Handprints create giant Canadian flag as ‘morale booster’ for town

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

There won't be any real Canada Day celebrations this year, but the spirit is still alive in Shelburne.

Three local men volunteered their time and effort as well as some creative thinking to come up with a way for the public to show their patriotism by creating a giant hand painted Canadian flag.

The key word here is ‘hand.'

Local residents where asked to dip their hands in some latex paint and leave their mark on the 20 by 10 foot flag that was made from lumber and barn boards.

Kyle Fegan, Andrew James, and Brian McBride, built the flag behind Brian's business at Shelburne Memorials.

It took six men, and they could have used more as it is pretty heavy, to lift the flag from a trailer and put it in place at Jack Downing Park.

Once the outline of the maple leaf was in place, the rest was up to anyone who want to take part and help create the flag.

The idea came up after the men realized there won't be holiday celebrations this coming July 1.

The initiative was dubbed ‘One Community, One Hope.'

“The whole idea is to bring the community together,” explained Mr. Fegan. “It originally started out as an idea for Canada Day. Obviously with us getting COVID and Canada Day being cancelled, it became just an era of depression and negativity with this pandemic that is going on. I felt the town needed some kind of morale boost. I talked to Andrew and Brian to resurrect this idea and we revamped it to become a commemoration of how our community comes together and we can look back and remember this. It has a personal touch because your personal hand is going to be on this flag forever.”

The event was held on Saturday, June 20, in the park.

Some people had planned to come by and leave their handprints. Others just happened to be walking by and wanted to take part when they saw what was happening.

Once completed, the giant flag will hang in the pavilion at Fiddle Park and will provide an outstanding backdrop for events that will be held there.