Prima Pasta & Café last Saturday hosted a special Flag Day event. During the momentous gathering, Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic President Joann Ariola formally named Eddie Earl the new “Flagman of Howard Beach.”
The title was formerly held by long-time Howard Beach resident Dominick Papa who would replace torn and tattered flags throughout the community with Stars and Stripes that he would collect from families of fallen veterans. As Papa grew older and unable to continue his efforts, his one wish was that his family find someone in Howard Beach who loved Old Glory as much as he did. After Papa’s passing, his family chose Eddie Earl.
Earl has been beautifying the South Queens community from Memorial Day through Labor Day for the past two summers by hanging flags on the poles of the side streets and thoroughfares of Howard Beach. “Most of us remember Dominick Papa, who was the Flagman, but Eddie you have filled his shoes. He is in heaven looking down, very proud of you,” Ariola (from l., with Eddie Earl and State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr.) proclaimed as she awarded Earl with a flag memento on behalf of Papa’s family.
Photo Courtesy of Phyllis Inserillo
