Local motorcycle club giving away American flags

Polson’s Ravenhall Motorcycle Club is looking to make Lake County a more patriotic place.

With the help of donations from locals, the club is offering to provide American flags for anyone in Lake County who wants one, with priority going to veterans, active armed services personnel and their families.

“We really want our club to be community based. There are all kinds of programs already out there, like Toys for Tots and all of the standard things motorcycle clubs do. We wanted to do something completely different,” club member and organizer Ed Lee said. “I was driving around one day and a I thought to myself, you don’t see a lot of American flags flying like you did when I was in high school. They used to be everywhere. So I figured, why don’t we give flags away? All people have to do is ask for them and we can provide them so they can put them on their houses.”

So far, the club has raised just over $500 and purchased 25 flags that it is looking to give away. According to Lee, 23 of those flags are still available. While the program is still new, Lee says he hopes that the movement will catch on and begin to grow.

“We are hoping that once people see what we are doing, more people will want to get involved,” he said. “I would really love to see this become a national program someday.”

The club, which is in its second year of existence, currently has five members and tries to take at least two long-distance rides each year.

“We try to ride every weekend during the summer and we try to do two big trips every year. You can only ride around the lake so many times,” Lee said. “Between those big rides, we just try to get together and ride when we can. We may look intimidating, but we are really just a bunch of teddy bears.”

For more information on the Ravenhall Motorcycle Club’s flag program, email them at Ravenhallflaginfo@gmail.com.