Perkins Flag Returns to Place of Honor

For John, BLUF:  Sunday, 31 May, at 10:00 AM—see you there.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"Return to Old Glory will be banner day"

Reporter Grant Welker, from The [Lowell] Sun talks today to "Restored Civil War flag to be unveiled Sunday at Lowell Memorial Auditorium".  Here is the lede:

LOWELL— The flag has certainly been through a lot in its 150 years.

It flew over a battle between Union troops and Confederates in Louisiana in 1862, a fight that included many from Lowell.  One of them, Solon Perkins, a lieutenant, may even have worn the flag as a sash when he was shot to death in battle.

It was beat up, and then it was almost lost for good.

The flag was donated to Lowell Memorial Auditorium in 1929 but appears to have been moved to the basement when a flood in 1936 reached all the way up to the building’s Hall of Flags.  That's where it sat for decades until early 2014, when employees of Global Spectrum, the operator of the auditorium, found it behind a piano.

That is when the Greater Lowell Veterans Council was invited in to help and restoration began.  Restoration complete, there will be a formal return of the flag to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium's Hall of Flags this Sunday (31 May), at 10 a.m.

So, the Lowell Memorial Auditorium's Hall of Flags is the place to be this Sunday.

By the way, if you wish to EMail Reporter Grant Welker, you can use gwelker@lowellsun.com.

See you there Sunday morning.

Regards  —  Cliff