Employees here at the dealership plan on doing that during a special ceremony scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
"I'm thinking this person maybe had a conscience and changed their mind."
Bob Waterston was relieved Sunday after finding out the American flag that went missing from Hedrick's Chevrolet in Clovis last week has been returned in good condition.
"I'm glad they gave it back because I think it makes us feel better about the community that someone would actually return something like that."
Waterston, a former Fresno County supervisor who has two sons in the military, donated $800-dollars to pay for a replacement flag. The original one went missing last Monday after Clovis police say thieves jumped a fence, and stole it. Since then, the brazen act has sparked anger among several people in the community.
Then, sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, the flag was dropped off in a duffel bag outside fire station three in Clovis.
"It was rolled and packaged very nicely. It wasn't just shoved in there."
Investigators still don't know who took the 20 by 40 foot flag. Still, Brett Hedrick says that's not his main concern. He plans on cleaning the flag before letting it fly so that the community will once again have something to honor when they drive along Highway 168.
"I was just amazed that it actually came back, but I guess the people who took it realized that there wasn't anything they could do it, maybe it was a prank, I don't know. I'm just glad they had the good sense to bring it back."
Because a new flag has already been ordered and paid for, the dealership will save it as backup. Hedrick's has also collected several hundred dollars in additional donations since the flag went missing. That money will now be given to an organization dedicated to a military organization.
