Flying the Stars and Stripes as we approach Memorial Day is about as American as apple pie. What a group started doing in Mansfield last year, though, might take the cake.
Some 300 3-by-5-foot American flags flutter on the Town Common from 8-foot poles. The display is part of the town’s Memorial Day observation, each flagpole bearing the name of a fallen troop.
“Every pole has a name, every name is a person, and every person has a story,’’ said Jeri Rumsis, chairwoman of the Mansfield Field of Honor.
For the second consecutive year, she said, her group has coordinated the assembly of the array, funded in full by local organizations and townspeople.
Last year, she said, the group raised about $12,500 for the display, offering flags to donors for $30 each. This time around, she said, it raised nearly $40,000, about $35,000 of which will go to the town’s Veterans’ Office.
The money will help fund the local veterans’ gift fund, which town director of veterans services Michael Raymond described as a sort of safety net for local veterans who do not receive state or federal veterans’ benefits.
“It helps fill in the cracks that the feds and the state can’t cover,’’ he said.
Some of the money will be set aside to help fund next year’s project, Rumsis said.
The flags are purchased through the Colonial Flag Foundation, a national nonprofit based in Utah, she said. Since 2003, the organization has helped groups in nearly every state to organize such displays for various causes, said national director Sawn Swenson.
Swenson said Mansfield is one of 29 Memorial Day exhibits nationwide, including one in Cohasset, that her group has supplied flags for this year.
“People just really want to give back and do their part to say thank you,’’ she said.
And many in Mansfield did just that. Rumsis said more than 50 people volunteered for about four hours Saturday morning to assemble and install the flags. The volunteers included members of the town’s Elks Lodge, local motorcycle groups, and Boy and Girl Scout troops.
This year’s arrangement will be on display until June 18, after which donors will be allowed to take the flags they’ve paid for.
Bret Hauff can be reached at bret.hauff@globe.com. Follow him @b_hauff.
