Volunteer safety — and not disrespect for a civil rights icon — prompted the decision Monday by the Manteca Chamber of Commerce not to place 2,400 flags along city streets in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

The chamber was criticized by several residents including in a letter to the City Council and postings on social meeting about the decision.

"We take the safety of our volunteers seriously,” Chamber Executive Director Joan Beattie said of the 100 plus people who turn out at 4 a.m. on flag placement days to put flags in place and then return at 3 p.m. to collect them.

Flags, from the start, have always been displayed on a weather permitting basis to make sure:

*Volunteers are kept safe.

*Flags don’t get wet and then mildew in storage.

*The chamber follows proper flag etiquette that flags should not be displayed in the rain, snow or wind storms unless it is an all-weather flag per guidelines noted by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs.

The National Weather Service had issued an extreme fog advisory for this past Monday.

That led to the chamber canceling the display.

The safety issue isn’t a small concern.

In order to place flags along major arterials such as Main Street and Yosemite Avenue, they are loaded in the back of pickups or SUVs.

Drivers move and stop along the curb with emergency flashers on.

Meanwhile, other volunteers are stepping into the street behind the vehicles to retrieve the flag.

On every day when the flags are placed, it is before dawn.

Even on clear early mornings when it is just dark, inattentive motorists have led to close calls in the past.

Placing flags in the darkness with dense fog reduces safety even further.

Two volunteers that showed up at the chamber office in the 600 block of East Yosemite on Monday shortly before 4 a.m. as they did not receive cancellation texts or emails, noted visibility at just over a block.

The chamber has cancelled flag placements over the years whenever the National Weather Service forecasts a chance of 10 percent or more for rain on that date.

There has been at least one fog-related cancellation over the years on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day.

Getting the flags wet is a serious issue.

It is next-to-impossible to thoroughly dry out the 2,400 flags before they are stored in the back of semi-trailer that was donated by Mountain Valley Express.

Mildew is a major problem in such a situation.

Replacing flags, which Beattie noted are acquired only from firms that manufacture them in the United States, is at least $35 each. Damaged poles cost $15 each.

The chamber has a fund where community members can contribute to help the non-profit offset the cost of flag replacement.

The chamber has expanded flag placements to 11 days this year.

The newest is on Juneteenth on Friday, June 19.

The next date is on Presidents Day on Feb. 16.

Other displays dates are May 16, Armed Forces Day; May 25, Memorial Day; June 14, Flag Day; July 4, Independence Day; Sept. 7, Labor Day; Sept. 11 Patriots Day, Nov. 11, Veterans Day; and Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day.

The chamber launched Flags Over Manteca after the 9-11 terrorists’ attacks on the United States on 2021.

The chamber raised $60,000 plus in less than two months to purchase flags and poles for what has become their marquee community service endeavor.

The actual number of original flags was 2,403. It is not an arbitrary number. It represents the number of Americans killed on Dec. 7, 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The chamber has had three volunteer flag coordinators in the past 24 years meaning the decisions to call off the placement of flags has been consistently made.

Some groups such as the Manteca Sunrise Kiwanis, East Union JROTC, and Manteca Rotary have placed flags from the beginning.

There also have been neighborhood groups and extended families as well that have volunteered to place flags along pre-designated sections.

For more details on how you can volunteer or donate to Flags Over Manteca, contact the chamber at (209) 823-6121 or go to the website at www.manteca.org

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com.