and JBy J. FRANK LYNCH

[email protected]

Instead of a white flag, Fayetteville

officials are about to wave "God bless America" banners -

all over town.

The embattled city fathers

have decided to compromise on the "God bless America" banner

at Crumpton's Furniture by calling on local businesses to display

even larger patriotic banners, The Citizen has learned.

The likely catch is that all

the banners, including the one at the furniture store, will have to come

down by the end of summer, The Citizen has learned.

The city council will announce

plans for a special campaign called "Fayetteville Celebrates America"

at a special called meeting Thursday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, said City

Manager Joe Morton.

Eddie and Ronnie Crumpton,

owners of the furniture store, will join the city council in making the

announcement, Morton said.

"It'll be a positive

thing for the community," Morton said Tuesday afternoon, declining

to go into details of the campaign.

"If what we do can bring

the people together in prayer and support for our troops, it'll be

a great thing," Ronnie Crumpton said of the public relations campaign

plans Tuesday afternoon.

Early indications called for

the campaign to encourage local businesses to erect signs even bigger

than the "God bless America" banner now on display at the furniture

store on Ga. Highway 85 North, which at 90 feet long is 40 feet longer

than allowed for temporary signs by city ordinance.

Preliminary plans called for

the campaign to end this Sept. 11 on the anniversary of the terrorist

attacks against the United States in 2001.

An outside marketing firm brought

the idea to the city about the campaign after hearing about the controversy

in national media accounts after The Citizen first reported the story.

The "God bless America"

banner at Crumpton's Furniture incited an uproar heard across the

nation after store owner Eddie Crumpton was issued a citation by the city

in late January because the banner violates the city's temporary

sign ordinance, which allows such signs to be used a maximum of 60 days

a year. The banner has been flying since the terrorist attacks of Sept.

11, 2001 and it has been replaced once after the original banner started

to show signs of wear.

Eddie and Ronnie Crumpton initially

said while they didn't want to violate city laws, they also didn't

want to disrespect American troops by taking the banner down.

City officials originally tried

to convince the Crumptons to incorporate the reference into a permanent

sign, but they resisted, reasoning that would make it appear they were

trying to profit financially from their sentiment.

Because of a recent Supreme

Court ruling that cities cannot regulate the content of signs, city officials

initially said their hands were tied in terms of enforcing the ordinance.

The city's attention was

brought to the banner in January after another city business owner complained

about having to take down a different temporary sign.

The controversy later entered

the national media spotlight, as interviews with the Crumptons and Fayetteville

Mayor Ken Steele were broadcast on Fox News Channel two weeks ago, in

addition to coverage by several Atlanta TV stations.

Also, local Christian radio

station J93.3 held a rally at Crumpton's Furniture to get signatures

on a petition encouraging the city council to find a way to keep the "God

bless America" banner up at the store.

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