Hamlin Raises the Flag on a New Community Tradition

Families, Veterans, Students and Local Organizations Came Together for an Inaugural Parade Honoring America’s 250th Anniversary

Photo:1 Sea Cadets folding the American flag | Photo 2: Boy Scouts on the parade route | Photo 3: Patriotic Entertainment | Photo 4: “Abigail Adams" brought to life by Marcea Oetting with Congressman Daniel Webster

A Community Effort Takes Shape

The celebration planning began months before the first flags were carried through Hamlin.

Kevin Kelly, a local civic leader who had been advocating for more community traditions in Horizon West, had also been exploring ways to support patriotic events and expand American Legion visibility in the area. Around the same time, members of Horizon West American Legion Post 419 were also discussing ways to celebrate the national milestone.

American Legion Post 419 saw an opportunity to make the celebration more meaningful through community partnership.

Alan Adams, commander of American Legion Post 419, said the post quickly recognized the event would require many hands and strong local collaboration.

The pieces began to come together when Kelly connected with Austin Arthur, co-founder of Winter Garden-based Stars and Stripes Marketing Services, one of the event sponsors. Arthur was inspired by flag parade traditions in other communities and wanted to help create something local.

As conversations continued, Arthur saw an opportunity to help turn several shared ideas into one coordinated community celebration.

“Instead of complaining, I wanted to be somebody who helps solve the problem,” Arthur said.

Enthusiastic to move things forward, he joined forces with Kelly. The next step was finding the right place to bring that shared vision to life. Kelly suggested Hamlin, which brought the idea to Heather Easterling of Boyd Development.

Easterling, who has worked with Boyd Development since 1998, says one of the most enriching parts of her role has been event planning, and hosting a celebration connected to America’s 250th anniversary had long been on her wish list.

“What was so fascinating,” Easterling said, “is how many different groups came to me with the concept at the same time I was brainstorming it. With it being my last event here, the timing couldn't be better.”

With Boyd Development supporting the location, the event began to grow through partnerships.

“Kevin reached out to us at the American Legion to help with the patriotic side of things, which was a natural partnership,” Adams said.

Meetings began before Christmas, and organizers said partners quickly stepped forward to help bring the vision to life.

“Boyd Development was 100% behind us,” Kelly said.

Photo 1: Kevin Kelly with time capsule | Photo 2: American Legion Post 419 Commander-elect Manny Gonzalez with Post Commander Alan Adams. | Photo 3: Heather Easterling of Boyd Development.

Building a Celebration Through Challenges

Creating a new event in a fast-growing community is rarely simple, and organizers said the parade required months of coordination, planning and problem-solving.

Kelly noted that, as with many large-scale public events, county regulations, logistics and costs had to be addressed along the way. The goal, he said, was to manage the event in a way that supported the celebration while maximizing what could be given back to American Legion Post 419.



After months of gathering volunteers, aligning partners and shaping the event, the vision finally became reality.

“With Kevin’s idea and Heather’s heart for event planning, we made it happen,” Arthur said. “We’ve got a couple hundred people out here today, which goes to show there’s no better way to celebrate our country than with your community.”

Horizon West American Legion Post 419 members at the Veteran Check-in table

Local Impact: Students, Service and Community Pride

The event also gave local youth organizations a visible role in the celebration.

Sea Cadets helped support the parade route, while members of Horizon High School’s Hawk Battalion volunteered alongside the American Legion. Together, the students helped keep participants safe and supported the event throughout the day.

Established in 1958, the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps is a national youth leadership program serving young people ages 10 to 18 and offering a pathway to Navy-style training and service.

Jeff Chang, a longtime Sea Cadet volunteer, brought his unit to Hamlin to support the American Legion, which sponsors the group.

“Watching the cadets perform community service today and grow into true leaders over the course of the program is an amazing privilege,” Chang said.

For Raymond Mason, who leads Horizon High School’s Hawk Battalion, the event connected directly to the mission of Army JROTC.

“Our mission as part of Army JROTC is to make better citizens,” Mason said. “An event like this gives them the chance to get out in their community and help other people understand the history of our country.”

Photo 1: U.S. Navy Sea Cadets | Photo 2: Horizon High School Hawk Battalion (JROTC)

Honoring Our Flag

While the flag was hoisted just once, its meaning was raised repeatedly throughout the day.

U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster attended the event and brought a flag that had previously flown over the U.S. Capitol to be displayed on the new flagpole, honoring both the event and the American Legion’s involvement.

For Adams, the flag’s meaning reaches from everyday civic life to moments of national sacrifice.

“Think about how deeply the flag is woven in our nation,” Adams said, noting its presence outside post offices, on battlefields and in moments of grief and remembrance. “It drapes caskets of fallen soldiers or first responders who pay the ultimate sacrifice and is given as a token of debt to families who lost loved ones, one that can never be fully repaid.”

To Marine Corps veteran and American Legion Post Commander-elect Manny Gonzalez, the flag remains a reminder of the country’s founding and growth.

The flag, Gonzalez said, “always serves to remind why our forefathers started a new nation and represents 50 states of growth. The philosophies of patriotism and love of country, all of our generations are reflected in these colors.”

The event also included local organizations helping residents connect with history in personal ways. At the Daughters of the American Revolution booth, visitors could learn about genealogy services and explore whether they may have a patriot in their lineage — someone who contributed to the American Revolution. A confirmed match opens the door to membership to their society, which focuses on historic preservation and advocacy of patriotism.

“For 250 years, we have gotten the chance to celebrate,” said Wanda Kenny, Horizon West’s Daughters of the American Revolution region president. “No matter what side of the fence you're on, when we have events like this, everybody joins under one flag for love and camaraderie.”

Participants salute the flag as the Pledge of Allegiance begins

Families Gather Under One Flag

For resident Paula Netto, the day was especially meaningful.

She was one of many parents who came with children in tow, turning the celebration into a family moment shared across generations. Throughout the event, families gathered around the flagpole, visited booths and took part in a day designed to honor both country and community.

Standing with her family behind a large American flag sold by the American Legion, Netto said the celebration stirred deep emotion.

“I get emotional because it's amazing to see the patriotism and passion for this country,” Netto said. “It’s such a beautiful pleasure as a foreigner to raise my sons with this passion, with this love and with this respect for this wonderful country full of opportunities.”

Resident Paula Netto and Family

A Time Capsule to Guard Our Past

Equally symbolic was the time capsule, which now rests near the new flagpole as a safeguard for Horizon West history.

For a $50 donation benefiting Horizon West American Legion Post 419, residents and community members could contribute names, newspaper clippings and other pieces of local life to the capsule. The items were sealed as a snapshot of our community in 2026.

Photo 1: Time capsule | Photo 2: Event sponsors cover the capsule with shovels donated from Ace Hardware |  Photo 3: Sponsor and member of the event team Austin Arthur oversees children participating in the time capsule burial.

“Burying this is a unique opportunity,” Kelly said during his address. “You might do it again in 50 years, you might not. Some of you will be here to dig this up. Inside are copies of documents and papers reflecting our community. There are tokens of our culture like this week’s Orange Observer.”

Quick with a joke, Kelly added that organizers could not place an iPhone inside because “it might explode.”

Members of Horizon High School’s Hawk Battalion helped seal the time capsule, which will remain buried until 2076, when future residents may unearth it for the country’s 300th anniversary.

Building a Tradition for the Future

 As the celebration came to a close, organizers and community members were already envisioning the lasting impact from this new tradition.

Adams described the inaugural flag parade as “a launch pad for years to come” with hopes “God will continue to bless our veterans, troops, and this great nation for another 250 years.”

For Easterling, the day carried added meaning because it marked her final event with Boyd Development.

"It feels especially fitting this celebration is my final chapter at Boyd”, Easterling said, calling her work as an event planner “one of the greatest honors of my life.”

This event reminded her, she said, “the strength of our nation begins in communities like this where people serve, participate, dream, and believe in something greater.”

Gonzalez also felt the significance of the moment.

“Being a bicentennial baby,” Manny explained, “to be here for the 250th celebration of our nation is extremely moving because of the sacrifices many have made since 1776.”

He expressed hope of being there in 2076 when the country marks its 300th anniversary when he’s 100 years old.

The time capsule may be buried and the inaugural parade may have passed, but the new flagpole remains standing across from Ford’s Garage as a reminder of the day Hamlin came together to honor the past, celebrate the present and begin building a tradition for the future.