Bows In Havre de Grace Honor Police

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — Bows have popped up around Harford County this week including by the Havre de Grace Police Department, in a small show of appreciation for law enforcement. The woman who came up with the idea said she was concerned about morale.

"Probably the toughest job in the world right now is being a police officer," MaryPat Flanagan Feiss said. "They’re constantly being attacked, and you know, they’ve got family and their poor family has to worry about them."

Feiss, who lives in Forest Hill, said she wanted to do something to let police know there were people who appreciated them.

"We just want to let them know we’re there," Feiss said.

"It was just like our soldiers. Years ago, they would tie yellow ribbons," Feiss said, referencing the movement that sprang up in the Iran hostage crisis.

The tradition of tying yellow ribbons on trees has been traced to a Bethesda woman whose husband was among the hostages taken in 1979 at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. She hung a yellow ribbon in a tree outside her home in a show of solidarity and strength with other victims until her husband was released in 1981, according to archives from the Library of Congress. In the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s, people began displaying yellow ribbons nationally to recognize the troops.

Feiss said she thought: "Let’s make some bows. And I don’t even know how to make bows." She has two friends who do, and she watched YouTube to learn.

She mentioned the idea to a few friends, and the idea spread by word of mouth. They discussed it over lunch at Maryland Golf and Country Club, and then she had a small group over to make bows on Sunday.

They put up a little more than 50 bows Monday in Bel Air and Jarrettsville and hit the rest of the police stations in Harford County Tuesday, Feiss said.

"I'm going to stick to Harford County," she said. "That's it for right now."

Feiss said she was concerned about drawing too much attention lest police be targeted. "It's sad to say," she added, that she had to think about them being a source of contention.

"It was nothing big," she said of putting up ribbons in Bel Air, Jarrettsville, Havre de Grace, Aberdeen, Edgewood and intersections like US 1 at MD 152 and destinations such as the Festival at Bel Air.

"We don't want anyone being targeted or singled out. It was more just like, let’s be positive," Feiss said. "We're just trying to spread some positivity."

She has relatives in the police department, mainly family in New York, but there are some local friends as well who are on the force.

"If you think about it, they’re our next door neighbors," Feiss said of police. "It just breaks my heart to see" what is going on, she said of negativity toward those in law enforcement. "I just want them recognized."

Since posting the bows around the county, Feiss said she's received multiple inquiries about how to get involved.

"Just thank a police officer," Feiss said. "Keep them in your prayers."