Billowing in the wind, three flags stand in between the baseball diamond and newly built football field on campus. Though they may seem ordinary to students, these poles have lasted through many years, moves, storages and generations.
In 1982, FC acquired these poles through Peoples Church pastor Peter Gavrilis and his wife Elaine, in tribute to her brother, T. Wayne Jones, who passed away. Since their daughter Kelly attended FC, Peter decided to donate them to the school.
“My mother-in-law, Mary Jones, wanted to do something in my brother-in-law’s name,” Gavrilis said. “I said to her, ‘You know they don’t have any flag poles [at Fresno Christian],’ so she said, ‘Okay, I will buy them.’ She bought three flagpoles, and we had a dedication service out at the old campus.”
In 1987, FC administrators changed the campus location from 3731 N. Cedar Ave. to its current address. During the move, the school didn’t consider the possibility of bringing the poles along.
However, when FC relocated, Peter was encouraged to take the poles to his house and save them due to their personal significance.
“We had to leave the old campus, including the flagpoles,” Gavrilis said. “I got a friend of mine’s flatbed truck, and we pulled them out with all the ropes; I still have the plaque that came from the school at my house. I loaded them up and took them out to my house and have stored them out there since ’88 or ’89.”
From the time Gavrilis moved the flags to his house to their placement on the new football field, they remained in storage without being used. However, when Gavrilis heard about the plans for a new field, he contacted Superintendent Debbie Siebert, who agreed to Gavrilis’s offer of placing the poles on the FC football field.
Gavrilis wanted to put the poles on the field to continue the memory of T. Wayne. He also wanted his grandchildren Camden (6th), Hunter (3rd) and Kennedy Holk (K), who attend FC, to benefit and continue the tradition of football games.
“It’s important for any football game,” Gavrilis said. “It’s a tradition to acknowledge the flag and show honor and respect to our country.”
At the first football game, the new flags were introduced by athletic director Cynthia Ward, who also provided a brief explanation of the flagpoles.
Although some students knew the story of the flagpoles, sophomore Alexis Ellis had not learned of the personal history and sentimentality attached to them.
“I don’t know anything about them,” Ellis said. “I didn’t even know we had them. I thought people were talking about the goal posts or something. I was totally clueless.”
Math teacher Jane Gillespie not only appreciates the story of the flagpoles but recognizes the value of the American flag, she said.
“It’s important to remember what it took to be where we are,” Gillespie said. “My sister and brother are both in the military, so to me it’s special to have that flag and to be American. People say, ‘I’m proud to be an American,’ and I think we should be.”
Gavrilis believes it is important for students to use what they learn about American history by showing respect to the flags; he views the recognition of his flagpoles as a tribute to T. Wayne’s memory.
“I believe my brother-in-law, T. Wayne Jones, would be honored to see those poles up again, as well as my mother-in-law,” Gavrilis said. “To have both their memories live on means more than anyone could know.”
For more information on football donations, read the Aug. 19 article, Football program unveils home field.
