Passing on patriotism

Costa Mesa resident plans to march with an heirloom flag at the Mesa Verde neighborhood parade on the Fourth of July.

Its red and white stripes are faded compared to the dozen American flags that pepper the front yard of Carolynn McMahon’s Costa Mesa home.

Its coarse cotton surface is tattered with holes and it is missing a pair of stars.

But the 18-by-13-foot American flag that spends 364 days a year in a plastic box in McMahon’s garage is her favorite. It was sewn by her grandmother, Louella Tracy, in 1912, just after Arizona and New Mexico joined the union and almost 50 years before Alaska and Hawaii did the same.

“I just love this flag,” said McMahon, 65. “It’s older than me — which is great — and to know that somebody made it just makes it so special.”

The 48-star flag was a gift for McMahon’s father on his fifth birthday, and when he passed away about 25 years ago, McMahon requested it as her keepsake.

“It was the thing that meant the most to me,” she said, adding that she first remembers seeing it when her parents displayed it at the end of World War II.

Now it’s her turn to fly the flag, and she does, with pride, each year on her favorite holiday, the Fourth of July.

This year, McMahon’s family and friends will march the flag through the streets near her Mesa Verde home for the annual neighborhood parade.

On the same day, the currently-used 50-star flag, created in 1960, will surpass the 48-star flag as the longest officially-recognized flag in use in United States history.

McMahon and her husband, Jerry, will serve as “grand marshals,” leading the procession in their red, white and blue-adorned golf cart.

“It’s my favorite day because it symbolizes being an American and our freedom and I think freedom is the most important thing about living in America,” McMahon said. “I just love my country and I can’t imagine living in any other country in the world.”

One of McMahon’s three daughters, Kelly Siegel, said she has inherited her mother’s patriotism, meaning she will also inherit the flag one day. Her first memories of the flag are at the family’s previous home on the Balboa Peninsula, where it hung from the second-story roof nearly to the ground.

“I get the flag because I’m the second-most patriotic,” Siegel said.

COMING UP

Look for a guide to Fourth of July activities throughout Newport-Mesa in tomorrow’s Daily Pilot.