Flag Day Celebration

Over a century ago, a 19 year old, $40 a month school-teacher, stirred by a deep love of the American Flag, held the first Flag Day exercises in a little country schoolhouse located near Fredonia. Bernard J. Cigrand, who later became a professor of dentistry and a college dean, began a lifelong crusade on June 14, 1885, to honor the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

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Thirty-one years later in 1916, his devotion to the Flag was rewarded when June 14 was declared as National Flag Day by President Woodrow Wilson, who said, 'the Flag has vindicated its right to be honored by all nations of the world and feared by none who do righteousness.' In 1949, long after Dr. Cigrand's death, Congress and the President of the United States proclaimed the Flag would be displayed on all government buildings on June 14 and asked the American people to join in the observance of the Flag's anniversary.

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The last class at the school was held in 1916. The building stood empty for many years and the land surrounding the school changed hands many times. In 1947 the National Fraternal Congress crusaded for the restoration of Stony Hill Schoolhouse. Stony Hill School is now owned by the Ozaukee County Historical Society who uses the schoolhouse for educational school tours. In Spring of 2024, the schoolhouse was improved with patching the plaster, painting inside and out, new shutters and new light fixtures.

 

Each year on the weekend closest to June 14, the Ozaukee County Historical Society holds an annual Flag Day Celebration. This year it will be held on June 15 from 12-4PM. The American Spirit Quartet will sing the National Anthem at 12:30, the 132d US Army Reserve Band will perform several songs at 1PM and again at 3PM. The school will be open for touring and skits portraying Bernard Cigrand will take place throughout the afternoon. Children will receive flags, refreshments will be served and the event is free. Stony Hill School N5595 Cty Hwy I, Fredonia, WI.