High winds and a 12-foot fence couldn’t deter a determined band of Boy Scouts from retiring a massive weather-worn flag Thursday.

Three-dozen Boy Scouts were on hand at Crater Lake Ford to help replace the dealership’s signature 30-by-60-foot American flag that waves over Biddle Road.

Scout bandanas and hats were whipping around during a relentless windstorm with ominous-looking thunderheads looming overhead. At least a handful of onlookers cast nervous glances at the 12-foot electrified fence separating the dealership from Biddle Road, over which most of the flag seemed to be hanging. With the electrical fence briefly turned off, Scouts assembled and came up with a game plan to retire and replace a flag larger than any they had previously handled.

Ready for Thursday’s challenge, Scouts began as ceremony MC Jeremy Hernandez, a member of the Boy Scout-sponsored Mercy Flights Explorer Post, read an opening statement. Winds picked up, sending a few hats across the parking lot and whipping at least one tiny Cub Scout in the face with his bandana.

A dealership employee, who teased that the massive flag had nearly lifted him off the ground a time or two in the past, used a large crank to lower the flag toward waiting Scouts. Just as the first of the red and white stripes reached the fingertips of the taller Scouts, the winds pushed the flag in the direction of Biddle Road and onto the wrong side of the fence.

A dozen Scouts took off running the length of the dealership, racing down the sidewalk along Biddle. One by one, the uniformed boys reappeared on the opposite side of the fence just as the flag threatened to graze the tops of passing cars or settle on the roadway.

Parents had been told to stand back during ceremonies, but several ended up holding sections of flag as it was handed over the fence. When the last clip was taken off, more than 45 sets of hands were on the flag, which Scouts then dutifully helped fold according to flag-retirement regulations. Life Scout Jacob Salsedo, 16, walked the flag the length of the group of helpers before it was placed in back of a pick-up truck.

“It was about 35 or so pounds. I was not expecting it to be that heavy. I’ve done a lot of different flag retirements, but this is by far the biggest I’ve ever done,” said Salsedo. “It would make a good fire if we could, but it’s not cotton — it’s nylon — so we’ll have to cut this one up to retire it.”

Hernandez breathed a sigh of relief after the new flag made its way up the pole. He admitted to a tinge of pre-ceremony worry for where the massive display of stars and stripes would decide to land.

“I’ve only done this once before, a couple months ago, and it was not a gigantic-sized flag like this. Overall, I think this was pretty successful. When I saw it before the beginning of the ceremony, I wondered if we were gonna have to shut down traffic or something.”

Dealership manager Ron Clack said it was fun to have the Scouts show up to replace the colors.

“We had been talking about needing to replace it, and one of the gals who works here said, ‘What about the Boy Scouts?’ To be honest, I was pretty excited because I wanted to see the whole thing be done,” he said. “I think America needs this kind of stuff.”

Troop 5 Scoutmaster Mark Lillich said he envisioned smaller Scouts being on hand to witness the ceremony, but Thursday’s retirement ended up being more of an all-hands-on-deck situation.

“Originally, I had thought just the bigger Scouts would be taking it down, and our Cub Scouts would just view the ceremony, but it ended up being so windy we needed everybody,” Lillich said.

Jim Westfall, Scout executive of the Crater Lake Council of Boy Scouts, said the ceremony was an important way to remind the community of the responsibility of Scouting organizations to care for the country’s flag.

“Our Scouts practice this a lot, and were prepared to do this today,” Westfall said. “Scouting teaches citizenship. It teaches respect for the flag, and as we saw today, it teaches problem solving. Problem-solving skills such as how to get the flag over the fence. These Scouts who were here today, they’ll never forget this,” he said.