This year's Fourth of July was one to remember for residents and visitors at the pool at Creekside of Auburn.
Peter Glaeser, Patrick Barefield, Ryan Barefield and Clay Ligon are Auburn ROTC students who gathered at Creekside on July 4 among hundreds of others.
The students celebrated Independence Day by performing a show-stopping act of patriotism that involved carefully climbing to the roof of Creekside's fire pit to attach a large, billowing American flag to its chimney.
"Clay and I came up with the idea," Glaeser said. "We had been laughing at the drunk fraternity guys trying to find a place to mount the flag they had brought. At the same time, they were tripping all over the place and dragging the flag across the ground. They even dropped it in the pool at one point. It was completely unintentional, but us military guys take a lot of pride in that flag; and it was kind of aggravating watching these guys use it as a crowd pleaser rather than treat it properly." Ligon and Glaeser are both experienced climbers, so after retrieving their climbing equipment and a quick rehearsal, Ligon was dubbed "belay man," meaning that he was in charge of ensuring an adequate amount of slack line during ascent and descent for Glaeser, who used a rock climbing ascender to climb to the roof of the building.
The Barefields were there to aid Ligon, as well as protect Ligon, Glaeser and the equipment from the large crowd that immediately gravitated toward the lower portion of the pool area where the pit is located.
"I think that everyone wants to do something patriotic for the Fourth of July. It just turned out that the way we decided to express love for our country was able to be shared with an entire group of young scholars and patriots," Ligon said.
Originally, the group had planned to execute the climb from the backside of the building. However, because of technical difficulties, the stunt was forced to be performed more visibly and dangerously because of a decrease in their ability to communicate with each other.
"When the flag went up, everyone was cheering and the Star Spangled Banner was blaring," Glaeser said. "It gave me an overwhelming feeling of pride not only to be an American, but to be an American soldier ... for me and my buddies alike."
After Glaeser safely descended, the heartwarming view of the dancing red, white, and blue prompted many onlookers to congratulate and thank the team.
"Posting the American flag to the roof of the Creekside pool house was one of the many highlights of my July Fourth," Ryan said. "Once my buddy Glaeser posted Old Glory to the roof, the national anthem started to blast through the P.A. system with more than 200 onlookers cheering and screaming to the sight of the flag waving in the wind. It truly set the tone for the day and made me reflect on why I love this country so deeply."
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