignitaries, presentation of colors, the invocation and benediction by Rev. John Clarke of the Sons of the American Legion Post 311, posting of the Colors; Pledge of Allegiance by Dr. David Smith of the AFA and the 412th Test Wing, and closing remarks by Major Conrad Hernandez, Commander of the Jr ROTC at Highland High School. The event is free and open to the public. Complimentary refreshments will be served. Also part of the festivities will be the announcement of the winners of the Flag Day Essay Contest. For more information, please call 661/267-5611. About Flag Day On June 14, 1777, less than one year after Betsy Ross received the order from General Washington to make the first flag, the Second Continental Congress passed a flag resolution stating: Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, ---PAGE BREAK--- alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation. The first national observance of Flag Day was on June 14, 1877, 100 years after the flag resolution was adopted by the Continental Congress. In the late 19th century, school teachers all over the United States began conducting patriotic ceremonies commemorating Flag Day as a way to teach children about history. One such school teacher, Bernard J. Cigrand, is often referred to as the “Father of Flag Day.” He lobbied Congress for many years for Flag Day to be officially observed. Other patriotic groups, including the Colonial Dames and Sons of the American Revolution, also spent years trying to convince Congress to make Flag Day official. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation stating that June 14 shall be National Flag Day, and in 1949 it was made official by an Act of Congress. - 30 - Communications Department • 38300 Sierra Highway • Palmdale, CA 93550 www.CityofPalmdale.org