MIDDLEBORO — The Hometown Heroes project will be coming to Middleboro next year, Town Manager James McGrail and Veterans Services Officer Stephen Adelman have announced. 

Hometown Heroes is a project that has spread in popularity throughout towns and cities across the U.S. with the goal of recognizing, honoring and paying tribute to local military service personnel.

Middleboro embarked on this project under the direction of the town's previous Veterans Service Officer Jason Cox in 2021. Upon taking over the role, Veteran Service Officer Adelman chose to continue with the work Cox began to ensure this project came to Middleboro.

Adelman has also partnered and collaborated with the Historical Society and Veterans Council, in addition to the many other town officials that have supported the efforts to bring this project to fruition. 

The project will highlight local veterans by sharing their names and photos on banners throughout town. So far, several veterans have already been identified for banners, including Middleboro's two Medal of Honor recipients, Wayne Caron and Patrick Regan; POW-MIA William Smith; Middleborough's Legion Post 64 namesake Samuel Nickerson; VFW Post 2188 namesake John Glass; and Deborah Sampson, the first female soldier of the U.S. military who lived in Middleborough when she went enlisted to fight in the Revolutionary War.

In addition to those already identified, the project will also allow Middleboro residents the opportunity to request a banner for a veteran.

All banners will be hung by the Middleboro Department of Public Works on lamp poles in the downtown area. There have been 50 black poles identified to date on which the flags will be affixed, located on Center, Wareham, South and North Main streets.

Over the coming weeks, the first banners and brackets will be ordered from Military Tribute Banners, a banner company located in Florida.

The town plans to display 30 to 35 banners yearly from May 15 through Nov.  15. Displayed banners will be determined on a first-come, first-served basis. Depending on public interest and inquiries for banners, the town intends to rotate the banners annually. 

As part of the project, the town is looking for sponsors to help eliminate costs for families that are interested in requesting a banner for a loved one. Those who make monetary donations towards the development of the project will have their name or the name of their business placed at the bottom of a banner. Additional information about sponsorship opportunities will be shared at a later date.

The Town of Middleboro and Adelman would like to recognize and thank North East Savings Bank for their donation of $5,000 to the project. A special thank you is extended to Linda Corey of North East Savings Bank as they are the first business to donate funds towards the Hometown Heroes Project. Their donation will sponsor the first 30 banners.

"I would like to thank both Retired Town Manager Robert Nunes and Veterans Services Officer Cox for being two of the driving forces that assisted in getting this project up and running," Adelman said. "I would also like to thank the Historical Society and Veterans Council, along with everyone else who has offered their unwavering support. The Town of Middleboro has countless brave men and women that have served in our military, and we greatly look forward to recognizing them in their hometown."