- August 5, 2026
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As the person who lowers the American flag on Patriots Pier on Siesta Key Beach every evening, and raises it every morning, Siesta Key resident Wayne Bundy has a never-ending responsibility.
However, other members of the community are behind him, as was the case when they recently helped to install seven new flagpoles at the site.
The poles hold the flags for the six branches of the U.S. Armed Forces as well as one for prisoners of war and those missing in action.
At about 15 feet in height, they replaced the previous rebar poles of about 6 feet.
"It means a lot," Bundy said. "It means that we now have a truly beautiful setup down here now. It brings our community together, and it just means that we're celebrating our military in a better way."
The renovation came about through a partnership that included Siesta Key resident Thomas Modly, undersecretary of the U.S. Navy from 2017 to 2019, and acting secretary through April 2020.
Modly donated proceeds from his 2023 memoir, "Vectors: Heroes, Villains, and Heartbreak on the Bridge of the U.S. Navy,” to cover the cost of the new poles at about $2,500.
Others pitched in to help as well.
One of those was Andy Bass, a Marine Corps veteran who had worked on the home of Modly and his wife, Robyn Modly, a few years ago.
“I was raised in this town, and I basically grew up on Siesta Beach," he said. "That was where everybody went to watch the sunset."
He said he is always eager to help service members, and said while he had admired the concept of the ceremony, the original poles hadn't been correct for the military in his mind.
Bass, who works for Charlie's Construction Co., found the vendor KingzCrete Construction to drill holes for the new flagpoles.
Meanwhile, SRQ Vets, a local volunteer-led nonprofit, covered the cost of the drilling, which would typically have been $1,000, though the project received a discount of $200 for a total of $800.
“The board was really excited about what was going to be happening out there, because Siesta Key is why a lot of people come to Sarasota, because of those white sandy beaches, so it's just nice that we have something, a lasting imprint that can be done there, and that it was brought to that community by our community,” said Rob Kehs, board president of SRQ Vets.
On the morning of Jan. 29, Thomas and Robyn Modly visited the beach to install the poles on the pier, which is located at north end of Beach Road. During the Feb. 3 ceremony, the flags were added to the poles, with veterans gathered by SRQ Vets participating in the flag raising.
The upgrade honors a tradition with a long history.
The ceremony began under Capt. Ralph Styles, who was present for the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and retired from a career in the Navy, to Siesta Key, in the 1960s.
Styles began holding the ceremony outside his home with a procession down the beach, until his death in 2009 at the age of 99.
The ceremony moved to Sunset Point, where it was revived by Mike Cosentino, a 2022 County Commission candidate, in 2017.
His daughter Anne Overbeck remained involved with the ceremony, volunteering with the Patriots Pier at Sunset Point group, before she died in 2025.
Modly hopes that the new upgrade will serve not only the community, but also those who are visiting Siesta Key.
“People come here for vacation, and I hope they see the flags and they like them, and they relate to them,” Modly said. “Most everybody knows somebody that served in the military, and so they can think about that person and just take a moment and look at the flags to honor the people that serve us every day, that have served us over many years. It's a nice thing to keep perspective on.”
