NEW BALTIMORE, Mich. – For years, New Baltimore’s old water tower stood as its defining landmark and when it rusted, the community wanted a replacement.
That’s when the new Baltimore Lion’s Club stepped up with an idea: a very tall flagpole with a very American Flag.
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Member Ron Earle was tasked with spearheading the project, but he wasn’t enthused about the initial plans. For him, it was go big or go home.
“We don’t want to do this project and be number two, we want to be number one,” Earle said. “So I went back to the club and said, ‘Well, the old target was 150 -- now we’re at 160 feet.’”
He discovered his ambition was not only a lot of work, but it took a lot of money -- especially when considering Michigan’s unpredictable and destructive offshore winds.
“There’s like 80 tons of concrete that hold it up,” Earle said. “It’s way over-engineered right now, it will never fall over.”
Initially, they sold commemorative monogrammed bricks and held a fundraiser that brought in $100,000, but current Lion’s Club President Jeff Byrum admitted they also needed to set aside money for ongoing maintenance -- about $10,000 a year.
“I think the majority of people here are very patriotic,” Byrum said. “I mean, there’s a lot of stuff that happens nationally that doesn’t happen here. We honor the flag!”
When Fin’s Eatery & Spirits owner Bob Higgins came up with an idea -- a jack of spades raffle -- the town response surprised everyone.
“But we could have never made the money at the rate we did for the jack of spades,” Byrum recalled. “It was an incredible fundraiser and ended up getting up to $200,000. So we ended up with about $75,000 for the flag.”
Eight years later, the 160-foot tall flagpole remains a special point along New Baltimore’s shore.
“I just think we’re a patriotic city. We’re a boater city,” Earle said. “Those are the reasons that people are kinda really interested in contributing to it.”
“It’s a symbol when you come to New Baltimore, that’s the first thing you see is the flag when you’re coming downtown,” Byrum said. “And if you’re a boater, you know where the flag’s at.”
It’s one of the many ways New Baltimore’s community has rallied around differing projects and civic improvements that put a unique stamp on the town’s passions.
Now that they’ve figured out how to keep the flag up and in tip-top shape year-round, they’ve started to work on the park around it to make it a gathering place for everyone to enjoy along the shoreline.
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