Oct 30, 2001

What an incredible day! The first time I saw the flag it was coming down hwy 152 from Binger, OK. Its a sight that I will never forget. Everyone was cheering and I met Glenda (the staging coordinator from Binger) for the first time. They were right on time, Yea for Binger!! I ran back and forth from the staging area for hours. I was transporting people from all over the state and listing to their stories of patriotism. I was in such awe of it all. I returned to Cordell around 12:30 with the flag very close behind to find my hometown lining the streets and armed with flags and signs. As I drove down main street I was amazed as to how many people had turned out for this event. I knew the schools were letting out but schools from other towns were bussed in. WOW!!!! Student athletes proudly took turns running the flag threw the streets of Cordell. As I watched my children and our youth run with the flag I realized at that moment that this country was going to be OK. When my generation can no longer carry the flag I will be honored to hand it off to one of them. They are so amazing. I am so proud of my hometown...

As we headed west I ran across several events that brought tears to my eyes. One was 2 elderly ladies standing proudly on the shoulder of the road miles from any town, waving a small flag with one hand while the other clutched their walkers. GO LADIES!! Another was a man standing with his cane around Dill City, OK . As we got closer he saluted the flag with his trembling hand as it went by. I wanted to jump out of my car and run up to him and give him a big hug. As we entered out 7th hour I started to worry that I was running out of runners. We were about 6 miles from the Elk City turnoff. A young man dressed in cowboy boots and wranglers got off his tractor and started running. Someone handed him the flag and you could tell he was pumped. I was down to 3 young men from Cordell, one from Weatherford and one from Oklahoma City. They stayed with me tell the end. They all ran about 14 miles. I asked the young wrestler from Cordell if he was sore, he smiled and said "yea, but I wouldn't have missed this for the world"

Thanks Fritz, Susan and everyone who helped organized this run. My cup runneth over....

Karon Kastner
Cordell Staging area Coordinator

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