Community
Flag Worn Out After the Fourth? City Hall Has a Drop Box
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Updated August 14, 2026: The August 17 ceremony described below is no longer open to the public. The flag retirement is now being held in connection with an American Legion picnic rather than as the public ceremony announced in July, and Cub Scout Pack 163 has taken down its public event listing. Marengo Weekly listed the ceremony as a public event in our August 9 issue, so if you added it to a calendar from that email, it is not happening as described. The drop boxes are unaffected and remain the way to retire a worn flag.
If your flag came down from the Fourth looking faded or frayed, don't toss it in the trash. The U.S. Flag Code calls for a flag that's no longer "a fitting emblem for display" to be "destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning," and Marengo makes that easy: there are flag retirement drop boxes at city hall (132 E. Prairie St.), Sullivan's Foods, and the Marengo-Union Chamber of Commerce.
The next chance to see it done right comes Monday, August 17, at 7 p.m., when American Legion Kishwaukee Post 192, BSA Troop 247, Cub Scout Pack 163, and local Girl Scouts hold a public flag retirement ceremony at Indian Oaks Park, 825 Indian Oaks Trail. Organizers say the event is open to anyone who wants to learn about proper flag retirement or watch the solemn tradition.
The ceremony is outdoors, so if you plan to attend, check the event's Facebook page that day in case weather forces a postponement or cancellation.
Updated July 8, 2026: Readers wrote in to point us to two more flag drop boxes, at Sullivan's Foods and the Marengo-Union Chamber of Commerce. See something we missed? Let us know.
