Pam Moran with her patriotic flag design.
By Tim Kelly
Ocean City…you’re flagged!
Look around town. You will see college and high school flags, seasonal flags, party flags, ethnic flags, armed services flags, and of course, Old Glory. Flags are in full effect to make a silent tribute or a bold statement. They are flown to display school pride and feelings of patriotism. For whatever the reason, flags have become a very popular form of expression in OC.
“We have always sold a lot of American flags of all sizes,” said Dawn Wallace-Wentz of Wallace Hardware, at 8th and Atlantic. “As far as (the other types of flags) that is a more recent trend.”
When you talk about Ocean City flags, you have to talk about Pam Moran. The 3rd Street resident not only has 30 flags in her rotation at any one time, she designs and makes them herself. When the retired teacher invited a visitor into the tidy home she shares with husband Mike recently, she was in the process of sewing an intricate floral design flag for a friend.
Mike Moran with wife Pam, working on one of her flag creations.
The process works like this: Pam finds a design she likes, uses a projection device to make it flag-sized, traces out a pattern for each piece of material and then sews it all together. If that’s not impressive enough: “I don’t like it when a flag’s image is backwards on the reverse side,” she said of conventional flags. To avoid that issue she actually makes two flags and sews them together. “That way the design looks the way it should no matter how (the flag flaps) in the wind.”
Unlike the proud parents who display separate flags of their kids’ colleges, Pam made a single banner featuring the colors of LaSalle, Kutztown, Moravian, York and West Chester, institutions associated with children Kristin, Shane, Amanda and Ryan.
Pam Moran shows of the custom college flag she made to commemorate the schools attended by her children.
For July 4 and Memorial Day she flies the stars and stripes as well as her own “Land that I Love” flag featuring an Old Glory-themed heart design. An Irish-themed banner flies around St. Patrick’s Day, and Pam created flags for autumn, Christmas, Easter and just about any other design one could imagine commemorate seasons and holidays.
She has a Phillies flag and “the hardest one I ever made,” an Eagles banner created for her daughter who is a huge fan of the Birds.
Her children told Pam “we really need a party flag for when we are all visiting” and she responded with a striking blue pennant depicting a cocktail glass and a clock showing 5 o’clock. Most of Moran’s flag magic originates from a neatly organized sewing room. She doesn’t have a problem with the flags wearing out because she uses a protective coating on the fabric, doesn’t leave them out in foul weather, and rotates the collection frequently.
“They will fade from the sun,” she said, but none of her creations have yet worn out.
Pam Moran shows of the custom college flag she made to commemorate the schools attended by her children.
While Pam might be the most flag-centric person in Ocean City, she’s hardly alone. Another house on her street was flying two American flags, a Penn State banner and the national flags of Ireland and Poland.
Another 3rd Street resident, Nancy McKeaney, known as “Stawberry Nancy” was flying a flag reflective of her love of all things strawberry. “I’ve been collecting strawberry-themed items for years. I found this flag on the Internet.”
A Villanova fan on nearby Corinthian Ave. was flying two Villanova banners including one with “national champions” designations for the Wildcats’ NCAA titles in 1985 and 2016.
On Surf Road, Deb DuPont flew Old Glory and an Army National Guard flag to honor her son John who recently completed his basic training.
Wallace Hardware's flag department offering hardware, poles and banners.
At Wallace Hardware, a large portion of a wall featured a wide variety of flag poles, brackets, clips, pulleys and other associated equipment. Pirate and service branch flags were among the many flags on display.
Marine Corps flags out-sell the other branches of the service, five to one,” Wallace-Wentz said. “Second most popular are the Coasties (Coast Guard) because they are local.”
“We don’t sell school or NFL or major league baseball flags because they want to sell their own products in-house,” Wallace-Wentz continued. “The national flags, besides (the stars and stripes) we sell an equal number of Irish and Italian flags. Sometimes (in a blended family) somebody flies a national flag and then they have to buy a different one to keep peace in the family,” she said with a laugh.
Pam Moran with her patriotic flag design.
