CODY — An inspiring sight greets anyone who happens down main street, with hundreds of full-sized American flags lining nearly three city blocks.
Part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration, 500 flags make up an extended "Field of Honor" along Sheridan Avenue.
“I think it's gorgeous. I love it,” said Cody Chamber of Commerce Director Jennifer Thoma. “We've gotten a lot of compliments here in town about the flags, and seen a lot of social media posts about everybody really enjoying seeing all 500 flags flying. It’s lots of fun.”
The flags, which went up last Sunday, extend from the Cody Heritage Museum to in front of the Park County Courthouse, City Park and on to the Cody Chamber of Commerce.
“Patriotism is alive and well in Cody, Wyoming,” said museum board member and event coordinator Jenny Zink. “We have lots of people who are saying, ‘You know, it's the best thing they've seen since sliced bread.’
"The American tourists love it, and even those from other countries are very impressed.”
Field Fundraiser
Field of Honor events are organized by groups across the United States, often around patriotic holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Veterans Day.
Each flag is usually sponsored to honor an individual hero such as a veteran, active-duty military, first responder or frontline medical worker. The honoree's name and story is tied to the flagpole.
The Field in Honor was held in Cody before as part of a fundraiser for the museum from 2012-2018. Zink created the event, which coincided with Flag Day each year and stayed up for about a week.
“The flags were put up, and they were sold in memory of someone that had passed or in honor of someone that was alive,” Zink said. “We did that every year to raise money for the museum funds.”
The idea came after she was approached by Marge and Dick Wilder of Cody, who were the driving force behind the museum. The Wilders asked Zink to help come up with a fundraising idea.
“My husband was a Rotarian where we lived at the time in California, and they put up a field and made a lot of money for fundraising,” Zink said. “I took that idea and brought it to Dick and Marge, and they said, 'That's what we want.’”
The first few years was held near the Park County Public Library, but after a few years moved to the main part of town at the lawn of the Park County Courthouse and City Park.
However, after the museum officially opened in 2018, the event went away as it focused on other fundraising opportunities.
Making A Comeback
It was last year when the idea resurfaced.
Thoma and members of the Park County America’s 250 committee talked to organizations around town and made them aware of money that was available through the Wyoming Semiquincentennial Planning Task Force.
“I gave it some thought and talked to our director, Lynn Houze, and I said, ‘You know, if it's a grant and we can get the money, I could do the flag program,'” Zink said.
The grants program was launched last year, supported with a $2 million appropriation from the Wyoming Legislature.
It allows communities to recognize and celebrate Wyoming’s unique role in American history and to explore Wyoming’s lasting legacy and future potential.
The museum received nearly $2,500 for the project, one of 88 funded across the state. It ordered 500 flags for the field and 52 Betsy Ross America 250 flags for downtown businesses in Cody, which will stay up through the summer.
“We have about 50 businesses that have flags up every single day of every year lining Sheridan Avenue,” Thoma said. “So they bought America 250 commemorative flags for them as a part of that grant also.”
Zink then reached out to Walmart and the company agreed to transport the three large pallets of flags from Salt Lake City to Cody at no charge.
91 Volunteers
The flags arrived June 10 and were stored behind the museum.
Prior to installation, Zink and a friend plotted out where each would go.
Then on June 13, it was time to put out the flags. It’s a time-consuming process, so she made a plea for volunteers during an appearance on a local radio show as well as through promotion for the event.
The morning was cool and drizzly, but to her surprise 91 people showed up.
“Everybody just jumped right in,” Zink said. “We gave some instructions on what to do, and they just worked at it diligently.
"This was a good showing of volunteers, and I'm extremely grateful, because in two and a half hours we had 500 flags up, and that’s almost unheard of. It’s a full-day project.”
Flags were unfurled on June 14 (Flag Day) with a ceremony featuring patriotic music.
“We just kicked it off,” Zink said. “It was Marge and Dick Wilder’s idea to put a Cody Heritage Museum in. Dick has passed, but Marge has been involved ever since. She’s 98 years young but she was there, which was great.”
The full event runs through June 30 when the flags will be taken down in preparation for the annual Fourth of July festivities.
“We're getting a huge response,” Zink said. “I mean, people love it. They want it to stay up through the Fourth, but it has to come down because of the parades.”
As part of the condition of the grant, this year’s flags are not a fundraiser and won’t be for sale. Instead once it is over, the flags will be free to those interested if they sign up at the museum.
“I've got a long list,” Zink said. “So far we've got about 285 names, and people are coming in every day saying, ‘I want to register for a free flag.’”
