Christopher McGee was a member of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Team Red, White & Blue, which stopped at the Blair County Courthouse as part of its 10th annual Old Glory Relay.

Team RWB was founded in 2010 to help veterans prioritize their health and wellness through a number of community-building programs across the country.

Before reaching Blair, the flag, which was made by Allegiance Flag Supply in South Carolina, was flown over American military bases supporting Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria before starting its journey from Citizens Bank Park on April 19.

Each leg of the flag relay is approximately 50 miles and includes stops in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan before concluding at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, for the Chicago Cubs’ military appreciation night.

Christopher McGee, alongside team members Barbara Evans and Lisa Donaldson, addresses the crowd waiting at the final stop of the Team RWB Old Glory Relay at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg. Mirror photo by Conner Goetz

McGee, the leg captain for the fourth day of the relay, began his 52-mile portion of the event on foot from Old Main in State College, before his three-person team switched to bicycles for the majority of their route into Blair County.

The flag will travel from Hollidaysburg to Blairsville on Tuesday and on to Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

For McGee, being able to carry the flag into Hollidaysburg represented a homecoming.

“It means everything (to me),” McGee said. “I moved to New Jersey 25 years ago and things change, new buildings go up, buildings get torn down, but the core and the heart of Hollidaysburg has never changed.”

Every year, the Old Glory Relay follows a different route, so when McGee saw that the 2024 course went straight through Blair County, he knew he had to get involved.

“This is small town America, this is what I love — this is home,” McGee said. “That’s why I wanted to lead this leg, to bring the flag to my home.”

After departing from State College at dawn, McGee’s team reached the courthouse about 6 p.m. Monday.

“It was long, but we had an amazing time,” McGee said. “The central Pennsylvania hills really put our will to the test.”

According to McGee, while the unexpectedly chilly weather made their early morning departure challenging, it was nothing the team couldn’t handle.

“It was about 30 degrees at the start, and up to around 60 in the middle, so that requires a little adaptation with the outfit and the push,” McGee said.

This year was McGee’s second time participating in the relay and his first as a leg captain.

“I’ve been a member of Team RWB for over a decade,” McGee said. “A friend of mine told me about this team and said ‘they just do cool stuff, they go out and run and do rucks’ … and I said I’m not really a team-sort of person.”

But after participating in his first weekend running event with the group, McGee was hooked.

“(I) met some of the most authentically good people I’ve ever met in my life, and about 13 years later here I am as a chapter captain and a leg captain,” McGee said.

As a 20-year Pennsylvania National Guard veteran himself, the mission of Team RWB holds special significance for McGee.

“I always say, ‘everybody is fighting a demon you may never know about,’ and everybody needs something to battle that demon,” McGee said. “For some people, they might need to be physically active … some people need a person to talk to … a lot of veterans need a purpose bigger than themselves.”

For McGee, Team RWB helps him find that purpose.

Cindy Moore, a volunteer experience manager for Team RWB who helped McGee’s team, shares the same sentiment.

“Team RWB is something that I can take with me no matter where I am,” Moore said.

As an army veteran, Moore said she understands the firsthand benefit team RWB offers.

“The veterans’ support of the organization is amazing, what they do providing physical fitness and wellness is top notch,” Moore said.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.