It's Bill, 10/19/25: New Flagpole

Desmond Haskell
Oct 19
3 min read

Sunday Meetings and a “Business” Chat

Patricia, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, and I get together on Sundays. Yoga in the morning—lately, when we can, we attend Quaker Meeting in Whiting. While she prepares a light lunch, we talk about West Quoddy Station. A totally informal, unstructured “business meeting.” We recall and discuss the past, present, and future. Light-hearted, we laugh, tease, and joke a lot. We have fun.

A Real Flagpole? Challenge Accepted

Earlier this year, as Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Patricia said, “You need a flagpole.”I said, “I have one.”Patricia countered, “Where?”I said, “Well, I know it’s not much. It’s down by the Observation deck by The Station House. It is a 1½” white pipe, about 20 feet.”Patricia returned, “That’s not a flagpole. I mean a Real Flagpole.”“Oh,” I said, “Let’s have lunch.”

From Idea to Reality

As you review today’s title, the rest becomes history. I quickly found out that a Real Flagpole is about 40’ tall, flying an American Flag with a yardarm flying two smaller flags. Okay, I like that. Who wouldn’t?

The Windmill’s Retirement

But where to put it? Basically, West Quoddy Station sits on ledge. Then I thought— the windmill, next to the Camp, has an 8’x8’x8’ solid concrete base to support a 12”x40’ mast holding a large, spinning windmill. I installed the windmill about 2010. It worked well, producing a lot of power directly for my use. Then the bearings failed… too much. Expensive repairs again and again. Impossible to maintain. It became my eyesore. Voila! We’re moving on now.

Nor’East Flagpoles to the Rescue

My goal was to get a two-for-one. Take down the windmill and erect a Real Flagpole on the solid windmill base. So, I Googled and found Nor’East Flagpoles about four hours away. Of course, I called them on a Sunday, left a voicemail. After my cryptic message, they responded: “Yes!”I was unbelieving. How could they do that, based on my brief outline? After talking, the answer remained “Yes.”They were going to take down a 40’ windmill, take it away, and replace it with a 40’ flagpole… in one day? I was unbelieving but loved it. Yeah, I know—too good to be true.

The Flagpole Arrives

Last Sunday morning, after Quaker Meeting, Patricia and I were at McFadden’s. We saw a pickup drive past with my 40’ flagpole on it. Couldn’t believe it. My flagpole! We followed right behind to West Quoddy Station.

Goodbye Windmill, Hello Patriotism

Parked by the windmill, the 3-man crew promptly unloaded and got to work. A Sawzall was used on a diagonal to cut the windmill down, then into pieces. While the flagpole, yardarm, halyards, and hinge plate were being assembled on sawhorses, windmill plate bolts were cut off. Four flagpole bolt holes were drilled. Four flagpole bolts were set in quick-drying, 15-minute concrete.

15 minutes later, the flagpole hinges were coupled. Two crew lifted the flagpole while the third had a tag line. The flagpole, with yardarm and halyards, was erected in less than a minute. Three flags were hoisted—American on top. The yardarm held smaller flags: Coast Guard toward the ocean, Maine Dirigo toward the road.