The Stars and Stripes align

Nobody seems to remember quite how long volunteers have been getting up at 6 a.m. to line East Coast Highway with American flags on holidays.

“For decades, it has just been a tradition in this little village,” said Jacqueline Wittmeyer, a board member of the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the holiday displays. “It has kept this patriotic sense in Corona del Mar and has been a blessing for anyone who has ever wanted to participate.”

Around town, Wittmeyer is known as the “Flag Lady of Corona del Mar.” She’s been volunteering to help put up the flags since 1993.

Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce board member Jim Digrado noticed some of the flags were a little worse for wear while volunteering to take down flags on Memorial Day this year.

“Some of them are getting old, their colors fade, and the finials break,” Digrado said. “They tend to get beat up from putting them up and down so many times during the year.”

Some flags, which cost about $100 apiece together with their aluminum poles, also disappear from time to time. Over the years the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce’s flag supply has dwindled from about 100 to about 65.

Now the chamber is launching a new campaign, called the Corona del Mar Highway of Flags, in hopes of raising money to buy new flags.

Wittmeyer hopes to double the number of flags the chamber has to about 130.

For every $100 flag sponsorship, donors will receive a certificate of recognition from U.S. Rep. John Campbell and recognition by the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce and the Village Voice newsletter.

Volunteers put up the flags seven to 10 times each year on East Coast Highway on holidays and to mark special occasions. The iconic dolphin topiaries in Corona del Mar also get the flag treatment. The flags are posted to look like the dolphins are carrying them. Chamber volunteers tied black ribbons around the top of the flags before putting them up to mark the deaths of Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. Corona del Mar eateries including Pain du Monde and the Bungalow donate cocktails and coffee to flag volunteers.

“It’s of those community happenings that finds a community — it’s a non-spoken type of thing,” Wittmeyer said. “When you’re out putting the flags up there, you’ll always have somebody stop and pull over. It’s kind of a cool thing.”

How To Help

Contact the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce

2855 E. Coast Hwy., Corona del Mar, CA 92625

(949) 673-4050

www.cdmchamber.com For every $100 flag sponsorship, donors will receive a certificate of recognition from U.S. Rep. John Campbell and recognition by the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce and the Village Voice newsletter