By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The banners honoring military veterans which went up in Decatur last month have proven to be highly popular.
Which is why city council, at its latest meeting, didn’t pause for one second in giving approval to additional banners next year.

Community Coordinator Jamie Gephart, who has worked with
the Antoine Rivarre chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) – which has handled all aspects of the program – said the group would like council’s approval to add even more to next year’s project.
A total of 30 banners are currently up in the downtown area. The DAR has received funds from a donor to pay for the cost of additional brackets from which to hang more banners on light poles next year.
Council was also fine with the notion that some of the new batch of vets may not be in uniform due to poor quality of some photos.
Gephart said the DAR would probably begin the second phase of the project in September.
Veterans, their families and friends paid for the banners, which will remain up until mid-November, then be given back to them. Then the process will restart, requiring new applications and fees on a first-come, first-served basis.
The banners are on poles on Monroe, First and Third streets in the downtown area.
City officials want to leave Second St. open to the events that happen each year, and special banners that have already been purchased for those areas.