Montgomery County commissioners accepted a special donation from Life Scout Grace Kotalik on Feb. 6 for a flag retirement box commemorating fallen soldiers across Montgomery County.

The inspiration

Following the loss of her second oldest brother in July at a U.S. Army base, Kotalik began an Eagle Scout project that focused on building four flag retirement boxes. Kotalik presented the second of the four boxes to commissioners during the Feb. 6 meeting, which will be placed at the central library to be close to the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial.

The four boxes are located at:

• Butler Hall at Trinity Episcopal Church
• Interfaith of The Woodlands
• Montgomery County Central Library
• Timber Lakes Timber Ridge HOA

Each box is dedicated to a fallen soldier from Montgomery County and assembled by a team of 80 volunteers led by Kotalik. The boxes also have a QR code that will direct people to a website with the story of the veteran spotlighted on the box.

Quotes of note

“As a Gold Star sister, I can say that it's always comforting when we feel like our fallen heroes are remembered, and I would like this court to accept the box and placement at the Montgomery County Memorial Library, and I'm thankful for the invitation to share the story of these boxes,” Kotalik said.

What’s next?

The boxes will collect retired American flags that will be used in a remembrance ceremony March 1, and then grommets from the retired flags will be given to fellow Gold Star families who have lost family members in the line of duty.