On Saturday, more than 1,200 full-sized American flags go up at Handy Park, 2143 E. Oakmont, for the 2026 Field of Valor. Each one carries a personal tribute to a service member. The field opens with a ceremony at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 7 and stays up until noon on Thursday, Nov. 12. The City of Orange lists it as the city's Veterans Day tribute. The Community Foundation of Orange hosts it, and the flags are paid for one at a time by the people whose relatives and neighbors are named on them.
That funding model now runs most of Orange's community calendar.
Six days on Oakmont
The Community Foundation of Orange has set three ceremonies across the six days the field is up:
| Date | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Nov. 7 | 11:30 a.m. | Opening ceremonies; the field opens |
| Tuesday, Nov. 10 | 11 a.m. | Marine Corps Birthday Celebration with the Orange Police Department |
| Wednesday, Nov. 11 | 11 a.m. | Veterans Day celebration, with lunch for veterans |
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | Noon | The field closes |
The days between ceremonies are quieter. You can walk the rows and read the tags without a program running, which suits a slower visit. The foundation also runs a volunteer sign-up for the event.
Every flag on the field has a buyer
The tradition started at this same park. The Orange Plaza Review reports that Gary Remland proposed a Field of Valor at Handy Park in April 2015. That first year, volunteers put up 1,776 eight-foot flagpoles, and the event raised more than $30,000 for local veterans' causes. According to the Orange County Register's 2015 coverage, each of those first flags sold for $35 with a tribute to a veteran or current service member. The foundation printed tags with each person's service details and story.
Eleven years later, the price is still $35. On the 2026 tribute form, you can dedicate a flag "in honor of" or "in memory of" a living or deceased U.S. service member from any conflict and add up to two photos. You can also buy a three-year tribute covering 2026, 2027 and 2028 for $90, which works out to $30 a year. That flag renews automatically, so you don't need to fill out the form again unless the information changes.
The field is smaller than it was at the start. The 1,776-flag count of the early years has been about 1,200 since at least 2024, according to The Epoch Times that November and Voice of OC in 2025. Because every pole is a $35 tribute someone chose to buy, the flag count is the clearest measure of how much the city has put in each year.
Where the $35 goes
The foundation reports more than $375,556 in Field of Valor grants since the event began in 2015. Many of the recipients are groups Orange residents already know by name:
- American Legion Post 132
- Chapman University Veterans Resource Center
- Orange Senior Center Veterans Assistance Fund
- Rotary Club of Orange
- Patriots and Paws
- Veterans Legal Institute
- Support The Enlisted Project (STEP)
- Honor Flight Southland Honoring Our Fallen
- Bob Hope USO
- A Million Thanks
The full list also includes American Family Housing/Potter's Lane, American Veterans Assistance Group, CHOC Foundation, Exchange Club of Tustin, The Freedom Committee of Orange County, HomeFront America, Military Children's Charity, Operation Destination Homebound, SCC Veterans Resource Center and You Were Worth It Foundation.
So a flag sponsored at Handy Park can end up paying for a student veteran's support at Chapman, a veterans' fund at the Orange Senior Center, or the work of Veterans Legal Institute. The tribute and the grant come from the same $35.
Why the city's tribute carries a nonprofit's name
For years, the City of Orange paid for its own community events. That ended in the summer of 2024. As the Orange County Register reported, the City Council voted on June 25, 2024 to end city-funded community events after July 10 unless private sponsors stepped in. The Register put the combined cost of those events at about $500,000 a year.
Today, the city's special events page says that because of the city's financial situation, all events the city traditionally sponsored are on hold until further notice. It adds that several local nonprofits have stepped up to host them. The page lists four events, each with a host:
- Concerts in the Park, hosted by Kiwanis of Orange
- Treats in the Streets, hosted by Orange Plaza Traditions
- Veterans Day Tribute at the Field of Valor, hosted by the Community Foundation of Orange
- Christmas Market and Tree Lighting, hosted by Orange Plaza Traditions
The Field of Valor needed the fewest changes. It had been a nonprofit event paid for by sponsored flags since 2015. Orange's other traditions needed new hosts. The Register reported that Wilson Automotive Group paid $35,000 to keep five concerts on the 2024 schedule. According to the Orange Plaza Review, the Kiwanis Club of Orange took over the series in 2025. One tradition didn't get a host. The Register reported that the city canceled its July fireworks show in 2025, the first time in nearly three decades.
The rest of the season runs the same way
After the flags come down on Nov. 12, Orange's next big public tradition is also run by a nonprofit. Orange Plaza Traditions, the organization formerly incorporated as Orange International Street Fair, Inc., says that starting in 2026 it handles the production and finances for three traditions, in partnership with the City of Orange: the Orange International Street Fair, Treats in the Streets and the Christmas Market and Tree Lighting. Council minutes from April 28, 2026 show the council approved the name change and extended the tree-lighting agreement through 2028. Under those agreements, the city is reimbursed for the actual cost of the support it provides.
The 2026 Christmas Market and Tree Lighting is Sunday, Dec. 6, around Plaza Park. Admission is free, and the day includes vendors, seasonal treats, live entertainment and the city tree lighting.
Orange voters were asked on Nov. 3 to decide Measure I and Measure J, two revenue measures the City Council put on the ballot to address a projected $27.6 million deficit. For this year's calendar, the hosts are already set. Kiwanis of Orange runs the summer concerts, Orange Plaza Traditions runs the Plaza events, and the Community Foundation of Orange runs the Veterans Day tribute on Oakmont.
That puts the flags at Handy Park on a list of neighbor-funded traditions that now covers the year. Sponsoring a tribute for 2026, or a three-year tribute through 2028, is a direct way to help keep the event in the park.
At BK Platinum Properties, we have followed Orange's traditions through the years they were city-run and the years since local organizations took them on. If you have questions about your home's value in East Orange or anywhere else in the city, we'd be glad to talk it through over coffee after a visit to the field. Request a Complimentary Home Valuation whenever it suits you.
