DOZENS OF VOLUNTEERS decorated veterans’ graves at Forest Glade Cemetery with donated wreaths on Saturday as part of Wreaths Across America. (Mark Sardella Photo)
Published in the December 16, 2019 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The steady rain that fell all day Friday and overnight into Saturday morning was not about to deter the dozens of volunteers who arrived at Forest Glade Cemetery late Saturday morning. But as the scheduled 12 noon wreath-laying ceremony approached, the skies brightened and the rain stopped.
Local Wreaths Across America coordinator Dennis Fazio joined Veterans Advisory Board chairman Jay Pinette and local Veteran Services Coordinator Dave Mangan in welcoming the volunteers in front of the veterans’ section of Forest Glade Cemetery.
Fazio thanked the volunteers and spoke briefly about the Wreaths Across America project.
“It’s about honoring our fallen heroes – people that have served,” Fazio said. “It’s a nice way around the holidays to place a wreath in remembrance of them.”
During the fall, businesses and individuals donated toward the wreaths via the national Wreaths Across America website. Donors were able to designate a specific cemetery, like Forest Glade, to receive their wreaths.
Fazio observed that over the last couple of years, local donations have really taken off, with some people donating multiple wreaths. This year, over 420 wreaths were delivered and stacked in boxes when the volunteers arrived at Forest Glade on Saturday.
Town Councilor Ann Santos read from a statement that was being read at wreath-laying ceremonies held across the United States and overseas on Saturday.
“This nation has always been the first to stand up for freedom around the world,” the statement read in part. “Many of you here today have answered that call and served your country. We are here today to say thank you and we are honored to know you.”
At noon, the volunteers began laying the wreaths at the graves in the veterans’ section at Forest Glade. As each wreath was laid, the volunteers said the name of the veteran and thanked him for his service.
Wreaths Across America traces its origins back to 1992, right here in New England, according to the WAA website.
Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, was a 12 year old paper boy for the Bangor Daily News when he won a trip to Washington D.C. His first trip to our nation’s capital was one he would never forget, and Arlington National Cemetery made an especially indelible impression on him. This experience followed him throughout his life and successful career, reminding him that his good fortune was due, in large part, to the values of this nation and the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
In 1992, Worcester Wreath found itself with a surplus of wreaths nearing the end of the holiday season. Remembering his boyhood experience at Arlington, Worcester realized he had an opportunity to honor our country’s veterans. With the aid of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, arrangements were made for the wreaths to be placed at Arlington in one of the older sections of the cemetery that had been receiving fewer visitors with each passing year.
As plans were underway, a number of other individuals and organizations stepped up to help. James Prout, owner of local trucking company Blue Bird Ranch, Inc., generously provided transportation all the way to Virginia. Volunteers from the local American Legion and VFW Posts gathered with members of the community to decorate each wreath with traditional red, hand-tied bows. Members of the Maine State Society of Washington, D.C. helped to organize the wreath-laying, which included a special ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The annual tribute went on quietly for several years, until 2005, when a photo of the stones at Arlington, adorned with wreaths and covered in snow, circulated around the internet. Suddenly, the project received national attention. Thousands of requests poured in from all over the country from people wanting to help with Arlington, to emulate the Arlington project at their national and state cemeteries, or to simply share their stories and thank Morrill Worcester for honoring our nation’s heroes.
The annual trip to Arlington and the groups of volunteers eager to participate in Worcester’s simple wreath-laying event grew each year until it became clear the desire to remember and honor our country’s fallen heroes was bigger than Arlington, and bigger than this one company.
In 2007, the Worcester family, along with veterans, and other groups and individuals who had helped with their annual veterans wreath ceremony in Arlington, formed Wreaths Across America, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, to continue and expand this effort, and support other groups around the country who wanted to do the same. The mission of the group is simple: Remember. Honor. Teach.
In 2014, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond, including ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, as well as Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites if the September 11 tragedies. This was accomplished with help from 2,047 fundraising groups, corporate contributions, and donations of trucking, shipping, and thousands of helping hands. That same year, the organization’s goal of covering Arlington National Cemetery was met with the placement of 226,525 wreaths.
The wreath-laying is still held annually, on the second or third Saturday of December. This year, wreath-laying events were held at more than 1,700 sites in the U.S. and overseas.
WAA is committed to teaching younger generations about the value of their freedoms, and the importance of honoring those who sacrificed so much to protect those freedoms. The organization offers learning tools, interactive media projects, and opportunities for youth groups to participate in the events. They also work to create opportunities to connect “the Greatest Generation” with the “Generation of Hope”, passing on inspirational stories from World War II veterans to the leaders of the future.
Wreaths Across America credits the help of volunteers, active organizations and the generosity of the trucking industry, which offer invaluable support to WAA’s mission to remember the men and women who served our country, honor our military and their families, and teach our children about our freedom and those who protect it.
