Four Flags to be raised Saturday
Warren’s heritage will be on display along the Allegheny River on Saturday.
The annual Four Flags ceremony is set for 11 a.m. at Heritage Point in Crescent Park on the south bank of the Allegheny River.
At the heart of the event will be the raising of the flags of the four nations that have claimed the Warren area – the Seneca Nation of Indians, the French Fleur-de-Lis, the British King’s Colors and the Betsy Ross American flag.
The event is a joint effort of the city’s service clubs – Exchange Club, Kiwanis Club, Lions Club and Rotary Club as well as the Daughters of the American Revolution.
This year’s speaker will be City of Warren Mayor David Wortman and the Warren Area High School band will perform.
Don Reed, who chairs the committee for the event, said the service clubs have been coordinating the event since 1990.
“I think all the clubs feel this is a good way for us all to jointly work on a project that’s important to our communities,” he said.
The rising cost of the flags, which will then be up all summer, has outstripped what the clubs can fund on their own.
“The City of Warren and several other community organizations assist us to a great degree,” Reed said. “But I think we’ll start to look for more financial support, including charitable foundations in our efforts.”
The flags have been a decades-long tradition.
Three of the flags were raised for the first time in 1968 while the Seneca flag was added in 1986.