Staff photo / Bob Coupland McDonald resident John Muckridge is raising money for graduating McDonald High School seniors by having an M sign placed in yards to show support for the village and an American flag to show patriotism for the country. Muckridge installed more than 140 supported flags throughout the community, which was the first year for this fundraiser.

McDONALD — Village resident John Muckridge said he has always wanted to support the community and local students and now he has found a way to do both.

This spring, Muckridge raised funds for scholarships for graduating McDonald High School students by having people purchase a flag to be placed in their yards starting Memorial Day weekend.

He said the village has 1,200 homes and he was able to place 140 flags in residents’ yards this past week.

“This project is about patriotism and people showing patriotism to our country. Ninety percent is patriotism and 10% is for the scholarships to help the graduating seniors,” Muckridge said.

He is retiring this year, and he said he was looking for a “retirement job,” which will be to give back to the community.

Since 2000, he has given 12 scholarships totaling $6,000 to McDonald seniors.

Muckridge said one scholarship is for a nontraditional student who is not planning to attend college but plans to attend a trade school.

He said this year he gave five scholarships of $500 each to students going into carpentry, electricians and nursing.

A second scholarship is given for military service, with one $500 scholarship for a student entering the Navy.

“They can take the money and use it for what careers they want to pursue,” Muckridge said.

Muckridge started four years ago creating “M” signs for people to place in their yards to show support for McDonald village. He said the “M” signs are $40 and also are used for scholarships.

Muckridge said he has made more than 200 “M”s in the past four years.

He said each year more and more students seek assistance with scholarships so he decided this year to add the flags to raise more money for them. If someone rides through the village, they will see the flags at different locations.

Muckridge said the flags will be up until Labor Day.

He said before beginning the project this year, he got approval from village council.

“I had to get permission to put the flags in since they are in the devil strips owned by the village,” Muckridge said. “When I passed out fliers and placed information on Facebook for the flags, the response was unbelievable. The support for this has been great. My phone won’t stop ringing. I got 10 orders in an hour one day. Regardless of people’s political party, they all wanted to show their patriotism with flags in their yards,” he said.

He said his grandchildren help him pass out the fliers and spread the word on social media.

After getting orders and addresses, Muckridge by himself started May 16 and placed the 140 flags in yards.

Muckridge said he is exhausted from the flag placements and plans to ask for assistance from volunteers in placing them next year.

“It was what I wanted to do, but it was a lot of work,” Muckridge said.

MAYOR’S RESPONSE

McDonald Mayor Ray Lewis praised the work of Muckridge and thanked him for what he has done,

He said Muckridge does not seek recognition, noting he is often behind the scenes doing work and helping, but he deserves some recognition for all he has done to help students with scholarships and beautify the village.

“John has done so much for the betterment of the community and the students,” Lewis said.

Muckridge said his goal is to start a nonprofit called the McDonald M Foundation and to seek support from businesses to help the graduating students who are planning careers as they enter adulthood.

He said he plans to speak to local unions to see if they can help students get seasonal work or future jobs.

“They can learn what an electrician does and see if that is for them. I will speak with trade schools on how they can help students. I want to take this further and build this with the businesses’ involvement,” Muckridge said.

While he is not taking any more flag orders this year, he plans to do so again for 2027. He said the M project will continue during the year.

Muckridge can be reached at jmuck830@yahoo.com

Muckridge said he is also planning a community cleanup day for June 13 starting at 9 a.m. with volunteers asked to help throughout the village. He said he wants volunteers to help with the cleanup.