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Photo by Erin Nelson
Volunteers and veterans with Team Red, White and Blue bike along Patton Chapel Road with the U.S. flag and The World Games 2022 flag as they make their way to Hoover City Hall during the Old Glory Relay, a 3,100-mile trek carrying a U.S. flag from Washington, D.C. to Birmingham for The World Games on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Representatives with the City of Hoover and Team Red, White and Blue carry the U.S. flag and The World Games 2022 flag to Vestavia Hills City Hall from Hoover City Hall during the Old Glory Relay, a 3,100-mile trek carrying a U.S. flag from Washington, D.C. to Birmingham for The World Games on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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A representative of Team Red, White and Blue hands over a U.S. flag to Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato, center, at Hoover City Hall in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Old Glory Relay, a 3,100-mile trek carrying a U.S. flag from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., to Birmingham, Alabama, for The World Games on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato carries the U.S. flag as he runs with other volunteers to Vestavia Hills City Hall from Hoover City Hall during the Old Glory Relay, a 3,100-mile trek carrying a U.S. flag from Washington, D.C. to Birmingham for The World Games on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Volunteers with Team Red, White and Blue and from Hoover run with the U.S. flag to Vestavia Hills City Hall from Hoover City Hall during the Old Glory Relay, a 3,100-mile trek carrying a U.S. flag from Washington, D.C. to Birmingham for The World Games on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Representatives with the City of Vestavia Hills and Hoover and volunteers and veterans representing Team Red, White and Blue carry the U.S. flag and The World Games 2022 flag from Vestavia Hills City Hall to Homewood City Hall during the Old Glory Relay, a 3,100-mile trek carrying a U.S. flag from Washington, D.C. to Birmingham for The World Games on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hoover residents got their first taste of The World Games Wednesday as the Old Glory Relay brought a U.S. flag through the city, near the end of a 3,100-mile trek from Washington, D.C., to Birmingham.
A representative from Tuscaloosa brought the flag into Hoover City Hall on a bicycle about 1 p.m. and handed off to Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato, who continued with the flag on foot along U.S. 31 about half a mile to Tameron Honda.
Brocato was accompanied by five of his grandchildren and Bill and Deborah Box, the owners of Green Valley Drugs, one of the oldest businesses in the city of Hoover, along with members of the Team Red, White and Blue nonprofit.
The Boxes, who ran with the flag about 2 miles to Taziki’s in Vestavia Hills, said they like to run and couldn’t pass up the opportunity when the mayor invited them to join him in escorting the flag in conjunction with The World Games. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal,” Bill Box said.
The mayor handed the flag off to members of the Hoover Police Department.
Others who carried the flag between Hoover and Vestavia Hills City Hall included Hoover Council President John Lyda, members of the Hoover Fire Department and Hoover Veterans Committee, Miss Hoover 2022 Jordan Carraway, members of Hoover softball teams, and Roy Brook, a well-known advocate of the U.S. armed services who often is seen at many community events silently holding the U.S. flag in the background.
Lyda carried the flag to Vestavia Hills City Hall, where it then was headed to Homewood City Hall and Five Points South in Birmingham before halting for the day at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
Former U.S. Army Sgt. Noah Galloway, who lost part of his left arm and left leg during the Iraq War and was featured on season 20 of the “Dancing with the Stars” TV show and named the “Ultimate Guy” by Men’s Health magazine in 2014, is scheduled to carry the flag into Protective Stadium during the opening ceremony on Thursday night.
Hundreds of people lined the streets in Hoover to see and welcome the flag, said Hoover police officer Brian Hale, who was part of the entourage once the relay entered the city on Parkwood Road. Some of the spots where people gathered included the Lake Cyrus area along Alabama 150, The Preserve, Patton Chapel Road, Hoover City Hall, the Hoover Public Library and along U.S. 31, Hale said.
“A lot of them had flags and children out, everybody smiling and waving,” Hale said. “It was really cool to see.”
And despite the temporary inconvenience in traffic along the route and hot weather, “I did not hear one horn honk,” he said. “That was nice to see.”
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office escorted the relay to Hoover City Hall, and Hoover police took over the escort to Vestavia Hills City Hall.
Michelle Urban of the Chapel Creek subdivision and Alton and Sue Thompson of the Polo Trace subdivision were among more than a dozen people gathered at Oakmont Presbyterian Church on Patton Chapel Road.
“We’re patriotic. This is exciting,” Urban said when asked why she wanted to come see the relay.
She did the same thing in 1996 when there was a flag relay for the 1996 Olympic Games, watching in Vestavia Hills that time, she said. “This is a big deal for Birmingham. We want to support it.”
Thompson said he and his wife plan to go see some of The World Games softball competitions at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Katie Gilliam of Ross Bridge and Melissa Moore of Lake Cyrus each brought two young children to see the relay along U.S. 31 in front of Habaneros Mexican Grill.
“Birmingham doesn’t always get an opportunity for something unique and different, so we wanted to let them see a little bit” Moore said.
She also plans to go with her family to softball games at the Hoover Met, he said.
The opening ceremony for The World Games is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. Then the city of Hoover is partnering with Brock’s Gap Brewing Co. to put on a block party to kick off the softball competitions Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Read more about Hoover’s block party here.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 8:22 p.m. to correct the name of the Hoover police officer quoted.
