Unflagging devotion: Four decades of flying Old Glory at Emerson Field
Michael Rudd and Rebecca Purcell made sure the flag was raised, lowered, and replaced — with no pay and little recognition.
On a windy morning at Emerson Field, the American flag snapped and strained, as it has for decades. Beneath it, Rebecca Purcell watched with a quiet recognition, the feeling arriving before the words.
For over 40 years, she and Michael Rudd made sure the flag was raised, lowered, and replaced — with no pay and little recognition.
“Seeing that flag flying this morning, it really just touched me in a way I can’t even describe,” she said.
Purcell, 85, and Rudd, 81, are profoundly familiar with the spot. The flagpole stands in the center of Emerson Field, amid the baseball diamond, playground, and running track.
They hadn’t always planned to be responsible for its safekeeping.
The routine began, almost by circumstance, when a Acton pediatrician, Dr. Francis McDonald, could no longer coordinate the flag’s care. After his passing, the responsibility shifted at first to Purcell’s then-husband in 1979 and, in 1985, through another turn in life, to Purcell herself.
“Somebody had to do it,” she said.
Rudd would join a couple of years later. Their start was unplanned, and the town didn’t take note.
“Rebecca Purcell and then Michael Rudd have been taking care of the flag at Emerson for so long, we don’t have a whole lot of institutional knowledge of the genesis of this,” town Communication Manager Donna McIntosh told The Acton Bridge.
After decades of maintaining the star-spangled banner at Emerson Field, they passed the responsibility to the Acton Fire Department last October. Now, Purcell and Rudd return simply as visitors.
Observing protocols
Keeping the flag flying appropriately wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
Before its pole was lit, Purcell and Rudd would raise the flag in the morning and lower it at dusk — and not fly it at all in bad weather.
Wear was a continual concern. The nylon flags of times past would endure only a few months, especially in winter, before needing replacement. Eventually, Purcell and Rudd switched to more durable polyester flags that could withstand stronger winds and last for closer to a year.
There were also logistical issues. When the rope frayed or the flag became tangled, it wasn’t something they could fix from the ground.
“We’d have to get the fire department with a hook and ladder truck,” Rudd said. “It was a bit of an adventure.”
Then there was a stretch when Michael worked out of state, flying to the West Coast for 10 days and returning for three. During that time, he would dutifully tend the flag when he was home.
Lighting the flag wasn’t easy, either.
Working with the town’s then-recreation director Danner DeStephano, they organized meetings and spoke with neighbors, some of whom had concerns.
The nearby residents worried the lights would shine into their windows at night, spilling into bedrooms and disrupting their sleep. To ease those concerns, Purcell, Rudd, and DeStephano worked with the town to ensure the lights were angled upward and focused on the flag.
Once installed, the lights allowed the flag to remain flying around the clock. And, according to Purcell, it came just in time.
“Believe it or not,” Purcell said, “the flag was lit the week that 9/11 happened. If ever we needed a symbol of resilience, of encouragement, it was the flag that night.”
‘Patriotism and respect’
At a Select Board meeting this year, Purcell and Rudd were honored for their years tending the Emerson Field flag.
The proclamation said, “through the generous purchase and dignified lowering of the United States Flag,” a “meaningful act of patriotism and respect has been demonstrated for our community and its traditions.”
Rudd, originally from the United Kingdom, said his connection to the Stars and Stripes grew over time, shaped by history and experience.
The two came to see their duty as part of something larger. The flagpole at Emerson Field was erected in 1929 as a memorial to James Mansfield, a soldier who died during World War I. Together, they preserved its legacy.
It was less about the daily task and more about bringing people together around a common symbol and heritage, they say. It’s something they get to see now as park visitors, watching people stop to look up at the flag as it waves.
“We’re very attuned to tradition and what has motivated us as Americans over the years,” Purcell said, “and that’s whether it’s adopted or born here.”
