New flag flying at Pagoda in Reading

A new flag is flying from the flagpole at Reading’s Pagoda, thanks to the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America.

One of the oldest patriotic fraternal organizations in the U.S., the P.O.S. of A. has a national office in Leesport and 13 area camps.

“Every time we’ve needed a replacement flag over the past 15 years, they’ve always stepped forward to give us a flag that can withstand the brutal weather on top of Mount Penn,” City Councilwoman Marcia Goodman-Hinnershitz said.

The council woman has represented District 2, which includes the Pagoda, for 20 years. Her last term expires at the end of the year.

Goodman-Hinnershitz serves with council President Donna Reed on the Foundation for the Reading Pagoda.

The two were present on the knoll next to the Pagoda for the recent brief flag raising ceremony.

Due to the high winds and weather conditions on the mountaintop, Goodman-Hinnershitz said, the large outdoor-quality flags wear out periodically.

“We know that the flag consistently needs to be replaced,” she said. “And we pick a time that we can do it, that we can celebrate the joys of our freedoms.”

Public Works Department employees Glenn Fake, Roberto Pino and Ryan Bradley, who also is clean city coordinator, took charge of lowering the old flag and raising the new one.

Fake climbed the ladder and worked the rope pulley while Pino and Bradley assisted below.

The tattered flag was respectfully folded and given to Christine Lemp of Reading for proper disposal. Lemp is the widow of Col. James F. Lemp, a Vietnam War veteran, who died in 2018.

Following the flag raising about a dozen attendees joined in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Source: Berkshire mont