Symbolic moments: Flag reassignment ceremony draws Ogden together at Raptors Fan Appreciation Night
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- Members of local military, police and the community help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation unfurl two flags before an Ogden Raptors game on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Jennie Taylor of the Major Brent Taylor Foundation hugs one of the Boise Hawk players after the flag presentation at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Jennie Taylor of the Major Brent Taylor Foundation (center, wearing sunglasses) joins volunteers from many organizations in holding one of the Major flags on the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Members of local military, police and the community help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation unfurl two flags before an Ogden Raptors game on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Members of local military, police and the community help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation unfurl two flags before an Ogden Raptors game on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Members of local military, police and the community help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation unfurl two flags before an Ogden Raptors game on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Members of local military, police and the community help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation unfurl two flags before an Ogden Raptors game on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Officers from the Ogden City Police Department help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation unfurl a flag before an Ogden Raptors game Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Jennie Taylor, center, and student body officers from West Field High School help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation unfurl a flag before an Ogden Raptors game on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Members of the United States Air Force help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation unfurl and display a flag on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Fans in the Lindquist Field concourse cheer during Fan Appreciation Night festivities at the Ogden Raptors baseball game Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in Ogden.
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- Members of local military, police and the community help the Major Brent Taylor Foundation carry a large flag before an Ogden Raptors game on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Volunteers from many organizations unfurl one of the Major flags on the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations unfurl one of the Major flags on the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations carry one of the Major flags onto the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations carry one of the Major flags onto the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations unfurl one of the Major flags on the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations carry one of the Major flags onto the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations carry one of the Major flags onto the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations unfurl one of the Major flags on the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations unfurl one of the Major flags on the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations unfurl the two Major flags on the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Ogden Raptors players stand for the national anthem before the game at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Jim Konig (right), publisher of the Ogden Standard-Examiner, presents a $5,000 donation to Jennie Taylor of the Major Brent Taylor Foundation at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Jim Konig (center), publisher of the Ogden Standard-Examiner, presents a $5,000 donation to Jennie Taylor of the Major Brent Taylor Foundation while Odgen Mayor Ben Nadolski announces the presentation at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- A display highlights the symbolism of the Major at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Letroy Woods (right), representing the Ogden Standard-Examiner, and Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski pose for a photo with Ogden Raptors assistant coach Mason Ross after throwing out ceremonial first pitches at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Letroy Woods (right), representing the Ogden Standard-Examiner, shakes hands with Ogden Raptors assistant coach Mason Ross while Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski looks on after throwing out one of the ceremonial first pitches at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Letroy Woods, representing the Ogden Standard-Examiner, throws out one of the ceremonial first pitches at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Doug Clarke of the Major Brent Taylor Foundation throws out one of the ceremonial first pitches at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Ogden mayor Ben Nadolski throws out one of the ceremonial first pitches at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations carry one of the Major flags onto the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations carry one of the Major flags onto the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- Volunteers from many organizations carry one of the Major flags onto the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
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- The band Colt 46 performs on the field before an Ogden Raptors game during Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Fans mingle at the O-Town Beach Club before an Ogden Raptors game during Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- The band Colt 46 performs before an Ogden Raptors baseball game for Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Jennie Taylor speaks to the crowd at Lindquist Field before an Ogden Raptors game on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Lindquist Field in Ogden.
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- Volunteers from many organizations unfurl one of the Major flags on the field at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
It required more than 300 volunteers to unfurl two enormous flags that covered a half an acre of the outfield at Lindquist Field in Ogden on Saturday.
As the founder of the Major Brent Taylor Foundation, Jennie Taylor has deep personal connections with many of the volunteers who participated in the reassignment of the original “Major” flag and the unveiling of the new “Major.” They have become part of the mission of the organization to bridge communities, honor heroes and inspire leadership.
But one of the moments that drove it all home for Jennie Taylor on Saturday involved a complete stranger.
She founded the organization in honor of her husband, former North Ogden mayor Brent Taylor, who died in Afghanistan in November of 2018 while serving his country. Part of Saturday’s ceremony at the Ogden Raptors Fan Appreciation Night included talking about the memory of Major Brent Taylor and his sacrifice.
But Jennie Taylor and her family weren’t the only ones in attendance still mourning the loss of a family member who had served of their country.
“As we were taking the flags off the field, a couple of our volunteers came over to me and said, ‘Jennie, we’ve just been talking to the players. There’s a player from the other team over there whose father served in the military and he died last year,'” Jennie Taylor said. “The emotion of the evening hit him. He said to my friends that he wasn’t ready for this, that he didn’t come to a baseball game thinking he needed to prepare for this type of emotion.”
She didn’t hesitate, immediately going over to the Boise Hawks athlete, who was fighting back the tears as his team warmed up. .
“I just grabbed one of our collector coins that shows the flag waving and I ran over to him,” Jennie Taylor said. “I tapped him on the shoulder and I said, ‘I’m so sorry about your dad. Thank you for your family service.’ I gave him our coin, and we just embraced.”
Even though she didn’t even know his name, she said the connection was instantaneous.
“You could feel it,” she said. “There is a palpable feeling in the air when you meet someone who shares a piece of your life story, whatever that is. For me and that young man in that moment, it was that I love someone who served in uniform, who’s no longer here with me, and I miss him. We didn’t say any of that, but we felt all of that.”
That brief interaction with a visiting player, that emotional moment, put everything in perspective once again for Jennie Taylor.
“Sometimes I get lost in the weeds of the planning and stressing about the details of things,” she said. “But then in that moment, you realize it doesn’t matter if the flag was perfectly straight on the field or there were more people on one flag than the other. What matters is what you feel and what it represents.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything with this foundation where I haven’t had at least one moment that stops me my tracks and reminds me, oh, yeah, that’s why we do this. It’s not for the pictures and the photo ops. It’s not for the hundreds of people who love it. It’s for that one moment that maybe we can help someone, and they help us in return, as we stand together and say nothing.”
Building the Ogden community
For that brief moment, that Boise Hawks player became a part of the Ogden community (even though his team thumped the hometown Raptors, 17-7, in the game). His emotions connected him with those who came out for a unified purpose, regardless of background.
As Jennie Taylor looked at the 300-plus volunteers, she loved seeing what their time and effort represented as part of the upcoming Patriot Day celebration remembering Sept. 11, 2001.
“We knew it’s the weekend before 9/11,” she said. “We knew it’s the unveiling of the new ‘Major.’ We knew it was this great partnership with the Standard-Examiner and the Raptors and Ogden City’s mayor, Ben Nadolski. There was a lot of really big pieces, and so we were very intentional with the representation around that flag.
“We did have elected officials, we did have baseball players, we did have sponsors who’ve helped us with what we’ve done for over six years. We had kids from local high school student government and, of course, we had police officers and firefighters and military men and women. To me, that’s what was so beautiful.”
She said at other events the goal is coordination and often all the volunteers wear matching t-shirts. Today, though, she wanted to highlight the diversity of the group.
“You could look around at over 300 people and physically see through the fabric of what they wore,” Jennie Taylor said. “This is a mix of America. That’s what 9/11 is to me. 9/11 was all of us. It was firefighters, it was police officers, it led to a heck of a lot of camouflage for over 20 years. But it was also the elected officials, the business people, the people who were just wandering in the streets or going about their day to day business when the world stopped turning and they jumped into each other’s aid.
“To me, that was the beauty of the eclectic clothing everyone wore around the flag because everyone wore something that they represented. The representation was everyone coming together for the flag that represents something bigger than all of us.”
Nadolski, who was the master of ceremonies for the flag reassignment ceremony and also threw out one of the ceremonial first pitches for the game, said he loved the powerful imagery of so many Ogden residents coming together like that.
“It feels good to be a part of something that brings pride, that builds community,” he said. “There’s plenty of things in the world right now that remind us otherwise, so to be invited to do that is a special honor.”
He said that he feels a difference when the Major Brent Taylor Foundation has the “Major” flag up in the air.
“I love the mission of that organization,” Nadolski said. “When we have that flag flying over our city, it changes the mood of our city. People stop arguing and they start agreeing and uniting. It’s not that we don’t have our differences. It’s just that we are reminded of all the things that we have.”
An evening to remember
While the outcome of the game might not have been what local Raptor fans had hoped, it was an evening that brought together many elements to create a memorable atmosphere.
There was the music of the pre-game concert by Colt 46 and the post-game dance party. There was the competition of the game itself. There was the unity of the flag reassignment ceremony as the old “Major” (which was damaged) was moved to on-ground duties while the new “Major” prepared to take its place.
And there was the support of the community for each other, including those who volunteered and the $5,000 donation from the Standard-Examiner to the Major Brent Taylor Foundation.
Jim Konig, publisher of the Standard-Examiner, helped organize the event and said that being there for the special evening struck a chord.
“In the midst of all the excitement of the concert and the flags being brought out onto the field and watching the flag ceremony, the sacrifice that our military and first responders make everyday for our freedom hit me,” Konig said. “Getting to know Jennie Taylor and the cost to her and her family, the significance of the flag ceremony and the sacrifices of our military and first-responders really hit home.
“As the Publisher of the Standard-Examiner, I couldn’t be any more humbled by the small role we played in the events of this evening. I’m grateful to Jennie Taylor and Doug Clarke with the foundation, to Ogden City mayor Ben Nadoloski, Cindy Weloth of Ogden City and to Ogden Raptors president Dave Baggott and general manager Trever Wilson for allowing us to partner in making this special event come together.”
Nadolski believes that organizations like those who worked together to make the Fan Appreciation Night happen play a key role in building communities, particularly those like the Major Brent Taylor Foundation.
“I really enjoyed it,” Nadolski said. “I always like to volunteer with the foundation because they bring back all the things that are right about America. They help us bring civics and volunteers and giving service back to our community. We can do that one community at a time and eventually do it for the whole country.”
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Symbolic moments: Flag reassignment ceremony draws Ogden together at Raptors Fan Appreciation Night
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