Wreaths Across America ships evergreen wreaths from Maine each December to be laid on the graves at veterans cemeteries across America. Many transportation companies volunteer their 18-wheelers and community volunteers go out on the specified date (this year, Dec. 17th) and set the wreaths on the graves. Costs are covered by purchasers who pay $15 per wreath, typically to be laid on the grave of a total stranger who served his or her country, though some cemeteries do accept personalized requests. Local groups can participate in selling the wreaths and in return get $5 per wreath for their own worthy cause. Margaret Warner Wood Detached Tent #1, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War in AZ (full disclosure: I am currently Tent President) will put the funds it raises toward the Grand Army of the Republic Living Memorial Scholarship Fund. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a wreath (Margaret Warner Wood's Group ID# is AZ0057P, if you'd care to send part of your $15 our way) you can contact WAA at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/. The deadline for purchasing a 2016 wreath is Monday, Nov. 28th. You can also attend their Arlington Cemetery event, visit their museum in Maine, sign up to be a location coordinator, or add a cemetery to the list. And please join me and others in setting out these wreaths to honor our departed military and veterans on Dec. 17. I will look for you at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix.
AuthorThe author is a historian with a Ph.D. in US history and a love for genealogy and old photos. Archives
August 2018
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