Kewaunee County Star News

Main Menu

  • Classifieds
    • Place Ads
    • View Ads
  • Electronic Edition
  • Obituaries
  • Contact US

logo
Serving Algoma, Casco, Kewaunee, Luxemburg and all of Kewaunee County

Kewaunee County Star News

  • Classifieds
    • Place Ads
    • View Ads
  • Electronic Edition
  • Obituaries
  • Contact US
Kewaunee County
Home›Kewaunee County›The Flag Giver retires

The Flag Giver retires

By
June 1, 2016
6
0
Share:

Like the tree in Shel Silverstein’s classic children’s book, “The Giving Tree,” Bob Schneider felt this Memorial Day that he has given everything he had to give – to his country.

The 89-year-old World War II veteran announced after Monday’s Memorial Day parade in Kewaunee that it is the last year that he will give out American flags to children before the parade.

Schneider has been giving out flags for 69 years, since he returned to Kewaunee after serving in the U.S. Army as a supply sergeant from 1945 to 1947.  Before that, his father, Charles Schneider, a World War I veteran, gave out flags for children from 1918 until his son took over.

The father and son have been giving out flags for 98 years.

“We enjoyed it, especially watching the joy that the kids got out of it,” said Schneider.  “I think the best reaction was when the kids just said ‘thank you'”

He estimates that he and his father gave out about 100 flags each year, supplied by the American Legion.

The Schneider family’s patriotism runs deep.  Charles helped organize Kewaunee’s American Legion Post No. 29 with Leo Bruemmer and Wenzel Hamachek after World War I.

“”I can still remember Bob’s father giving out flags to me when I was a boy,” said Lloyd Nimmer, a Korean War veteran who was born in 1934.

This year, Nimmer, as part of the Memorial Day services in Kewaunee, remembered Charles’ gift by putting a flag on his grave at Riverview cemetery.

Schneider, a lifelong Kewaunee resident who graduated from Kewaunee High School in 1945, said that giving out flags was “just a responsibility that you had.”

He also expressed his patriotism by serving as the leader of Kewaunee’s Boy Scout troop for a decade, where he taught love of country and helped many boys, including his son, Garth, earn their Eagle Scout award.

He continued to serve on the Boy Scout Council until the 1990s.

The former publisher of the Kewaunee Star, Schneider went on to attend Marquette University after the war.  He worked for many years at Hamilton Industries in Two Rivers before taking over his father’s role at the newspaper.

Schneider said that the number of people participating in the Memorial Day parade has dwindled over the years.

His daughter, Terry, remembers when the parade started at the Karsten Hotel and proceed to several cemeteries before ending at the elevated gazebo at the Kewaunee County Courthouse.  All of the children would decorate their bikes to ride in the parade and there would be many speeches made from the gazebo, she said.

“I remember the roll call of the fallen,” she said. “When you live through a war, you learn to understand loss and develop patriotism,” she said.

Schneider said that he only handed out about 25 flags to children this year.

“It used to be that the kids were running up to you for the flags and then they would be waving them,” he said.  “Now it seems that the spirit has gone out of it … but times change.”

Schneider said it will be up to the American Legion to find another veteran to take over his position.

Neither his son, who is a physician, nor daughter, a retired teacher, qualify as they did not serve in the military, he said.

It may be appropriate to find a veteran of a more recent war, Terry suggested.

“I think that there are a lot of young people who are patriotic,” she said, noting that patriotism has increased after 9/11 and among young people who have served in Iraq.

The Flag Giver, Bob Schneider, and his daughter,  Terry.

“But it has to be the people who work in this community and are part of this community,” Schneider said.

Any veteran who is interested in carrying on Schneider’s role should contact Nimmer, who is a member of the American Legion Post 29.   His phone number is 920-388-2318..

Bob Schneider gives out a flag to a child before the Memorial Day parade in Kewaunee.

Bob Schneider gives out flags at this year's Memorial Day parade in Kewaunee.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: The Flag Giver retires

Previous Article

Kewaunee County Local Events: June 3-11

Next Article

L-C alum to grads: Diploma is ‘learner’s ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Kewaunee County

    Kewaunee County Star-News to get new owner

    March 22, 2023
    By
  • AlgomaKewaunee CountyLuxemburgRoad construction and improvementTown of CascoWIWisconsin Department of Transportation

    State 54 will close in Kewaunee County for three weeks this summer

    March 15, 2023
    By
  • Business & IndustrialKewaunee County

    Bank of Luxemburg receives state of Wisconsin grant for worker training

    March 7, 2023
    By
  • Door CountyFoodKewaunee County

    Door County cheese is second-best in country, Kewaunee County cheese maker wins four classes

    February 24, 2023
    By
  • Craft BeersKewaunee County

    Craft beer, wine and food help local Lions Clubs at Kewaunee County brewfest

    February 23, 2023
    By
  • KewauneeKewaunee CountyRestaurantsWI

    Soup fundraiser for Kewaunee zoo returns after a three-year absence

    February 16, 2023
    By

Leave a reply Cancel reply

  • Kewaunee County

    Kewaunee County Star-News to get new owner

  • AlgomaBeachesLuxemburg-Casco School District

    Kewaunee County, Door County organizations receive grants from Green Bay foundation

  • KewauneeLibrariesNew BusinessesWI

    Book store to support the Kewaunee library reopens in new location

  • News

  • Sports

  • Green Bay

  • Crash on slick State 29 outside Kewaunee knocks out power for four hours

    By
    November 17, 2022
  • Stock the Shelves: Hunger in Door, Kewaunee counties affects a variety of people. Here’s how ...

    By
    October 6, 2022
  • Kewaunee County Board will approve $25.6 million jail proposal or send it to referendum

    By
    June 20, 2022
  • Damage to Algoma’s Lake Michigan beach areas

    By joseph seph
    October 30, 2019
  • Roar Off The Shore, March 24

    By joseph seph
    March 27, 2018
  • Softball win streak

    Nine in a row for Luxemburg-Casco

    By Kris Leonhardt
    May 5, 2023
  • Spartans keep winning, now at 9-1

    By Kris Leonhardt
    April 28, 2023
  • Rodeo, BMX stunt show are among the highlights of this year’s Kewaunee County Fair

    By
    June 30, 2022
  • The ‘Burg Speedway aims for safe large gathering at June 14 racing opener

    By
    June 10, 2020
  • Legendary L-C basketball coach Schanhofer dies

    By
    July 12, 2017
  • Kewaunee County shop hop hopes to draw visitors from across the Midwest

    By
    June 2, 2021
  • Scott bar badly damaged in Tuesday fire

    By
    May 3, 2017
Copyright © 2023 Multi Media Channels LLC.