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photographs by Meg Beshey
Old Glory
Still Flies Strong Over Des Moines River On a misty, gray Saturday morning you would not imagine that the American flag could look more majestic, but it did. It especially looked that way through the eyes of Ron Newsum, the “father” of river flag projects. When two flag wavers get together and talk about Old Glory, well, it is just like two kids in a candy store really. All smiles. Proud ones. Ron Newsum is more than happy to talk about how this lifelong passion for the flag became a reality project for him. He was born just west of Fort Dodge and has lived here all his life. He likes the Fort Dodge community for the friendliness he finds in its people. Newsum said, “In a mere five minutes, you find this commonality with the people who live here.” Because of this commonality, it was no surprise to find out how the Old Glory on the River project came about. You see, Ron Newsum was one of the cofounders/organizers with the Daybreak Rotary’s Dragon Boat Races. He was helping get the first races ready along the Des Moines River when he was struck by the beautiful setting of the river and the lonely pier in the middle of it. He thought to himself how that would be a great spot for a flag. It was.
A perfect place for a flag to fly over, don’t you think? When asked why he thought the flag should go there of all places, Newsum replied, “There was a need to put something there and a flag was perfect to place on that spot.” Every time he drove over the bridges on either side of the pier he knew the project had to get done. When the first estimates were calculated, the cost was near $1 million. When Ron Newsum approached the city again with his intentions, Patterson liked his proposal. Then they worked with city utilities on how to make it a reality. They also worked with the Fort Dodge Fire Department. “In 2003, a 28-foot pole was mounted with the intent of a smaller flag than there is now," Ron recalls. “But, to me, it just wasn’t enough for me visually. I’ve been a flag-waver all my life. I needed it to be bigger.”
“I let it go for awhile, but then pursued the idea. I visited with the late Mayor Will Patterson and Dennis Plautz, who at the time was director of the Department of Business Affairs and Community Growth.”
So the project gained even more emphasis when he created postcards and fliers and gave himself a timeline of two months and two weeks to raise the money for a much larger flag. His goal was $15,000 initially and, shortly afterwards, he received a $3,000 grant for community effort projects.
At the time, the initial River Trail project was in discussion and they showed Newsum the concept of the cupola with a walking bridge.
"The pole itself was going to be near $6,000 at a height of 77 feet long. About 7 feet was going to be embedded into the pier," he explained.
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Fort Dodge Today
June 2012
The pier is 115 feet from either bank and to find someone to core drill into that pier was a major challenge. That’s where Karen and Doug McGough from McGough Construction came in handy. They knew someone for the job. So on Feb. 24, 2004, before the ice went out, the drilling began and all was readied for the flag to be installed into the pier. “The flag itself came from Martin Flag Co. and cost near $350. It was important for me to utilize as much local business as possible and soon an account was set up at First American to hold the funds raised,” Newsum said. The pole was installed on May 3, 2004, the first flag was 15 feet by 25 feet and was raised on June 13, 2004 Flag Day. It was no easy job. But for the many people who were involved that day, it was a first-time, patriotic experience. Eventually this question arose: What to do if the flag ever would need to be replaced? It has happened. Sometime after the first
A rock and plaque are in front of the flag view.