Amos Stevens
New Member
Flag owner ticketed for its loud flapping
Associated Press
Feb. 7, 2003 08:14 AM
CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - It's a flap over a
flapping flag.
A man who installed a 50-foot flag poll after the
Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was ticketed after a
neighbor said the flag's flapping made too much noise.
Ray Saelens says the sight and sound of an American
flag whipping in the wind has special meaning.
"To me, the noise of the flag is the voices of
everyone who's died for this country," the 51-year-old
mason told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens for a
story Thursday.
But next-door neighbor Mark Grucz complained, saying
the flapping of the flag bothered him, and police
issued Saelens a warning.
In response, Saelens switched to a polyester flag
designed to be quieter. "Never in a million years did
I think I would bother someone by flying a flag," he
said.
On Monday, a police officer cited him for violating
the local noise ordinance.
"He could hardly look me in the eye," Saelens said.
Township police spokesman Jim Gates said the dispute
was unprecedented, and the department had no choice
but to issue a ticket when someone complains about
noise.
It is up to the court to decide between the neighbors,
he said.
Meanwhile, Saelens says he will fight to keep the flag
flying.
Associated Press
Feb. 7, 2003 08:14 AM
CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - It's a flap over a
flapping flag.
A man who installed a 50-foot flag poll after the
Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was ticketed after a
neighbor said the flag's flapping made too much noise.
Ray Saelens says the sight and sound of an American
flag whipping in the wind has special meaning.
"To me, the noise of the flag is the voices of
everyone who's died for this country," the 51-year-old
mason told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens for a
story Thursday.
But next-door neighbor Mark Grucz complained, saying
the flapping of the flag bothered him, and police
issued Saelens a warning.
In response, Saelens switched to a polyester flag
designed to be quieter. "Never in a million years did
I think I would bother someone by flying a flag," he
said.
On Monday, a police officer cited him for violating
the local noise ordinance.
"He could hardly look me in the eye," Saelens said.
Township police spokesman Jim Gates said the dispute
was unprecedented, and the department had no choice
but to issue a ticket when someone complains about
noise.
It is up to the court to decide between the neighbors,
he said.
Meanwhile, Saelens says he will fight to keep the flag
flying.
