AMERICAN FLAGS RETIRED IN ANNUAL CEREMONY.

Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer

Four Old Glories were retired in a burst of flames on Sunday. Elks Lodge 2477 in Thousand Oaks sponsored the retirement of the worn-out American flags with the assistance of dozens of Scouts from various troops.

Officials said the procedure followed Sunday is the proper way to retire a flag, and the Elks did it with much ceremony. First, three worn flags were placed in a burning fire pit. Then Scouts placed a fourth flag, stripe by stripe, into the flames.

``It instills patriotism in the kids as well as refurbishes it in some of our older folks,'' said Elks member Jerry Serota.

The four flags that burned Sunday represent just a fraction of the 50 to 100 flags retired by the lodge every year. But the lodge holds the burning ceremony once a year to remind people they have a place where they can dispose of their flags correctly.

``A lot of folks will be bringing their flags here to be retired properly,'' Goldner said.

The relationship between Elks and Scouts is a longstanding one, said Richard Goldner, the lodge's leading knight. Scouts helped plant bushes in front of the Elks lodge and performed various beautification projects on the property, Goldner said.

``It's a coexistence that brings us a lot more glee than anything else,'' he said.

In addition to the burning ceremony, the lodge gave $500 to each of the seven Scout troops.

The lodge also awarded three plaques and $2,500 to Simi Valley Scout Jennifer Hermance, who won local, district and state lodge essay contests. She will attend a future scouting jamboree in Santiago, Chile.

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PHOTO During the official retiring of American flags, Boy Scout Daniel Loomis puts a stripe from an old flag into the fire.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News