By: Shea O’Malley
OSWEGO COUNTY – Banners honoring the cities of Oswego and Fulton’s hometown veterans can be seen hanging along East Bridge Street (Route 104) in Oswego; 1st Street, Oneida Street and Route 3 Bridges, and Route 3 in Fulton.
The aptly named Military Tribute Banner Program was an idea orchestrated by Oswego County Federal Credit Union Vice President Community and Event Coordinator Mary Greeney.
Greeney came up with the idea after hearing a board member mention participating in a similar program for his father down in Pennsylvania.
Greeney’s husband, son and father-in-law all fought in various conflicts around the globe, and she personally wanted to acknowledge area veterans and their time in the service, while giving credit union members a chance to say thank you.
“I think it’s nice to honor the veterans who return and whose lives have drastically changed from within,” Greeney said. “They don’t show physical scars but the mental scars never go away. This is a tribute to those soldiers.”
The program was first opened to OCFCU members only, but not for long as word of the project spread rapidly throughout the area.
The credit union then reopened the program to local community members as well as OCFCU members, originally limiting application slots to an allowable maximum in both the cities of Oswego and Fulton.
OCFCU soon realized that the first phase of the project was not working as well as planned, and another arrangement had to be made in order to fill consumer demand.
“The response has been absolutely overwhelming,” OCFCU Chief Executive Officer Billy Carhart said. “When we did the first round, we did 30 [banners] for Oswego and 36 for Fulton. And we got such an outcry, they allowed us another 20 for Oswego and another 40 for Fulton, and we sold those out in a day and a half.”
The Credit Union reached out to Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow and Fulton Mayor Deana Michaels, asking for help in organizing the program in their cities.
Barlow employed the Department of Public Works to install the banners, pleased that Oswego could assist.
“I’m obviously a big advocate for our veterans, so I was happy to offer [our] city government to help [in] any way we can,” Barlow said. “Anything we can do to honor our veterans we should do.”
Michaels said she has family members who are currently serving or have served in the military; proud that area communities have the chance to show their appreciation through the banner program.
“Anytime we have the opportunity to honor the men and women who serve our country and those who make the ultimate sacrifice, the city of Fulton will certainly be there to participate.” Michaels said.
Michaels has two family-member banners in Fulton and two banners, sponsored by her parents, in the City of Oswego for her brothers.
Family sponsored funding paid for the banners, with OCFCU paying for the first 100 brackets for their members, in support of the veterans. Member cost for the banners is $89, with non-member fees at $119, which included the bracket.
Greeney says she has received requests from family members in Florida and Arizona wanting to honor their hometown family veterans.
“We hope in the next round of applications that we can even be allowed more banners seeing that they are such a huge hit,” Greeney said.
The first installment of banners will be displayed for two years, running from Memorial Day through Veterans Day 2020 and 2021. Applications for new sponsors will begin at the completion of the two-year period.
“It’s a great program, I think, for smaller communities like this that are so in touch with their residents and the community itself,” Carhart said. “And we’re extremely pleased to have brought this to the table and be able to recognize so many of our local heroes.”
OCFCU is a member owned, financial association serving Oswego County since 1975. Branch offices in Oswego are located at 90 E. Bridge Street and 300 W. 1st Street, at 707 S. Fourth Street in Fulton, and at 5828 Scenic Avenue (Rt.3) in Mexico. OCFCU serves over 12,000 members in the Oswego County area.
For more information, please visit www.oswegofcu.org or https://militarytributebanners.org/current-programs/new-york/oswego-fulton-ny.html
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May 8th 2020 was the cut off date to order???? Wish this article had been printed before that date so myself and others could have ordered a banners.