Star-spangled memories

Keepsake flag: Lifelong resident uncovers a favorite memento

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican

7/3/2008 - 7/4/08

Today's Fourth of July celebrations got Edward "Gonzo" Gonzales thinking back to the U.S. flag that came floating down after the finale of a fireworks display in 1948.

For 60 years, Gonzales has kept the 48-star flag and silk parachute stamped "PKW 1945" tied up with shoestrings in a drawer at his home in the 200 block of Delgado Street.

On Thursday, as Gonzales and his wife were preparing to go to this morning's pancake breakfast on the Plaza and tonight's fireworks display at Santa Fe High School, he got to thinking about his memento and took it out of the drawer.

"I don't know if anybody would like to look at it," he said. "It's just like an old memento that you never get rid of and probably should have gotten rid of. But I've got a grandson who would love this."

Gonzales, 72, is a lifelong Santa Fe resident who retired from the State Engineer's Office in 1983. From 1974 to 1978, he was a Santa Fe city councilor.

On July 4, 1948, when he was 12 years old and a paper carrier for The New Mexican, he went to a fireworks display at Fort Marcy Ballpark. When the final rocket exploded, a flag came floating down on a small parachute.

"All the kids started after it, and it just so happened that the wind started blowing it to the west and, man, I just started running my best," he said. "I just caught the end of it and just pulled it in, and then everybody tried to grab it from me, and I had to fight my way out of the crowd. Then I hid it like I had stolen something. ...

"Things weren't exactly like they are now in Santa Fe," he added. "It was a little rougher growing up."

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.