2,974 flags line Longboat Key for stunning, somber Sept. 11 tribute

Drivers crossing the bridge onto Longboat Key from either direction were met with a line of 2,974 small American flags over the weekend, a heartwarming visual tribute to the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. 

The sight was eye-catching but somber as the flags continued along the entire stretch of Gulf of Mexico Drive from one end of the island to the other. Each flag signified a life lost, and each one was visible by car. 

Most flags were placed in a straight line along the bayside sidewalk, but the line wove in and out around tufts of shrubbery when needed. The Public Works Department takes great care and pride in placing each flag an equal distance from the next. 

“They don’t just stick them in the ground,” Gail Loefgren said. “And I didn’t want to just put out flags. I was going to put out the number of flags of the people we lost in the attack.”

Loefgren is the president of the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce and organizes the tribute. At the start in 2003, her vision was much loftier. She wanted 2,974 big flags flying in Joan Durante Park each year, but knew right away it wasn’t feasible.

With the help of town workers, Longboat Ace Hardware, chamber members and the community, a Longboat Key tradition was created, one that Loefgren feels will long outlive her role as chamber president. Only a hurricane can stop these flags from flying. 

In 2004 and 2017, hurricanes Ivan and Irma did just that. But Friday morning, eight Public Works employees spent four hours working through on and off rains to get them into the ground. The result is a stunning show of patriotism and remembrance.

“This is one of the proudest things I ever dreamed up,” Loefgren said.