He likes to put smiles on people's faces

PLEASANT GROVE — Kyle Fox wants to put a smile on people's faces while they're feeling good about their country.

That, in a nutshell, is why every summer at the entrance to Grove Creek Canyon, in his hometown of Pleasant Grove, Fox flies the world's biggest American flag and lights it up with the world's biggest spotlight.

He's not trying to get in the Guinness Book of World Records. He's not on a political crusade. He's not attempting to make anything great again. There is no ulterior motive. No hidden agenda. He's definitely not trying to get rich. He couldn't do it without a good day job (he runs an office furniture business).

The simple truth is that Kyle, 46, is a bit of a showman at heart (more than a bit, some would say) and he's found nothing that makes him happier than making other people happier.

"Joy is what life is all about," he said. "If you're not having joy, you're missing it. I like to make people smile."

For several years, he made people smile, while also satisfying his showman side, by raising thousand-pound pumpkins and dropping them from a 150-foot crane, to the delight of onlookers who liked to see them splatter.

Then one day, 11 years ago, he was watching an online video, posted by a man named Harold Haugen, that showed an American flag flying at the mouth of a canyon in Sandy.

"Harold made a really nice video and it just captured me," Kyle said. "And I thought, man, I want to bring that to my community."

That was in May of 2014. By the morning of the Fourth of July, less than two months later, Kyle and several others he'd talked into the adventure — most importantly, a friend and noted movie stunt coordinator named Ron Nix — successfully unfurled a 30-foot-by-60-foot American flag from a 600-foot expanse at the mouth of Grove Creek Canyon.

They've been unfurling the flag every year since. It was hanging there until Sunday, July 13.

There have been changes through the years. Size, for instance. The original 30-by-60 flag — provided at a low cost by good-hearted patriot Paul Swenson of Colonial Flag in Sandy — was big, but nothing compared to the current 78-foot-by-150-foot, 450-pound behemoth Kyle claims is "the world's largest hanging flag." (Each stripe is 6 feet wide; the entire 30-by-60 flag would fit inside the stars.)

Then there's the 1,200 million candlefoot spotlight that Kyle calls "the most powerful light on earth."

How does he know the flag and light are the world's biggest?

"If you will do me a favor and find a bigger one," he said, smiling, "then we'll know for sure."

After seeing the positive response to that inaugural flag waving in Pleasant Grove 11 years ago, Kyle started his nonprofit, Follow the Flag, and through the years has expanded the operation to other cities. Similar giant flags can now be seen flying at various times throughout the year at St. George and North Ogden in Utah and at Twin Falls, Idaho, where the flag is hung across the Snake River Canyon, site of Evel Knievel's fabled jump.

For the first few years, the flag events were all self-funded. "But then," Kyle said, "we're like, well, let's sell some shirts and hats to help with this." You can purchase the merch, or make a donation, at followtheflag.org.

Kyle continues to be amazed at the literally hundreds of people who come out every year to volunteer and help him make Follow the Flag events successful.

"The team we have are all ages, shapes, forms, out of the woodwork," Kyle said. "We have people that fly rainbow flags one day and come and do this with us the next. We have people who are Gold Star families, people who didn't care for it at all, and now have a deep love for the flag and what it means. Flying the flag has had far more impact than we ever anticipated. The simple idea turned into something much more than simple. The spirit of the American flag has a way of making us all feel connected."

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