Memphians for America readies for flag sale

Tom Bailey | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Show Caption Hide Caption Memphians for America Memphians for America will hold their annual flag sale in East Memphis on Saturday.

Memories of an extroverted Memphis mayor — stopping traffic for a cause — will be with Memphians for America on Saturday when the group continues its yearly tradition of promoting patriotism just before the Fourth of July by selling U.S. flags for a few hours on a busy corner in East Memphis.

The civic group will be at Poplar and Colonial 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The 3-by-5-foot, embroidered flags are $16; $25 with a pole. Military service and the Tennessee state flags also will be for sale.

The loose-knit organization also continues its early morning breakfast meetings the first Friday of each month. No speeches and just a few announcements marked the most recent get-together at 7 a.m. June 2 at the Shoney's restaurant on Summer at Sycamore View.

Seven participants — leader Sam Goff and his wife, Sara, Bob Owens, Casey Milton, Jim Brown, Steve Green and Debbie Walker — filled less than half a small backroom beyond the breakfast buffet.

Such a space once would have been far too tiny to accommodate Memphians for America, which has convened at a number of restaurants around Memphis over the years.

"We've had a over 100 (participants) a lot,'' recalled Brown. "And in many of the places we'd meet there wouldn't be sitting room.''

The dropping attendance likely results from less emphasis being given to patriotism in school, said Brown, a retired educator and Marine, and also seems to mirror falling participation among civic clubs in general.

"I think all service and social clubs are hurting today,'' Brown said. "There was a comradeship we had then, and the willingness to serve our country and our community, and the public service is just not there anymore.''

Memphians for American started organically in 1969. Then-mayor Henry Loeb and his East Memphis neighbor, architect Robert T. ''Buddy'' Martin, sought to express their patriotism during Vietnam War by displaying a flag in their yards.

"Buddy Martin and Mayor Loeb couldn't find places in Memphis that would sell the flag,'' recalled Brown, a participant with Memphians for America since about 1970. "That's why we got involved in the flag sale.''

Brown's most vivid memories of the annual sales include the outgoing Loeb stopping the traffic on Poplar to encourage motorists to buy flags.

"He would just walk out in the street and wave his hands and they would stop. And how thankful they were that, once he stopped them, they could buy a flag,'' Brown said.

The mayor's zeal had been sparked in part by the thefts of the flag from Martin's front yard. Martin had posted the flags after his son was killed in Vietnam.

Loeb died in 1992 at age 71, having stood on the wrong side of civil rights history. His fight against the unionization of sanitation workers drew Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis in 1968, when King was assassinated.

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