Becky Krystal
Staff Writer, Richmond Times-Dispatch

At 87, Ersell Brinser, a resident of the Masonic Home of Virginia, is famous for her crocheted American flags and patriotic lap robes. Photo: Vanguard, a publication of the Virginia Air National Guard (June 2003)

Ersell Brinser, dressed from head to toe in red, white and blue, seemed almost camouflaged in her room amid a display of American flags and patriotic lap robes. In her cozy abode at the Masonic Home of Virginia, Brinser, 87, crochets the red, white, and blue robes and flags, most of which she gives to other people.

"After 9/11, I got interested in red, white and blue," she said. "It meant so much to me."

Brinser said she got into making the small blankets when the war in Iraq began. She made 16. Her son suggested she make flags, but she initially shrugged off the idea. Then one night she said to herself, "You know, I wonder if I could make one."

Brinser got a nurse's permission to break a rule against residents leaving their rooms at night with their pajamas on. She went off to the television room and measured a flag already hanging there and immediately began work on her first flag.

"I kept on going. This was on a Wednesday night, and on Friday afternoon, the flag was complete except for the stars," Brinser said.

She showed the flag to some of her fellow residents, who she said were moved to tears and started to sing "America the Beautiful." One thing led to another, and Brinser initiated production of her flags.

She created a flag for the Masonic Home's gallery and presented one, among others, to a colonel in the Virginia Air National Guard who came to speak at the Masonic Home. She recently completed a flag for the McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center and sent one to President Bush.

Brinser said it took her a while to get the creation of her flags down.

"I had to make seven flags before I got it right," she said. Her work is admired by staff and residents at the Masonic Home. "She has done just some absolutely beautiful crocheted flags," said Lynn Banks, Activities Director. "They are outstanding." Banks praised Brinser's crafts and attitude: "She's a true morale booster, an energetic, giving person who is always willing to give tours of the home and aid others in any way she can."

Brinser, however, doesn't do her work for this kind of recognition. She doesn't see her flags as a way to turn a profit, and she insists on making them at her own pace.

"I'm not taking any orders for a flag," Brinser said with a laugh. "It's gotten a little out of hand. I'm just going to make them until I get tired." Working at that time on her 13th flag, she estimates she can make one in three days, if she is not interrupted.

Part of every one of her flags honors Americans who have been killed, wounded, or captured in action: "I really felt every single shell [a series of three stitches] is the name of a soldier. That's the joy I've gotten out of it. That was the sentiment of the flag."

She learned her craft years ago. "My mother taught me how to crochet," she said. Brinser has been a resident of Richmond since 1928. She lived in Richmond with her late husband of 65 years, Foster E. Brinser, a former vice president with B&B Oil Co.* Her extended family includes a brother and sister, two sons, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Brinser believes the research she did into the flag has been the most rewarding aspect of her work. "What I learned about this flag I will never forget."

*Bro. Foster E. Brinser, 32°, was a member of Manchester Lodge #14, Richmond, Virginia, and, since 1965, a member of the Valley of Richmond. He passed away on April 13, 1996.