When will Glen Rock's banners honoring veterans be ready? Multiple plans coming together

What better way to commemorate veterans than putting up banners in tribute to their service? Many Bergen County municipalities honor their service members with red, white and blue flags proudly strung on lampposts and poles.

Glen Rock hopes to be one of them, but how soon residents will see those flags is up for debate.

Glen Rock's Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 850 proposed a pilot program that would have 33 banners up by Veterans Day, Nov. 11. The post pushed the idea forward on July 26 at a Borough Council meeting, with former council member William S. Huisking speaking on the veterans' behalf.

"As we all surely agree, our veterans deserve this well-recognized quality program honoring their service and sacrifices for our freedoms," Huisking said.

The council did not make a decision on the pilot program that night. During the meeting, Mayor Kristine Morieko said the administration is already working to erect banners in Glen Rock but would not see the project's implementation until 2024.

VFW's proposal

The first kindling of a veteran banner program in Glen Rock began in 2021 when a local Girl Scout introduced the idea to VFW Post 850 for her Gold Award proposal. Although that plan never took hold, it sparked the post's interest in starting a project like it.

VFW Commander Robert Steinberg said a couple of people from the organization latched on to the idea earlier this year and started a banner committee to make the concept into a reality.

"Everybody who's supporting this, the mayor, the council, the individual people who've thought about this and put together their committee, they're all doing great work, and we appreciate it," Steinberg said.

Steinberg and Carmela Calbi, Ken Frank, Eileen Hillock and Huisking are the project's leading forces. In the request presented at the July 26 meeting, the committee offered a pilot program that would set up 33 banners with a $5,000 budget.

Huisking showed the council a design that features a veteran's portrait with his details, all decorated with the nation's colors.

Steinberg said a vendor from Florida sketched together the mock-up. According to Steinberg, the vendor said the banners could be done by Veterans Day for a reasonable price.

In addition to the committee, a Glen Rock Eagle Scout is volunteering with the organization to set up a system for capturing each displayed veteran's name, service and picture.

Mayor and council proposed plan

On the other hand, Morieko said she started a banner initiative last March after being approached by war veteran and former Saddle Brook Mayor Louis D'Arminio about the idea. She was put in contact with the producer of Saddle Brook's veteran flags, who would then be referred to Steinberg.

Morieko said she assumed Steinberg would work with this banner producer and come back with a proposal. She said she was unaware of the separate program at VFW Post 850 until Hillock requested that its proposal get on the meeting agenda.

While both Glen Rock's governing body and the VFW post hope for the same goal, the council did not approve the proposed pilot program or allocate the necessary funds for it at the meeting.

"We will do everything we can to support, honor, appreciate and show gratitude toward all veterans in this town," Morieko said at the July 26 meeting. "We can't vote on this tonight because it's not an agenda item. We can't make financial decisions which haven't been advertised to the public this evening."

Morieko met with a banner company on Tuesday to discuss the next steps. She said there is a solid plan to present at the Aug. 9 meeting, including a secured vendor at half the price of VFW Post 850's proposed pilot program.

Steinberg said there is better collaboration between the borough and residents now that the two plans for banners have been brought to light.

"I think everybody agrees," he said. "They want to get it done; it's just a question of timing, is the town gonna pay for it, is it gonna be funded through donations, how's that gonna work and who's gonna run the program."