A Carpentersville woman relighted her American flag of miniature lights Thursday after a three-month misunderstanding with the village over whether she violated a code on holiday decorations.
“This is absolutely wonderful. I’m turning it on right now,” said an ecstatic Susan Held upon hearing the news Thursday that the village would not make her take down the illuminated flag, which she has displayed outside her home since Memorial Day.
Held, 52, of the 100 block of Mora Road, had been lighting up Old Glory every night since Sept. 11. But in March she received a letter from the village telling her to remove it because an ordinance says holiday decorations can’t be left up more than 60 days. It said she could be penalized if she didn’t comply.
She had been afraid to plug in the flag since she got the letter but refused to take it down.
“Village or no village, I wouldn’t remove it for anybody,” Held said. “It was sheer stupidity, as far as I’m concerned. With all the stuff they should be fixing around here, they’re getting tough on people for putting up flags? How un-American is that?”
On Wednesday, Carpentersville Community Development Director Patrick Grill conceded that his code enforcers made a mistake, thinking in the daylight that the flag was a Christmas decoration and not a patriotic symbol. He said the village would not pursue the matter.
“The ordinance is for Christmas decorations, so people don’t have them up all year long,” Grill said. “The fact that they haven’t heard from us since the first letter, it means we’re likely not pursuing it. Flag decorations are fine.”
The news comes as a relief to Held, a self-professed American-flag nut. The inside of her house is filled with them, and almost every day she wears a Stars and Stripes T-shirt. She has professional portraits in her family room of her 2-year-old son draped in a flag and her police officer daughter saluting one.
“We’re very big on the flag, if you haven’t noticed,” said Held, whose grandfather received a Purple Heart for his World War I service and whose father served in World War II. “People always know what to buy me for gifts. And when I saw that outdoor flag at the store, I said I have to have it.”
Held said dozens of neighbors have complimented her on the 4-by-5-foot net of miniature red, white and blue lights. Neighbors Charles and Deborah Antley asked Held where she bought it and now have an identical flag outside their home down the block.
“People should never forget Sept. 11, and the war in Afghanistan hasn’t even ended yet. Doesn’t the village have anything better to do than this?” said Charles Antley, 41, who has dozens of smaller lighted flags on his front lawn.
Grill said the incident was one big misunderstanding. The village merely had sent a letter saying Held might be in violation of the ordinance, and upon review code enforcers decided that was not the case.
Held said she would have appreciated a phone call.
“I spent all this time afraid to light up my flag to be patriotic,” she said. “I’m just glad it’s all over.”
