The eagle has landed — on top of a Cambria flagpole
The eagle has landed atop a tall Cambria flagpole.
A similar sculpture was missing for decades from the crowning point of the flag stand at the Veterans Memorial Building on Main Street, home to American Legion Post No. 432.
It took determination, modifications and the willing skill of professional steeplejack Brad Houchin, who shimmied up the 50-foot pole on a drizzly, foggy morning on May 29. Local cherry picker-style trucks weren’t available to do the work, according to Pat Burbank of Cambria.
She wrote that “the pulley for the American flag was broken and was abrading the flag’s halyard.”
“Post past commanders Rob Maston and Jay Burbank had been put in charge of repairs,” Burbank wrote, adding that “they were extremely relieved to locate a steeplejack who specializes in flagpole maintenance and repair.”
A few attendees shared memories during the repair procedure.
Burbank said post “historian Roland Soucie and judge advocate Jerry McKinnon recalled that many years ago the legion flagpole had a carved wooden eagle topping it. In the 1980s, the legion installed the current, taller flagpole with an eagle, which later broke and fell off.”
Rob Maston said the repair project started for him on Memorial Day 2011, when he had climb into and ride up in a cherry-picker to replace the original pulley.
He said that the May 29 eagle-setting accomplishment was “like the capstone to finish the flag memorial,” a project that’s been progressing and expanding for years.
