On Tuesday this week, The Valley Reporter and Waterbury Roundabout learned that the Pride flag at Harwood Union had been stolen shortly before midnight on June 8, the night of graduation.
Miscreants disguised by hoodies took down the American and Pride flag, took the Pride flag and hung the American flag back up. The incident was filmed on security cameras and Vermont State Police are investigating. Report tips here: https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit
School officials quickly purchased a replacement flag and installed it effectively thwarting the efforts of those who stole the flag, but also honored the desire of students to have the flag flying in June as a symbol of respect and inclusion.
Kudos to school personnel for getting on this so quickly.
Come on people! Aren’t we better than this? A rainbow flag does not harm anyone. Pride flags at schools and on public buildings represent respect and inclusion. They signal to those who fall outside of hetero-cis norms that everyone is represented, recognized and welcome. Unclear why that should be triggering people to steal flags in the middle of the night. Don’t like rainbow flags? Avert your gaze.
Also, this week, The Valley Reporter learned about several acts of vandalism perpetrated against stewardMRV sites in The Valley with port-o-lets being upended and the shelters that house them being damaged, while household trash is being left at these shelters where animals can get into it and drag it throughout the site.
Come on people! Don’t you have something better to do than tip over plastic toilets? Get a life. And as for dumping your garbage where it doesn’t belong, get a life and grow up. Your petty disregard for the work that goes into stewardMRV and the community-wide effort to keep our community recreation sites pollution free and inviting is immature at best but mostly disgusting.
Both of these disturbing episodes reflect a lack of shared values, to be sure, but they also reflect a failure to: a) live and let live in terms of the flag and b) an inability to appreciate and respect how hard some folks are working to make sure we take care (steward!) our Valley and the recreation sites it offers.
Let’s do better.
