SAULT STE. MARIE -- The Sault’s Peter Pozzo is proud of the NATO flag flying from his backyard flagpole.
The Mark Street resident is flying the military alliance’s blue and white banner as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary in April.
Coming into possession of the flag was a surprise for Pozzo.
Neighbor Stephen Givens snapped a photo of the Canadian flag that regularly hangs from Pozzo’s flagpole and sent it to the NATO Association of Canada.
The NATO Association of Canada has invited organizations and individuals across the country to submit original, captivating photos featuring a Canadian flag raised on a flagpole for a chance to win an official NATO flag.
The Association's goal is to see a number of NATO flags awarded to organizations and individuals across Canada in celebration of the defence and security organization's 75th anniversary.
“Steve took a picture of our Canadian flag on the pole. He sent it in and didn’t he get the flag?” Pozzo laughed, during an interview with SooToday.
“He knocked on my door and he had this thing under his arm and I was kind of curious. He told me the whole story and he handed me the flag and said: ‘Would you fly it?’ I said it would be an honour.”
Pozzo said he hoisted the flag two weeks ago on his 25-foot titanium flagpole that he recently purchased online.
The NATO flag can be seen flying beneath Pozzo’s Canadian flag.
With its main headquarters in Brussels, NATO officially came into being April 4, 1949 with 12 member states — including Canada — to guard against potential Soviet aggression during the Cold War.
The Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended but NATO remains, now with 32 members.
Its member states are dedicated to defending each other from aggression and to encourage democracy.
“Flying the NATO flag is a very proud way of showing our support of Canada’s solidarity and alliance with NATO to safeguard our freedoms and security. April 4th is the official anniversary date but I took it upon myself to fly it for the whole month of April. Before Remembrance Day, it’s going to be up there for a week. That’s the way my wife Irene and I think about it,” Pozzo said.
“It's a beautiful flag. I’m honoured to put that up there especially after my neighbour Steve went to the trouble to do what he did. I’ve had lots of people walk by and look at it. You can tell they’re looking at it and it’s starting to get around that we’ve got it up there. It’s nice when it’s windy and both the Canadian and NATO flags are up there spreading their wings. I just love it.”
SooToday.com