by Victoria Howell
Roger DeBrito has been a part of the Florence community since 1976 and a member of the Florence Civic Club since 1983. He is a consummate volunteer, involved in just about every Florence betterment project that has occurred over that time span. DeBrito just loves Florence. He and his wife Sharon raised their children here and all his grandkids have attended Florence-Carlton School. His daughter is a third grade teacher at Florence. He is deeply embedded in the community. However, an incident last week put a momentary damper on DeBrito’s enthusiasm, when the American flags that grace the lamp posts going through town were turned upside down.
A retired teacher in his 70s, who now works helping out in his son’s contracting business, DeBrito’s volunteer work for the Florence Civic Club (FCC) is extensive and spans a broad spectrum of projects over more than 40 years.
Roger DeBrito, volunteer with Florence Civic Club, cleans American flag banners that he installs on the lamp posts that run along the bike trail through Florence. Photo courtesy Roger DeBrito.
According to a flyer produced by the club, “The Florence Civic Club is dedicated to making Florence an attractive and distinctive place in which to live, work and do business. By supporting activities, projects and programs, the Florence Civic Club strives to preserve and enhance the quality of life in our community.
“Florence businesses and their citizens can take active roles in serving community through opportunities in humanitarian deeds and the pursuit of education, recreation, and economic stability.”
A partial list of club’s projects includes: a Community Emergency/Disaster Relief fund. “We offer help with electric bills, propane in the winter, food gift cards at the grocery store, and much more,” said DeBrito. “It is a simple process; anyone can nominate a family, same-day decision is made by the committee.”
A Red Cross Blood Drive, bimonthly at the Florence Carlton Community Church; Florence Community Craft Bazaar, fund raiser for projects; Christmas Share Tree, clothing and gifts for families in need; Community Library, in the Gary and Leo’s Florence IGA; Dollars for Scholars, continued education funds for Florence Carlton High School graduates (This year, Milli Shepp and Ethan Horsens each received $1500 scholarships.); Little Free Food Pantry; Parks and Trails, Veterans Banners, American Flags, Spring Greetings, Christmas Wreaths; Annual Community Service Award
FCC plays a crucial role in improvements and maintenance at the Florence Park, especially HideOut Mountain playground, Willow Springs splash pad and an ice skating rink that is being converted to a summertime sand volleyball court.
In all of these improvements and projects, you can find DeBrito’s hand, and those of his extended family members. DeBrito is proud of the projects facilitated by the Florence Civic Club. He downplays his role as a club leader (he sits on the board but is not currently an officer) and said he prefers to help make sure things get done. He jokes that serving on the board is “a life sentence” and says he’s “been a volunteer forever… I’m a motivator, an instigator. I push things.”
One of his many attempts to serve the community he is so passionate about is the seasonal hanging of the American flag banners that grace the decorative lamp posts along the bike trail.
DeBrito said the lamp posts were installed about 20 years ago when the bike trail went in. The project was paid for with a federal Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP) grant which DeBrito and his wife Sharon helped secure. The larger project provided a bike trail which has eventually stretched from Missoula to Hamilton alongside Hwy 93. Communities along the way applied for funding for added amenities like landscaping and decorative lighting.
Roger DeBrito, volunteer with Florence Civic Club, installs a banner on one of the lamp posts that run along the bike trail through Florence. Photo courtesy Roger DeBrito.
After the Florence segment was completed, “we started experimenting with banners, and people were excited,” recalls DeBrito. Now the banners are a part of Florence’s community identity.
DeBrito takes the banners down in the fall, cleans and stores them properly, and then installs them every spring, along with other banners that highlight residents of Florence that have served in the military, commemorate the holidays, etc.
“It’s not all about me, but I do all the work,” says DeBrito with good humor.
Last week, DeBrito was dismayed to find that all the American flag banners had been flipped so that they were hanging upside down. It was clearly a political statement in a community that is generally pretty conservative, according to DeBrito.
DeBrito said a couple of people called and texted him, “and they were fairly upset. They felt it’s not honoring our country.”
Then he got a call from the county commissioners’ office, wondering why the flags were upside down.
“I went and changed them out, the first thing early the next morning,” said DeBrito. “It took almost four hours to switch them back.”
DeBrito said the flags are spaced along more than a mile of the trail and require getting up on a ladder to change them. It would take some time for anybody to switch them, he said, “and nobody saw anything.”
DeBrito said he fully understands that the nation is “in distress” right now. “I don’t mind people expressing themselves, but please don’t do it with these.”
“My main message is – you have the right of expression and speech, I support that,” said DeBrito. “It’s not against the law to hang the flag upside down. But this is federal property. If you want to walk on the trail with a flag upside down, or turn the flag upside down on your own property, that’s okay, but please don’t disrupt the community by doing things like this. It’s disrespectful. There was no vandalizing, but this was someone who just wanted to disrupt the peace in our community.”
And, perhaps unwittingly, whoever did this made a lot of extra work for one dedicated volunteer.
Allison Dunne says
Good Morning Roger,
I want to start by thanking you and Sharon for your work in the Florence community. You are both recognized and appreciated for your decades long service to community.
Historically flying the flag upside down, is a maritime tradition. Ships in distress would often signal their distress by flying their flags upside down. As such, using this practice with the American flag signals extreme danger. Prior to the Revolutionary war- before we had a flag- the upside-down Stamp Act symbolized the American colonists’ protest against British taxation without representation.
I am so glad to hear there was no vandalism. I would expect no vandalism from progressive people. Progressive folks tend to be thoughtful and well read, and not likely to be impulsive, reactive, or aggressive. I believe you are mistaken in your assumption and public statement that someone took hours (in the dark of night apparently) to “disrupt the peace” in our community.
I believe it was someone who needed to communicate their concern. A way for them to reach out and make a statement to the whole community. I believe it was someone who is, as I am, deeply concerned about the health and well-being of the people in our community, our state, and our nation based on the deeply disturbing actions that are threatening Democracy.
I believe you would be hard pressed to find someone whose life is not “disrupted” right now- in the service community anyway. Hundreds of people in our community have been affected by absolutely shameful politics.
I am pretty sure you didn’t take this protest personally- you are a tough guy. I hope you can understand that folks are really concerned about the future and they need to be heard: just as you need to be heard. I am sure this act of peaceful protest did ‘disrupted your peace’, on this one day, put not your life- thank God.
Speaking for myself. I feeling like on tiny voice speaking to representatives who do not share my values. And despite my own decades long work and service in this community it is not enough to get me a big chair at the table with millionaires and billionaires. I am relieved that there are other people in my community that share my distress and my HOPE.
Love is the whole thing- we are the pieces,
Allison Dunne
Florence, MT
Mike Miller says
Allison wrote “I would expect no vandalism from progressive people. Progressive folks tend to be thoughtful and well read, and not likely to be impulsive, reactive, or aggressive.”
LOL! Lady, have you seen the nationwide impulsive, reactive, and aggressive vandalism from the progressives lately?