Old Glory-Long May
She Wave
Old Glory is a
nickname for the flag of the United States. The original "Old Glory"
was a flag owned by the 19th-century American sea captain William Driver (March
17, 1803 – March 3, 1886), who flew the flag during his career at sea and later
brought it to Nashville, Tennessee, where he settled. During a trip to
Washington D.C. a few years ago I stood next to the flag flown during the
American Revolution. Its spirit is tremendous to say the least. My husband was
so gentle and kind and waited while I stayed and stared and cried and thank God
for all the lives laid down, so I could live free.
It has been my honor
to have painted “Old Glory” several times in my career. Never would I have
thought that painting our Nation’s flag would stir up such controversy. But our
Nation’s emblem stands strong and so do the hearts of our citizens. So when an
anonymous call came into our city complaining that someone was painting a “large
flag across the back of a house”, they were soon to realize that our city loves
and supports our great nation, our Veterans, and our first responders.
A mural tribute to
our Country, Veterans, First Responders, and our city as a “Purple Heart City”
The Before and After photo above shows the backside of the house that faces a main thoroughfare. The home was originally a residence. As the city has grown, the section in which it sets has developed into a commercial area. In a year or so the home will actually be knocked down as an extension of the city's "Bimini Bay" project. Rather than have a dilapidated back of a house as an eye sore, the owner of Costa Mechanical & Air Conditioning commissioned a mural to be painted on to it. One of the services they provide is free service calls to Veterans & First Responders. To pay tribute to them and let the service be known, the original mural looked like this:
However, when the mural began :
..the city received a call about it. When the city showed up to let me know ( I should point out that the city was supportive of the mural, but wanted to let me know about the call ). They noticed by now I had painted a logo onto the mural. Production was halted while they try to clarify what would and would not be allowed on the surface. I had my assistant make a Facebook video letting the local people know what was happening. The response was immediate. Calls came into the city showing support of the mural, shares of the video on Face Book, and even a city council member showing up in support ( Thank you Dave Stokes). The news media arrived after catching the Face Book video. A handful of conversations and meetings later, it was decided that the Flag would stay ! The city requested that the logo and verbiage be removed. Costa Mechanical, asked me at that point to replace their logo and ad with the icon of the Purple Heart logo. Our city is very proud to have earned that right in support of our Veterans. You can catch the original and follow up videos at our Swan Studios Inc page:
Link to the original video clip:
You can also see an in-depth report by Hello SW FL at:
as well as a separate article discussing our Purple Heart status:
Thank you also to NBC, ABC, and CBS for covering the story in our local T.V. News
Thank You everyone for you calls, texts, and shares in support of our Flag, Veterans, & First Responders.
If you are a Veteran or First Responder in need of Air Conditioning Services in the Cape Coral, FL area, you can reach Costa Mechanical & Air Conditioning at
http://www.costaswfl.com
Old Glory- Long may she wave !!!
#OldGlory #LoveAmerica #Flagmural
