Great Flag Caper: One Texas city celebrates Fourth of July with 40,000 American flags

One North Texas city will be all set on Wednesday to celebrate Independence Day, thanks to hundreds of volunteers who will be lining the city's streets with 40,000 American flags over the weekend.

About 300 hundred volunteers in Irving will spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday placing flags in front of homes, businesses, and churches, in preparation for the city's Fourth of July celebration, KDFW-TV reported.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the annual patriotic event, which has been dubbed the "Great Flag Caper."

How did it all start?

The project's founder, Nell Anne Hunt, said it all started as a kind gesture toward her neighbors shortly after she moved into her home.

She said she really liked her neighbors and wanted to do something nice to beautify the street for the Fourth of July.

"So I bought 200 flags and went in a concentric circle around my house and put flags in everybody’s yards. Well, the next year everybody liked it so much I bought 400 flags and it went a little further," Hunt said. "And then the neighbors came to me and said, ‘This looks so great. We want the whole neighborhood.’ And then before you know it the whole city said, ‘Count us in. We want to do it, too.'"

The project has grown exponentially and now covers nearly the entire city of Irving, including some other nearby neighborhoods.

People of all ages get involved in the event that's intended to bring everyone together to remember America's common values, Hunt explained.

“We all want the same thing for our country and our families. We want safe neighborhoods and we want children to be educated properly and so we're all alike under the flag," she said. "And so we come and celebrate that."

What else?

The group's board members, along with other community members, will be participating in the city's Independence Day Parade at 9 a.m. Wednesday.