Leechburg man raises $6,500 for a new flagpole for Little League

A fundraiser has raised more than $6,500 for the Leechburg Area Little League to buy a new flagpole, after community members noticed a massive, donated flag was too large for the current pole.

The flag — measuring 12 feet by 18 feet — was donated two weeks ago and installed behind the scoreboard ahead of the Little League’s opening game, May 1.

But the pole has no light shining on the flag, and the flag is so large that it drapes across the scoreboard.

Within a day or so, an anonymous source reported the flag to the Veterans Affairs Office of Armstrong County, which contacted the president of Little League to inform them of the complaint: The way it is hung, it violates the U.S. flag code.

Kathy Rashlich, executive director of the Veterans Affairs Office, said she doesn’t have jurisdiction to do anything about the situation, but she did call the Little League to let them know. From photos, Rashlich said she could see the flag is oversized: It was touching the scoreboard instead of free-flying, and it would not have been able to be flown at half-staff on the existing flagpole.

The flag was donated by Corey McIntyre, a state constable. McIntyre said he ordered the flag for the league because he often tries to support community youth groups. He said he also offered to pay for players’ uniforms and equipment.

But neither McIntyre nor the Little League was sure of the current flagpole’s size, he said, so he ordered what he said the manufacturers say is “the general size” for field flags.

“That’s why I went with that size,” he said, “and it was the best quality flag option that they had available to get.”

Officials with Leechburg Area Little League declined to comment for this article. But in a statement posted on Facebook, the league apologized for using the oversized flag and said it was removed after learning of the code violation.

“On behalf of the Leechburg Little League board members, we sincerely apologize for any disrespect that was felt in regards to the hanging of our American flag,” the post reads. “The flag has been properly removed & stored until we can remedy this issue. Again we sincerely apologize.”

Once the flag was taken down, a Leechburg resident, Joe Felschow, sparked a fundraiser to obtain a new flagpole.

Felschow did not respond to messages Thursday and Friday.

But Facebook posts show he had set an initial fundraising goal of $5,000 to help the Little League buy a new flagpole. When that sum was surpassed in less than 24 hours, he raised the goal to $7,500 to keep the fundraiser alive.

“I am looking to raise funds for the betterment of the (Little League) organization in a whole. They need the help, and that’s what we are good at,” Felschow’s fundraising post says. “The funds raised will be used to get an adequate flagpole for the flag donated. If any funds are leftover it will be directly donated to the league for a new scoreboard. They need it.”

On Friday afternoon, McIntyre said he has also started the process of exchanging the flag he donated for another, measuring 8 feet by 12 feet, to be fastened to the new flagpole.

It may not be practical, he said, for the league to get a pole tall enough to accommodate the 12 by 18 flag.

“I hope the community ends up enjoying the flag once it’s put onto a better-sized pole,” McIntyre said. “That flag will probably be seen by all the fields in our area, and it will be a shining beacon of our country, right there, hanging in the sky.”