Furling and unfurling American flags on an upper and lower section of the township municipal complex at 1 Collyer Lane, will remain in place until Nov. 19, in honor of the veterans who will be remembered on Veterans Day.

The display of 125 American flags, purchased by local residents with a chance to dedicate them to the veteran or veterans of their choice, was arranged by the Bernards Township Beautification Task Force.

The flags will remain where they are until the display is dismanted, and owners can claim their flags on Nov. 19.

The flags, which had been placed in neat rows in a display on both an upper and lower field by local Boys and Girl Scouts, were flapping in the wind on Sunday, when members of the public, veterans groups and township, county and state officials gathered for a noontime dedication.

Along with speeches, the ceremony featured the 78th Army Brass Ensemble, the Color Guard from Veterans of Foreign War Post 7858, based in Bernardsville, and Ridge High School students Nikki Sumka and Alex Wilke, who performed the National Anthem.

The program was chaired by Laura Begg, a member of the township's Beautification Task Force.

Begg said funds raised through the sale of flags will go to help veterans housing programs at the Veterans Administration facility in Lyons. The housing program for homeless veterans is administered through Community Hope, based in Parsippany.

Begg said each of the flags placed on the lawn as a symbol of "a duty done."

Many volunteers made the program possible, including Boys and Girls Scouts. Two local Girl Scouts from Troop 1154, Sophia DeMarchi and Caroline Buley, not only tied ribbons for the flags and participants, but also set up and baked most of the cookies and other goodies that were part of a reception after the program.

The ceremony was attended by members of the Bernards Township Committee, some of the Somerset County Freeholders, including Pat Walsh and Peter Palmer, and District 21 state representatives, including Assembly representatives Nancy Munoz and Jon Bramnick and State Sen. Thomas Kean Jr.

Kean called the event a "great testament to the volunteers, the community and the veterans."

Bramnick said he has now been to 10 or 15 events in Bernards — which will be new to the 21st district as of 2012 — and he understands why residents love their community so much.

Veterans who attended received special honor.

World War II Air Force Veteran Ted Ledder, a resident at Ridge Oak in Basking Ridge, attended the event with his wife of 67 years, Mildred Ledder. He said he was impressed by Begg's passion for honoring the veterans.

"I thought it was wonderful," Mildred Ledder said.