By Jay C. Grelen, Storyteller in Chief, Maumelle Monitor[ed]
This is a video of the new flags flying over Maumelle, raised on the afternoon of Leap Day 2024. Maumelle’s three flagpoles, installed in October 2022, are perfectly placed to welcome travelers on Edgewood Drive and to entertain folks stuck in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles. They are a fitting accessory to Maumelle’s newly renovated city hall, a project that former Mayor Mike Watson championed and that his successor, Mayor Caleb Norris, oversaw to completion.
COVID prevented the city from cutting a ribbon when the project was complete. So on October 4, 2022, when the flag poles were ready, city hall threw a Renovation Celebration, highlighted by a flag raising. Members of the Maumelle Fire and Police departments joined city hall employees for the event. Council Member Chad Gardner offered an invocation. As the longest-serving council member, Steve Mosley was chosen to raise the American flag. Council Member Jess Holt raised the Arkansas flag. Council Member Terry Williams raised the Maumelle flag.
Outdoor flags last three to four months before the elements force them into retirement. City hall keeps a supply on hand so someone on the staff can replace them the moment they show signs of fatigue.
Maumelle Monitor[ed] comforts the afflicted and afflicts the afflicters. If you’re an afflicter, buckle up and batten down. We’re here. If you’re afflicted, breathe easy. We’re here. We also offer stories that have nothing to do with affliction.
This is Jay Grelen. I hope you remember me from the days I was writing my Sweet Tea column, which the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published for seven years on the front page of its Arkansas section on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. That was a while ago. The newspaper business has changed. Now I’m a newspaper refugee clutching his manual typewriter and trying to stay afloat. I worked in the newspaper racket for 35 years, including stints at the Denver Post, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, and the Mobile Register. My last stop was a 10-year stay at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In 2017, Governor Asa Hutchinson hired me as his senior writer; after nearly six years with Governor Hutchinson, I became chief of staff to the mayor of Maumelle, who last year promoted me to Chief of Staff Emeritus. I have returned to writing, and I am participating in the much balleyhooed rebirth of local journalism. This Substack platform is like owning my own newspaper. The basic stories are available to all subscribers. Paid subscribers will have access to a wider range of topics and writers from all corners of creativity. Maumelle Monitor[ed]’s first mission is to chase the elected foxes away from the public henhouses, which belong to the constituents who voted them into office. Maumelle Monitor(ed) is named in honor of its late predecessor, the Maumelle Monitor. Thank you for reading and subscribing, however you choose to participate. ~ Jay Grelen, Storyteller in Chief.
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