Amherst's bad timing

By Isabel Lyman
web posted September 17, 2001

"Do you really want to be remembered as the politicians who
voted against the flag?" asked Larry Kelley, a fifth generation
Amherst, Massachusetts resident.

The short answer: yes.

In keeping with its image as a cutting-edge, politically-correct
college town (home to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
College, and Hampshire College), the Amherst Select Board
voted 4-1 to prevent twenty-nine American flags from flying in
the downtown for an extended period of 4 to 5 months.

Instead, the Select Board agreed that the flags could be flown on
six holidays - Patriots' Day, from college graduation day to
Memorial Day, Flag Day to Bunker Hill Day, Independence
Day, Labor Day, and Veterans' Day. American flags also fly
continuously on the town common and outside the police station.

"I don't support extended flag displays," explained Carl Seppala,
the chair of the Select Board and a Naval veteran. Select Board
member Anne Awad cast the dissenting vote. She said she was
opposed to "excessive" displays because it "fades the
significance of the flag." Awad added that having such an opinion
did not make her "anti-veteran." Town Manager Barry L. Del
Castilho was troubled that the "flags went up without
authorization," since the Select Board has jurisdiction over the
public ways.

Rod Raubeson, Amherst's veteran agent and a former Marine,
hung the flags in August, with volunteer help, on utility poles
owned by Western Massachusetts Electric Company, after
company officials and the Town's Design Review Board give him
permission to do so. In an effort to boost civic pride, Raubeson
hoped that the flags could fly from Labor Day to Veterans' Day
in November and from Patriots' Day in April to Independence
Day. The flags, which cost about thirty dollars apiece, were
bought with taxpayer monies from the Town's commemoration
budget.

When Raubeson did not remove the flags after Labor Day, Del
Castilho asked public works employees to bring them down.
The Town Manager's action set off a firestorm of controversy
and criticism that was even reported in the Washington Times.
Before the flags were removed, residents and non-residents
bombarded the Select Board with e-mails and phone calls
offering their opinions about the festive-looking commemoration.
In a letter to the Amherst Bulletin, Phyllis Daley echoed the
sentiments of many when she wrote: "There should never be a
limitation where, when, or how long our United States of
America flag can fly."

On Monday night, when the Select Board convened to set policy
about how long the flags could hang on Main and North Pleasant
streets, the meeting inadvertently turned into a two-hour
referendum on patriotism. Addressing the Select Board,
Raubeson acknowledged that some residents in this liberal
community did not like the flags because it made the Town "look
too American."

"We are not going to apologize for that," said Raubeson.

Michael Lombard, a local veterans agent who handed out small
American flags before the meeting, scolded Del Castilho for
removing the flags without holding a public debate. "You might
as well have burned the flags," said Lombard. He also chided the
Select Board for their lack of community spirit, since they have
never assisted Raubeson with the Town's annual Memorial Day
parade.

Comments during the packed, often emotional meeting ran the
gamut from one woman who said she viewed Old Glory as a
symbol of terrorism to those who saw the stars and stripes as
personifying freedom.

Ed Cutting, a graduate student at the University of
Massachusetts, said the row of flags sent the message that
"Amherst is friendly to those who don't hate our country."

Amherst resident Emily Lewis said she was uncomfortable seeing
the streets lined with flags. "It's a militaristic symbol," she stated.

Former U.S. Marine Jim Bancroft, who said he drove two hours
from Bristol, Connecticut to attend the meeting, questioned why
elected officials would allow the flag of the United Nations to fly
outside the Amherst town hall year-round. "Why are you flying
the U.N. flag at the seat of your government? This is an
American city," said Bancroft.

Charlie Meadows, a radio talk show host from the Oklahoma
City area, who was visiting western Massachusetts, told the
Select Board that the flag controversy, as well as Amherst Town
Meeting's proposal to allow permanent alien residents the right to
vote in local elections, was making the Town infamous. "Amherst
is gaining quite a reputation," said Meadows, injecting a note of
levity into an otherwise serious discussion.

When it became apparent that the Select Board was going to
allow the twenty-nine flags to fly only on designated holidays,
several townspeople stormed out of the meeting room.

The flag controversy hardly ended that night. The following
morning - September 11, 2001 - Amherst resident David
Keenan, a former member of the Select Board, called Raubeson
to request that the flags immediately be hung back up. "If you
capture the flags," Raubeson told Keenan, "my whole office staff
will head to downtown to help you put them up."

"We needed the flags put up at half-mast as a way of showing
appropriate consideration for the dead," said Keenan of his
reaction to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and
Pentagon.

Along with Mr. Meadows, the Oklahoma visitor, Keenan
headed for the Amherst Department of Public Works (where the
flags were stored) to "steal the flags," as he put it.

With the clandestine help of department of public works
employees, Keenan and Meadows located the flags, took them
downtown, and began to re-attach the flags to the light
stanchions. Several veterans helped lower the flags, including
Bancroft, the Marine.

Also on hand to hang the flags was another citizen who was
deeply impacted by Tuesday's catastrophe - Amherst Select
Board Chair Carl Seppala.

Rod Raubeson told the Daily Hampshire Gazette, "It's strange
how one day can make a difference."

For now, the American flags will fly indefinitely in Amherst.

Izzy Lyman, author of The Homeschooling Revolution, can be
reached at ilyman7449@aol.com.

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