This post comes to use from Teal Hetrick, who won an American Legion Auxiliary award for this essay in 1995, when she was in the second grade. She lived at the Trail Lakes Hatchery with her family while her father Jeff Hetrick was the Hatchery Manager. Her sister Willow wrote about this unique experience.
Willow and Teal also shared with us a film taken by their father, Jeff, at Trail Lakes Hatchery in the late 1980s. The film shows the hatchery, historical operations, and how living at the hatchery was truly a family affair! And you might glimpse those flags in there, too!
I am proud to be an American Flag. I have 50 stars and 13 stripes.
My colors are red, white and blue. I think the stars are good looking. I live at Moose Pass fish hatchery. The men at the hatchery never let me touch the ground. It is like I am royalty to them. They respect me alot. They swing me up on a pole each day. My pole is right by the office. I have a great view on my pole. There are mountains all around me and I am out looking at a lake. In the summer I am right by a beautiful garden.
Sometimes I see nice sunsets but in the winter the mountains block the sun from November to January. There are more flags at the hatchery, but I am the biggest. My closest neighbor is the Alaskan flag with the big dipper on him. In the morning I can feel the breeze. In the afternoon I can hear the children who live at the hatchery playing and
laughing. In the evening I can see them in their houses eating good and healthy food.
During summer I get lonely because the kids go away on vacation. When they come back I am happy. When I feel the wind, rain, and sun, I remember that I like being a U.S. flag who lives at the Moose Pass hatchery.
