- June 13, 2025
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Memorial Day is a time to recognize the sacrifices of military personnel who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
However, for one Siesta Key resident, that is a responsibility that is never finished.
In April 2024, Wayne Bundy agreed to carry on a tradition of raising the American flag at Sunset Point in the morning and lowering it in the evening, in honor of current and past military service members.
It's not a responsibility he takes lightly, or to which he makes exceptions lightly. When he says he's present rain or shine, he truly means it; even a Category 2 hurricanes haven't stood in the way of his responsibility.
"I do it out of love for my country and for my father," he said of the daily event. "That's why I do it, because I think it's truly important."
Since 2017, Sunset Point at Beach Access 2 has hosted the ceremony, but the tradition in Siesta Key is over "40 some odd years old," according to Bundy.
It began under Captain Ralph Styles, a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, who retired from a long career in the Navy and moved to Siesta Key in the early 1960s.
Styles began holding the ceremony outside his home with a procession down the beach that would include musicians, and it continued until 2009, when Styles died at age 99.
Styles' daughter Anne Overbeck is a volunteer in the Patriots Pier at Sunset Point group, which oversees the ceremony, and to which Bundy belongs.
The ceremony moved to Sunset Point and revived by Mike Cosentino, then a resident of Siesta Key, in 2017.
Bundy says the United States Army Corps of Engineers built the pier on the site, which also features the flags of different branches of the United States Armed Forces.
He says at sunsets, the event typically draws 50 to 200 people.
Cosentino, who was a County Commission candidate in 2022, purchased the property at the time he was leading a movement to return a nearby portion of Beach Road to control of the county.
Fearing the impacts of potential development in the area, he launched a legal complaint in 2016, claiming the county had violated its comprehensive plan by vacating its interest in the portion of roadway.
The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, but not before Cosentino purchased the adjacent property with the pier, which he said he did to increase his standing in the lawsuit and to ensure continued public access to the site, which he said was an important part of his childhood.
Cosentino added the flagpole and began holding the ceremony at the location, taking up the task of raising and lowering the flag each day before his retirement to the Florida Keys.
He said Bundy is doing a "tremendous job" in carrying on the tradition.
"I don't see it as my ceremony," Cosentino said. "I feel good that someone is still continuing Captain Styles' ceremony."
He said he thinks Bundy now knows what he knew for "such a long time" — that performing the task daily, rain or shine, morning and sunset, in bitter cold and pouring rain, is a genuine commitment.
Cosentino recalls, "When I start to feel like I might be proud of myself for the effort, I remember that I'm not in Iraq, and there's nobody shooting at me, and I'm basically sitting down on the beach with a bunch of patriotic Americans."
Bundy said he took up the job because he wanted the ceremony to continue.
"I couldn't let the ceremony go away, and if I didn't take it over, it would have gone away," he said.
Bundy's father Cliff Bundy served in the U.S. Navy during a time between the Korean and Vietnam wars. Although he had left the service by the time Wayne Bundy was born, Wayne Bundy was still impacted by his father's patriotism and honor for the flag.
He also says his grandfathers and uncles served in World War II and the Korean war, and he was "steeped in" the culture of military service.
"I believe supporting the military is a really good thing," he said. "I have lots of friends that went into the military."
As a manager at Circle K in Siesta Key, Bundy is in a location not far from the flag site. He raises the flag at about 6 a.m. before going on shift. The only time he doesn't raise it is on Sundays, as this occurs during Patriots Pier's Chapel on the Beach event.
At times he goes on vacation, volunteers can take over for him.
He says continuing the task each day isn't necessarily a challenge.
At times when it is raining, he'll place the speaker he uses in the back of his car, with a reduced music playlist that includes reveille for assembly, and taps to lower the flag.
Although he will cancel the ceremony for a Category 3 or higher, when it comes to a 2 and below, he's still outside at the flagpole.
One example is Hurricane Debby.
"We did the flag ceremony, and she was right out off of us," he said. "So a little windy, a little rainy, but we got it done that night."
He notes the pole was ultimately knocked down by the storm.
He says he's been at the point during storms when waves were breaking at the road, running to the flagpole as the water retreated, before standing in the tide to perform the task.
One of the few weather events that will cancel the ceremony is lightning, as he notes the task involves interacting with a pole serving as a large lightning rod.
"I watch it pretty close," he said. "Most of the time we see the lightning to the south of us or to the north of us. In the peak summer, it will come in off the Gulf, and we'll watch to see where it's going."
He said although it's possible for lightning to come out of a clear sky, the likelihood of that happening is "pretty low."
He said he seeks to inspire patriotism with his actions.
He hopes people watching the ceremony come away with "appreciation for our military, to be able to go up to one of those gentlemen or ladies that have their hats on and say thank you for your service, or the Vietnam vet, 'Welcome home, you deserve your welcome home."
"That's what I hope to inspire," he said.
When veterans help to fold the flag, he said, that flag will usually be retired, given to them as a token of appreciation for their service.
