Feld, marketing manager for USA Luge, came up with the idea to raise the flags. When he brought the idea to Mayor Art Devlin and got it OKed, Feld told his friends in Ukraine who are fighting against the Russian army that Lake Placid would be putting the flags up in their honor. They appreciated that, he said.

Feld was filming village Electric Department worker Jarrett Hathaway raise a Ukrainian flag at the big municipal parking lot on Main Street Thursday afternoon, March 3. Co-worker Stuart Spotts assisted. Two other crews raised flags on other utility poles along the street, all the way down to Saranac Avenue. Feld said he was planning to send the footage to his friends in Ukraine — everything helps.

“Doesn’t matter (if it’s a) newspaper, or it’s radio, or it’s a podcast or it’s a picture to send to them or they send to us — it really keeps morale boosted high … anything to support Ukraine, they love it.”

Feld’s friends said the first day of the invasion wasn’t that bad. But as the days went on, he said the fight got tougher and tougher. On March 2, Feld said he paid to send helmets and bulletproof vests to his friends.

People here are donating to the cause, too. Feld said he told Devlin that he’d pay for the Ukrainian flags, but a friend of Feld’s, Electrical Superintendent Kimball Daby, fronted the $1,850 bill. Feld offered to reimburse Daby, but USA Luge Director of Marketing and Sponsorships Gordy Sheer thought it’d be better to fundraise the flags through USA Luge. As Feld was watching the flag raising, two people walked up and gave him over $250 in donations. By the afternoon, they had raised the full cost of the flags, according to a post on Sheer’s social media. Feld said that any extra donations would be sent directly to Ukraine.

The flags were a special order from FASTSIGNS in Burlington, Vermont, according to electric department officials.

Feld said USA Luge has ties to the Ukrainian Luge Federation. He said the federation has turned into a civilian corps during the invasion, fighting with the Ukrainian army and doing “all kinds of jobs.” Feld said he has friends in the federation who are training in the woods to help out injured soldiers.

It was emotional for Feld to watch the Ukrainian flags go up over Main Street. He even hopped in the Electric Department utility truck’s bucket, which lifted him up to touch a flag. He wanted to be next to the flag, he said.

“I was born in the Soviet Union, but I grew up in Ukraine, so it means a lot to me,” he said, looking at the flag. “They attack people who I love, and they attack this beautiful country — for nothing.”

(Lake Placid News Editor Andy Flynn contributed to this report.)