By Sherrie Norris
In its first official involvement in the nationally-recognized Wreaths Across America Day last December, Watauga County saw more than 100 people come together at Mount Lawn Memorial Park and Gardens in Boone to honor their fallen heroes. It is the hope of local event coordinator, Donna McNeil, that the number of participants will be greatly increased for this year’s upcoming ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14.
An event held every December, millions of volunteers unite to place sponsored veterans’ wreaths at the final resting place of millions of service members in thousands of participating locations across the U.S. and beyond. The wreaths are pre-ordered and delivered, thanks to the generosity of individuals and businesses sponsors, and hundreds of volunteer truck drivers and their companies.
This year’s theme —‘Live with Purpose’ — draws inspiration from the remarkable stories of these volunteers whose impactful work in their communities is a beacon of inspiration for all, said Karen Worcester executive director of the nonprofit Wreaths Across America
Now in its 18th year, Wreaths Across America has grown to include more than 4,700 participating locations and more than 7,000 sponsorship groups nationwide.
“Over the course of the last year, and then especially on the escort to Arlington last December, I listened to people who had gone through great adversity, and they’d taken that adversity and turned it around as a call to action to spend the rest of their lives making sure that every day was meaningful and that they lived with purpose,” she added. “For me, living with purpose is a mindset.”
While the December wreath-laying ceremony is just one of several annual events sponsored by the organization, a $17 sponsorship not only supports WAA’s yearlong program, but also places a live balsam wreath on the headstone of veterans across the country.
“Every sponsorship is a meaningful gift from a grateful American who knows what it means to serve and sacrifice for the freedoms we all enjoy,” continued Worcester, “We are so grateful to the good people of this great nation for participating in our mission to Remember, Honor, Teach.”
On the home front, McNeil, regent of the Daniel Boone Chapter of the DAR, was responsible for organizing the inaugural Wreaths Across America event in Boone last year, and continues in that role for 2024.
“We were very blessed to have had such good community participation (last year) and we want to thank everyone who attended,” McNeil said. “Of course, we couldn’t have done it without the fine folks at Mount Lawn who provided the names of the veterans buried there and the location of their graves. As we did in our first year, we had church, civic and community groups, veterans organizations, families and individuals there to help make it such a success. I love that we can remember our local community heroes — 651 which were buried there last year, and now, the total has come to 675 veterans to be remembered at this cemetery. I hope that you, your family and/or your special group will start planning now to participate. We will gather at 10 a.m. for a ceremony, and then place wreaths. The deadline to sponsor wreaths is December 1; our fundraiser is one free for every two wreaths purchased.”
Remember. Honor. Teach
A trip to Washington DC, and specifically to Arlington National Cemetery for a 12-year-old paper boy many years ago, proved to be the inspiration not only for his wreath business years later, but eventually for the organization and memorial efforts of Wreaths Across America.
After many years of placing wreaths at Arlington, and spreading the commemoration to other veteran cemeteries, in 2007, the Worcester family formed Wreaths Across America, along with the support of veterans organizations and a variety of other groups and individuals who had helped with their annual veterans wreath ceremony in Arlington.
The simple mission of the organization was established: Remember. Honor. Teach
One year later, over 300 locations held wreath-laying ceremonies in every state, Puerto Rico and 24 overseas cemeteries. Over 100,000 wreaths were placed on veterans’ graves. Over 60,000 volunteers participated.
And that same year, December 13, 2008 was unanimously voted by the United States Congress as “Wreaths Across America Day.”
Since then the non-profit organization has continued to expand its effort, and support others around the country who desire to do the same.
In 2022, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers placed more than 2.7 million sponsored veterans’ wreaths on headstones of our nation’s service members at 3,702 participating locations. This was accomplished with the support of more than 5,000 sponsorship groups, corporation contributions, and in-kind donations from the transportation industry across the country.
The wreath-laying that began more than 30 years ago is still held annually, on the second or third Saturday of December. All Wreaths Across America Day events are non-political/religious and are open to all people.
It is the hope of the organizational leaders that people everywhere will volunteer for the event and “unite in solidarity” placing the sponsored veterans’ wreaths to honor our interred heroes across America.
It is also the hope of Donna McNeil that the High Country community will come out in large numbers to support this effort.
“Please consider supporting us, as individuals or groups” said McNeil. “We will need help unloading the wreaths when they arrive before the day of the ceremony, and we will need assistance laying the wreaths. This would be a great way for you, your family, or your special group to be involved.”
For more information, email McNeil at donnamcneil54@yahoo.com, or call (828) 719-7701, or visit www.WreathsAcrossAmerica.org
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