American flag to be awarded as 'traveling prize' for winning business float in Lincoln parade

A flag flown during a combat mission from Kuwait to Iraq especially for the Blackfoot Valley will be awarded for the first time to the first-place business float in the Lincoln Independence Day Parade on Saturday, July 4.

Monte Howse, a member of the Montana Air National Guard in Great Falls, donated the flag to the Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce's annual Community Benefit last fall, said Laurie Richards, who was president of the LVCC at the time. Howse had previously flown a flag over Iraq for Lincoln and felt that another flag should be flown in honor of the whole Blackfoot Valley, she said, acknowledging all the communities in the area.

Howse worked with his son-in-law, Cody Dobson, also a member of the Montana Air ational Guard, to fly this flag over Iraq. The LVCC won the item in the auction, said Richards. "That's the one he wanted to be first prize for the float, and a traveling prize." The flag has been on display at the Citizens Alliance Bank in Lincoln since the Community Benefit.

"This can be displayed in a person's business. It's such an honor and so patriotic, and I think we need that," said Richards.