Centralia’s Avenue of Flags up until Tuesday afternoon; teacher who proposed the idea has passed away

By Brian Hauswirth

Tuesday is your last chance to see 669 American flags flying in mid-Missouri’s Centralia until Veterans Day.

Centralia deputy city clerk Beth Kable says the flags are scheduled to come down today at 5 pm. The popular Avenue of Flags flies near Highway 22.

737846025 28470495345874006 6412117825254009255 n — Centralia’s popular Avenue of Flags will stay up until Tuesday afternoon (2026 photo courtesy of 939 the Eagle listener Patti Hopkins Griffith)

The idea was first proposed by Centralia’s Jan Hollis in 2005, who had seen a similar display in Kansas.

89-year-old Jan Hollis of Centralia passed away in June (photo courtesy of Fenton-Kendrick Funeral Home website)

Jan’s daughter, Julie Hollis Nance, tells 939 the Eagle that her mom passed away in June and that she is enjoying the flags from heaven now. Jan Hollis was 89.

avenue of flags — Centralia’s Avenue of Flags goes up each year for Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and for Veterans Day (2025 file photo courtesy of Centralia deputy city clerk Beth Kable)

Julie Nance also says children from schools come to help fly the flags and that it will mean something to those children for the rest of their lives.

What’s next: The flags will go up again in November for Veterans Day.