BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Rows of American flags filled the Park at River Walk in Bakersfield over Memorial Day weekend, creating an emotional tribute that organizers say has become a tradition for more than a decade.

For over 10 years, the Bakersfield Rotary Club has placed 1,000 American flags that fly throughout Memorial Day weekend to honor soldiers who paid the ultimate price.

“You walk through the flags and it’s almost overwhelming. The emotions that come to people, the smiles that come to people’s face, faces is, it’s remarkable,” said Denise Haynes, Thousand Flags Event Director.

“It means unity, it means pride, it means family, it means love, it means appreciation. It means joy, it’s everything,” she said.

Haynes said her grandfather served in World War II and that other family members have also served. She said the flags help her reflect on what service members and their families have endured.

“It’s hard to, it’s really hard to imagine what they went through, you want to appreciate that, you want to get a sense of it, but we can’t be because we were there, but having the flags represent my grandpa and having the flags represent my son-in-law and so many other friends of friends and friends of our children, it helps me to stay grounded and to remember grandpa was there, and that’s that’s huge,” Haynes said.

The free, family-friendly Thousand Flags event continues to draw large crowds each Memorial Day weekend, Haynes said, giving people a place to reflect and pay their respects.

“It truly touches my heart. And I have said it multiple times every year, I still get goosebumps just looking at the flags and watching them wave in the wind, and I get goosebumps watching the crowds and their appreciations, and I, and I cry at the young ones who are admiring the flags at the seniors with their military hats on it. I cry every year,” she said.

Proceeds raised through the Thousand Flags event are donated back to the community, to veterans and to military-related groups.

“It’s sad, because it does represent somebody who has passed and paid the ultimate sacrifice, but when you see the family members surrounding the flags or taking pictures by the flags, you know that they’re doing that with love and with fond memories,” Haynes said.