For twelve years, Wichita, Kansas Realtor Barbara Jean Pickens shows her patriotic spirit with the "July 4th Flag Stake-out." The Realty Executives associate and her helpers, the 14-member Boy Scout Troop 735, put out approximately 1,500 U.S. flags in the driveway-side yards of homes in selected neighborhoods on Wichita's west side.

Wichita is a red, white, and blue town. A major aircraft manufacturing center set atop the wheatfields of Kansas, Wichita is home to the hottest names in jet aircraft - Learjet, Cessna, Raytheon, and Boeing. McConnell Air Force Base is also a major player in the local economy. From jumbo jets to gigantic cargo carriers, and sexy corporate aircraft to fighter planes, the sky is often filled with the screaming roar of jet engines, like something right out of "Top Gun." Wichita is the birthplace of Air Force One. Barbara Jean Pickens remembers watching the sky with pride as the presidential plane's test pilots took her through her paces.

While other agents get into the charitable mode at Christmas time, or when sales are softer, Pickens is moved by Independence Day and its relationship to her town. She plans the Flag Event in the heat of the selling season, not to mention the long, hot shadeless summer.

"When my girls were in junior high school, the church youth group needed money for camp," says Pickens. "So the kids put the flags out every year. They grew up, and the church changed youth ministers, and then we became aware of a group a Boy Scouts in the Midtown area who had no funds for activities. Their troop leader worked with my husband, an engineer at Learjet."

"These are largely urban kids that may otherwise have a difficult time paying for camp," says Troop leader Gayle Meek. " The cost per boy is over $100 and then there is some troop expense, so Barbara Jean's donation to our troop goes a long way. Without this, some of the boys flat out would not be able to go."

Pickens decided that sending inner city boys to camp was the perfect solution. She arranged to pay each boy above minimum wage plus a donation to the troop. The payments and donation would go into the troop treasury to defray the costs of the camp. Over the years, as the boys have learned the drill, they can put out the flags in as little as three hours. Many roller blade their way around the yards. To compensate them for their efficiency, Pickens adds more donations to the camp fund.

The flags have become such an event that many residents wait outside in the evening air for the boys to come. Last year, three local news stations followed the boys as they planted flags.

The flag planting requires several days of preparation and execution. The boys pick up the flags a few days in advance, apply stickers with Pickens name and contact information, and then arrive with moms, pops, and other volunteers in tow around 9:00 on July 3rd. Why the late hour?

"Children on tricycles come by and take the flags down if we do it during the day," explains Pickens. At night, children are in bed. When they wake up the next morning, the excitement is as great as if Santa had come to visit. Families burst through their doors to gaze upon the colorful sight of the flags lining the driveways as far as the eye can see.

The boys swell with pride at the sight, too. "Barbara Jean could easily pay someone else to do this for a whole lot less than she gives to us," suggests Meek. "We do the flags as one of our service projects. We hadn't ever planned on a donation. We were overwhelmed by Barbara and Steve generosity and making contributions to the troop."

Pickens recalls the first year with the inner city troop was a little on the rough side. "The boys came out in jeans, and we had a little trouble with them shooting fireworks in the neighborhood and wolf whistling at girls," says Pickens. "It has been a growing experience. Now they wear uniforms and they have learned a lot about behavior on the streets. We are so proud of them and there are no behavior problems anymore. They are proud to be scouts and they show a lot of respect for the neighborhood."

Many of Troop 735's alums, some college-bound, come back to assist their little brothers. "It's a different group of boys, but some are still leaders," says Meek. "It really makes a difference in some of the boys' lives."

Published: July 2, 1999

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