Last December, a special wreath-laying ceremony took place at Magnolia Cemetery on Mill Street in Lucedale. Another such event is planned this year and the number of wreaths could surpass the number laid last year.
This wreath-laying commemoration is called Wreaths Across America and the Lucedale event is sponsored by the Declaration of Independence Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the America Revolution (DAR). The overall project takes place all across the nation and happens on the same day at approximately the same time. This year’s event will be Sat., Dec. 16 at 11 a.m. Interested people are invited to sponsor wreaths to be placed at the tombstones of veterans in the city cemetery. The public is invited to attend this heartwarming tribute.
Not only do the ceremonies take place the same day across the country, the wreaths are identical, all made of fresh balsam fir bouquets adorned with red bows and made by the Worcester Wreath Company in Maine. Wreaths cost $17 each and can be ordered online. Nov. 28 is the last day to order a wreath. Magnolia has approximately 500 veterans’ graves. Wreaths will be placed on as many tombstones as possible and patrons of the project can designate specific gravesites for their wreaths to be placed.
This patriotic Wreaths Across America service recognizes deceased veterans from the Revolutionary War to present-day conflicts. More than 4,000 cemeteries participate. Volunteers place the greenery, pause with hand over heart or a salute, and then speak the person’s name. It has been said, “A person dies two deaths – the physical death and the death when people stop speaking his/her name.” This ceremony keeps veterans from dying the second death.
Live wreaths are hauled to cemeteries across the nation by truck drivers who donate their time and fuel to the mission. Morrill Worcester started the effort in 1992 when his wreath company had a surplus of wreaths near the end of the season. He remembered touring Arlington National Cemetery as a young boy and decided to donate a surplus of 5,000 wreaths to Arlington as a way to express his gratitude for our veterans’ fight for freedom. Worcester donated wreaths every year without applause or public attention. However, in 2006 a photo of tombstones decorated in his wreaths across Arlington’s snow-laden burial ground went viral on the Internet, and the response was so large and patriotic that it evolved into a non-profit organization.
The national campaign has grown every year and in 2022 draped more than 2.7 million wreaths across veterans’ tombstones including more than 9,000 at Normand-American Cemetery in France. Wreaths lay throughout the Christmas season, and volunteers remove them in January.
The wreaths are more than decorations; the live greenery symbolizes everlasting life. Each wreath consists of 10 bouquets of balsam tips representing 10 special qualities of veterans: faith, love, strength, honesty, humility, ambitions, optimism, concern, pride, and hopes and dreams. Their circular shape represents eternity, and the scent of the balsam firs represent purity and simplicity. The red bow represents great sacrifice.
Following a mission statement “to remember our fallen U.S. veterans, to honor those who serve, and to teach our children the value of freedom,” Wreaths Across America has a museum that honors veterans and offers programs such as The Veterans Remembrance Tree Program, which was established in 2014 to invite families to visit the land in Columbia Falls, Maine, where the balsam tips are harvested each year. Families can sponsor trees as living memorials to their lost loved ones. Also, the pilgrimage hauling wreaths from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia has become known as the world’s largest veterans’ parade, stopping at schools, monuments, and communities along the route. Teaching tools and curriculum for elementary and middle school students are available on the Wreaths Across America website.
The local Declaration of Independence Chapter of the NSDAR began sponsoring the event last year. More than 100 wreaths were laid. The chapter aspires to have a wreath for every veteran’s tombstone in Magnolia Cemetery this year. Anyone interested in sponsoring a wreath or volunteering to help with the ceremonial laying of wreaths can contact April Goss at (601)508-7721.
