Giant flag looks to boost spirits

KIMBERLY - For one night in Papermaker stadium it wasn't all about football. The preparations, not only warm-ups and drills, but stretches and folds.  Because on this night where cleats tread, Old Glory was spread.

"People came out of the stands that we never asked, they saw what was going on and they wanted to be part of it," Organizer Dave Ademino said.

Ademino says the 120 by 60 foot flag is the largest ever flown. Its stars are three feet wide. The stripes? Four and half feet, so the Kimberly High School students and volunteers who carried it got some practice before hand.

"Right away it blew up to about, I don't know.. 20 yards in the air," Kimberly Senior Matt Boots said. "She was way up there and we had to pull her down, get her all situated. Now we got people underneath holding it so we're all good."

Ademino is the President of local insurance company, Ademino and Associates. He arranged for the flag to come here, hoping to show that the American spirit lives on in Kimberly, even in challenging times.

For some the display, complete with the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem brought tears, for others song, but for all an awareness of the sacrifices that make us free.

"What was really emotional for us tonight was that we have a Kimberly graduate who played football for us who was killed while in service in Germany and his dad was here tonight helping us with the flag in his honor," Kimberly High School Principal Mike Rietveld said.

A fitting tribute for those who've served, and reminder that patriotism and Papermaker pride is strong.