From left, Saranac Lake Women’s Civic Chamber members Nancy LaBombard, Diana Gill, Marty Lawthers, village Department of Public Works Superintendent Dustin Martin, Community Development Assistant Bayle Reichert, village Manager Bachana Tsiklauri and WCC members Kelly Morgan, Patti McGrath and Cathy Wigger. This crew is organizing a Hometown Heroes banner program for Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE — Saranac Lake is getting a Hometown Heroes banner program this summer, displaying the names and faces of veterans connected to town on power line poles along main routes through the village.

The program is a collaboration between the Saranac Lake Women’s Civic Chamber and the village government, with the chamber overseeing the program and the village Department of Public Works installing the vinyl 2-by-4-foot banners along Lake Flower Avenue and Upper Broadway.

Applications for banners are currently available with the deadline to apply set for March 21.

“We hope to have something for Memorial Day, if all goes well,” WCC member Kelly Morgan said.

Village Community Development Assistant Bayle Reichert said she had previously been approached by people who saw the banners in Bloomingdale and wanted one for their family in Saranac Lake.

Morgan said WCC member have been talking about a hometown heroes banner program for a couple of years, after a member brought it to Mayor Jimmy Williams. Williams, a Navy veteran, contacted Reichert to get it going. Morgan said WCC members were unanimously on board.

“We thought, ‘it’s time,'” WCC Treasurer Marty Lawthers said, to “honor the brave men and women who served our country.”

The banners are not only for village residents. They can be for current or past village residents, family members or someone who means something special to a resident — like a soldier they served with.

Any military member — currently serving, honorably discharged, retired or deceased — can get a banner.

“We’re really trying to broaden the program, because it’s really honoring the sacrifice that you do when you serve our country in the armed forces,” Lawthers said.

She said there’s a diverse range of people with connections to the village.

“This is a great opportunity for locals to keep the memory of their loved ones alive, the ones that served and a lot of times sacrificed their lives protecting the values that all of us respect,” village Manager Bachana Tsiklauri said. “I think it is very important for the community to remember that and tell the stories to the future generations to keep protecting those.”

On Monday, the village board approved a memorandum of understanding with WCC for the program.

Sponsoring a banner costs $225 and covers the printing of the banner, brackets to hang it and shipping.

Applications can be found online at tinyurl.com/2p8y8z3z, or in person at the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce on the first floor of the Harrietstown Town Hall at 39 Main St. or the Saranac Lake VFW at 202 Broadway. Applications can be mailed to the WCC at an address at the bottom of the application or can be dropped off at the Chamber’s town hall office.

Morgan said they’re anticipating a capacity of around 100 banners. Applications will continue to be accepted on a rolling basis for the following years.

Everyone wanted to share the credit for the banner program.

“It was really Kelly who spearheaded it,” Lawthers said.

“With Bayle,” Morgan said. “Over coffee.”

They all said that village Department of Public Works Superintendent Dustin Martin’s crews will do the hard work of installing the banners.

The banners will be installed on different poles than the other village banners.

For questions about applying for a banner, email womenscivicchamber@gmail.com.