Alaskans offended by the Denali National Park Superintendent who banned the American flag from a private road construction vehicle inside the national park have decided to take a road trip on Sunday — to the park entrance, with their flags flying.
A convoy with patriotic flags will meet at the Fairbanks Walmart parking lot on Sunday starting at noon, and will be rolling toward the Denali Park entrance at around 1 pm, said Keith Fons of North Pole, who is organizing the convoy. The drive to the entrance usually takes about two hours. The goal is to take a break in Healy at the Three Bears parking lot, where people can attach, reattach or adjust their flags, and arrive around 2:30 or 3 p.m. at the park entrance visitor center.
Others are organizing to come from the south, with people in Wasilla, Palmer, and Anchorage now getting in the patriotic spirit for a Memorial Day ride. Organizers said if the parking lot is full at the visitors center, they will line the road as safely as possible.
Barbara Haney, a member of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly , intends to take part in the patriotic convoy. She noted that Hudson Stuck, the first person to make it to the top of Denali, planted a flag and a cross when he reached the top of North America’s highest peak.
A Facebook events page has been created to publicize the event.
“Memorial Day weekend is a perfect time to do such a act! Start Meeting at Walmart at Noon and then we will ride to Denali or you can meet up at Denali Come join do a BBQ or just hang out,” Fons said in his Facebook post.
The convoy is in response to a complaint made by a worker who is on the crew that is building the bridge at Pretty Rocks, which is after Mile 43 on the Denali Park Road. Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell told the road crew that American flags are not allowed on their trucks because they ruin the experience for visitors.
Currently, visitors cannot get past Mile 43 due to a severe rock slide that not only made the road impassable, but unrepairable without a bridge, which is being constructed by Granite Construction.
Sen. Dan Sullivan has written a letter to the National Park Service director, objecting to the banning of the 3×5 flag that was on one of the worker’s trucks.
Also on Sunday, motorcyclists will be on the Parks Highway heading to Byers Lake Veterans Memorial to have a Memorial Day ceremony.
