Custom banners honor veterans all across Michigan

A project in Michigan is helping communities throughout the state honor veterans by creating and hanging custom banners all over town. 

The History of Hometown Heroes project started small in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan last year, hanging banners depicting veterans and their accolades on lightpoles throughout town. Now, the project is looking to expand their reach across the entire state of Michigan, reported 9 and 10 News.

Each Banner they create has a photo of a veteran, their branch and years served on it. 300 banners were hung in 2019 alone, and another 120 have gone up in the past couple of days.

“It’s been overwhelming,” said Abby Baker from The History of Hometown Heroes. 

“The phone has not stopped ringing since we hung the first round. The first round took us six weeks to sell 150. We hung them. The phone would not stop ringing. Second round it took us six days to sell 150. The third round took about another four weeks”.

“Exciting news! History of Hometown Heroes is going on the road,” Baker continued. 

“The first stop is Rudyard Township. And then the big news is that we are going downstate, below the Bridge and we are heading to Grand Blanc. Pretty exciting to go and take this project that we started in little ol’ Sault Ste Marie and take it to other communities to beautify their downtowns, a walkable tour, and most important is to honor the vets…it’s not political, it’s not….it’s nothing but honoring our loved ones that have served our country and have fought for us”.

By the end of the summer, Baker is hoping to have an Audible walking tour accessible through a phone app, allowing viewers to learn even more about each veteran displayed on the banners.