Lynn fire station gets new flag

LYNN – When Lynn funeral home owner David Solimine Jr. looked out his office window and saw a nearly shredded flag flying in front of the fire station next door, he didn?t hesitate to head down to Young & Company, a flag manufacturer located in Lynn, to buy the station a new banner.?[Solimine] called and said, ?We took the liberty of buying you a flag,? and I said, ?Of course we?ll take it,? ” Fire Chief Dennis Carmody said outside the Broadway fire station at 424 Broadway on Monday.Solimine and Carmody aided four firefighters in hoisting the 5-foot by 8-foot flag, which immediately started to wave proudly in the strong afternoon breeze, its colors noticeably brighter than its predecessor.?I just looked over and, with the recent windstorms, saw that they could use a new flag,” Solimine said.Solimine is a well-known advocate for veterans as well as fire service, Carmody said.The fire chief quickly pointed out that the department does takes are of its own flag replacement – they hoist up a new flag six to seven times a year at that station alone – but, with last week?s high winds, the flag lost its luster quicker than usual.?With the weather like that it just takes a day to get tattered,” Carmody said. “They just beat us to the punch.”The station?s old flag will join other unusable flags waiting to be burned on Flag Day in June in an annual ceremony put on by the funeral home, American Legion Shoemaker Post 345 and members of the Lynn Fire Department, Solimine said, encouraging anyone with old flags to drop them off at his business, located at 426 Broadway or at any local fire station.Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].