PANAMA CITY BEACH — About a month after local officials launched a street banner program honoring veterans, all banners have been sold and local officials are talking about expansion.
In a Facebook post Thursday, Panama City Beach officials said the 28 available banners in its new Veteran Hero Program already were sold. The program allows people to purchase banners dedicated to family members or friends who have served in the military.
The banners, which cost $100 each, will be hung from utility poles along Powell Adams Road from about Independence Day to Veterans Day. Then they will be returned to the buyer.
“Thank you to all the veterans’ families and friends of veterans who supported our Veteran Hero Program,” the post reads. “We appreciate your overwhelming support of this project. Banners are being printed and will be hung … as soon as they are completed.”
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The program was modeled after a similar initiative in Panama City.
“We noticed that a lot of other communities had done this type of program, and we wanted to do it as well,” said Debbie Ingram, spokeswoman for the city of Panama City Beach. “We have a strong military presence … so we felt like this would be very popular.”
Ingram said the city plans to not only continue the program, but expand it to include more banners hung along several local roads. Additional banners will be hung from utility poles constructed through the Panama City Beach Community Redevelopment Area Plan.
“We’re going to continue adding more banners as we go along … (and) we will identify areas where it will be most appropriate to put banners,” Ingram said. “It will be in high-traffic areas.”
Banners feature a picture of each veteran, along with their name, rank and the war in which they served. They were available for purchase by anyone, and the veterans did not have to be residents of PCB or Bay County.
Only 28 banners were available in the program’s inaugural year because that is the number that officials determined would fit best along Powell Adams Road.
“All of our veterans truly are heroes, we appreciate their service to our country,” Ingram said. “(The program) has been a cool experience.”
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Veterans Hero Program banners sell out in Panama City Beach