PORT LUDLOW — This Independence Day weekend, LaMoyne Jevne — the North Olympic Peninsula’s most enthusiastic flag expert — put more light on his favorite subject.
For the first time in his eight years of displaying — some eight to 10 times each year — about 80 Old Glories at his home at 1473 Thorndyke Road, Jevne is lighting each of his 3-feet-by-5-feet flags — all 13 of them — at night.
“The reason I did it is, we have this long weekend,” said Jevne, 76, who retired from the Navy in 1981 and moved to Port Ludlow a few years later.
The 13 flags were spotlighted Friday and Saturday night, and will be well-lighted tonight as well.
“It’s just to show my appreciation to everyone,” Jevne said, because “of all our blessings we have here.”
Those who drive by today, as always, are encouraged to toot a salute.
“People honk their horns,” he said, while speaking on the telephone Friday. “Can you hear them?”
Patriotic exuberance
The night-lighting — as well as a sign saying “Happy Birthday America” — are added to those details already familiar to those who take note of Jevne’s red-white-and-blue exuberance.
Outside the garage of his log cabin home, a flag formed by colored lights defining the stars and stripes glows at night. Next to it, a sign says “God bless America.”
A 5-foot-by-9-foot flag flies daily from a 30-foot-tall pole at the back of the house, which overlooks the old South Point ferry dock.
His mailbox has an American flag attached to a counterweight, which is released when the mail is delivered.
Even his license plate says, “FLAGMAN.”
For special occasions, he places a row of his 13 “big flags” on 10-foot poles in his front yard, with smaller, hand-sized flags underneath.
Jevne defines a special occasion as any of the 26 special flag days suggested by the National Flag Foundation, of which he is a member.
He doesn’t celebrate all of them. He sets out the flags only when expecting good weather. But he doesn’t want to miss such dates as Flag Day, Veterans Day, Navy Day and, of course, Independence Day.
“The country’s been so good to me, it’s the only way I have to pay back and show my patriotism,” Jevne said.
“It’s the only way I have to do it.”
Jevne — who with his wife, Agnes, has three grown children — also gives away hand-held flags to children — with their parents’ permission. He says he hands out between 200 and 300 flags each year.
“If the little guy’s hot and tired, nine out of 10 times when I give him a flag . . . he gets a big smile on his face,” Jevne said.
Flag days
Jevne also is a sought-after expert on flag etiquette who speaks for free to service clubs, school groups and anyone interested in knowing how to treat the symbol of the country with respect.
He has fun with that, too, he said.
“Did you know that Mothers Day is a flag day?” he asked.
That’s one nugget of information he often hands out during his flag etiquette lectures, telling his listeners, “Your mother would sort of like to see a flag flown for her.”
Jevne said there’s always “a guy in the back who raises his hand and asks, ‘Is Fathers Day a flag day, too?’ And I tell him, ‘Yes, it is.'”
The greatest number of special opportunities to fly the flag are offered in May and September, which both have four suggested flag days, according to the National Flag Foundation Web site at www.americanflags.org.
Three of those are suggested as days to fly the flag at half-staff: Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15, Memorial Day on the last Monday in May, and Patriot Day on Sept. 11.
A couple may be less well-known, or even surprising: Constitution Day on Sept. 17 and Gold Star Mothers Day on the last Sunday in September.
The foundation suggests only one day in July as a special flag day, albeit the one day probably sees more flags flying than any other.
But every day is a good day to fly the flag, Jevne said.
“It’s a flag code. It’s not a law. . . So if you are flying the flag and have doubts that you are doing it correctly, don’t worry about it,” he said.
“Just fly the flag.”
And if anyone wants to know how to do it right, just ask Jevne.
“If there’s any question about the flag, if I can’t answer it. . . I will find out from the National Flag Foundation,” he said.
He can be reached at 360-437-3791.
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Managing Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
