Ferriday’s new Bayou Memorial park, which for several weeks has been noticeably missing its flags, was officially dedicated last week.

Fifty-five American flags whipped tightly against the wind Tuesday as Ferriday High School Army Reserve Officer Training Corp students raised them.

Taps played in the background, and the overcast sky seemed to highlight the solemnity of the song and the boldness of the red, white and blue.

The raising of the flags, donated in memory or honor of those who have served in the military locally, was part of the Ferriday Garden Club’s official dedication of the Bayou Memorial Park on the east side of Ferriday.

Drivers-by on U.S. 84 might have thought Ferriday had no patriots when they were greeted a few moments later by the sight of empty white folding chairs in front of the park, the flags flying defiantly against the weather, but they would have been wrong.

The rest of the ceremony was hurriedly moved to the nearby Pentecostals of the Miss-Lou church as organizers rushed to beat the rain.

“We decided not to reschedule it because a lot of people had already come from out-of-town for the ceremony,” organizer Lena Bateman said.

The dedication’s emcee was Clerk of Courts of Court Clyde Ray Webber.

“We are here to pay tribute to our armed forces,” he said. “While we go about our daily lives or while we sleep, the men and women in our armed forces fly our skies, sail our seas and guard our shores, ensuring our safety.”

The ceremony also featured a program by Ferriday Junior High School about the flags that have flown over Louisiana.

The Garden Club built the park, which features 12 patriotic trees and nine past flags that flew over Louisiana in addition to the American flags, at a cost of $8,000.

The flags stand behind a brick encasement, and in front of it is a Blue Star Memorial Highway marker.

The patriotic trees — an Autumn Blaze Maple, a Gingko Biloba, five Forest Pansy Red Buds, three Grancy Greybeards, one Tulip Poplar and one Nuttall Oak — represent the agencies that keep Louisianans free at a state, parish and local level, Bateman said.

The park was a two-year project, she said, and was funded by a grant by the Principal Financial Group’s “Let Freedom Ring” program and by local donations.

Of the three Let Freedom Ring grants given in Louisiana, Ferriday’s was the largest, she said.

The flags will fly until July 4, and from thereafter will be flown on major national holidays, she said.

“We’re very proud of this park,” Bateman said. “It gives you a positive impression as soon as you enter Ferriday.”