Dale Denbow of Oxford adds an American flag to the fire Thursday during the flag retirement ceremony at the American Legion Post 112 in Oxford. Legion members burned flags that were either gathered from veterans’ graves at cemeteries across Oxford or from an old mailbox in front of the post on Route 121 where people leave flags for proper disposal. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Larissa Denbow, 14, pulls tattered American flags from a chest freezer Thursday at American Legion Post 112 in Oxford. The freshman student at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris helped with the legion’s flag retirement ceremony. Members of Post 112 collected so many torn flags that they stored some in an unplugged chest freezer until Thursday’s ceremony. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Members of American Legion Post 112 in Oxford open a flag retirement ceremony Thursday at the hall on Route 121. From left are Dale Denbow, Ed Young, Bob Spencer and Howie Munday. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Bob Spencer of Poland tends the fire Thursday at the flag retirement ceremony at American Legion Post 112 in Oxford. Spencer is the chaplain at Post 112. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Larissa Denbow, 14, pulls American flags from the back of her father’s pickup truck Thursday at American Legion Post 112 in Oxford. The freshman student at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris helped with the flag retirement ceremony. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Ed Young of Oxford holds the last American flag to be burned Thursday during a flag retirement ceremony at American Legion Post 112 in Oxford. Post members have held the ceremony for the past three years, Commander Howie Munday said. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Ed Young, 88, of Oxford brings American flags to the fire Thursday during a flag retirement ceremony at American Legion Post 112 on Route 121 in Oxford. Legion members burned flags they had placed on veterans’ graves at cemeteries across Oxford before Memorial Day and collected after Veterans Day to be replaced next year. They also burned flags people left in an old mailbox in front of the hall for proper disposal. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

An old mailbox in front of American Legion Post 112 in Oxford is used to collect American flags for proper disposal. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

American Legion Post 112 Commander Howie Munday said 800 to 900 flags were burned Thursday during the flag retirement ceremony at the hall on Route 121 in Oxford. A total of 390 of them were were ones members placed on veterans’ graves in Oxford cemeteries before Memorial Day. The flags are collected after Veterans Day and new ones placed on graves the following year. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal