Officials of The House of Flags Museum have announced plans for a fundraising kick off ceremony to promote the raffle they will soon be conducting.

The ceremony will take place at noon on Tuesday, March 16, at the Veterans Memorial Park in Columbus. Plans call for the unveiling of the raffles grand prize, a new 2010 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, motorcycle. The public is invited to attend.

The raffle will run until June 14, Flag Day, at which time the raffle drawing will take place. Only 2,000 raffle tickets will be sold. The grand prizewinner may accept $10,000 in lieu of the motorcycle. The raffle also offers a second place prize of $500 and a third place prize of $250. Winners need not be present to win.

All proceeds from the fundraising effort will go to the House of Flags Museum to help in establishing the museum in downtown Columbus. Plans are underway to move the museum from its present location in Green Creek.

The site selected for the new museum is the historic old fire station or maintenance building located just behind the county courthouse and next to the Veterans Memorial Park.

The motorcycle is being made available to the winner by Carolina Harley-Davidson, Inc. of Gastonia, N.C.

Further details about the raffle, including its rules and regulations, can be found at the museums website, www.thehouseofflags.org. Raffle tickets can be purchased through the website, by calling the museum at 828-894-5640 and leaving a message or by email at flagmuseum@gmail.com.