Wreaths Across America ceremony planned

Submitted information

Wreaths Across America Ceremony to be held at noon, Saturday, December 14, inside American Legion Post 178 in Van Wert.

Members of the American Legion and Isaac Van Wart Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, as well as Van Wert County 4-Hers, will be presenting the ceremony inside the Legion Post, 631 W. Main St.

Kerry McConahay Gudakunst, a U.S. Army veteran and Wayne Trace history teacher, will give a brief program. Following the ceremony, wreaths will be placed on veterans’ graves at Woodland Cemetery in Van Wert. The public is invited to join in remembering and honoring our deceased veterans.

Wreaths Across America began in 1992 with Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, placing its unsold wreaths in Arlington National Cemetery. In 2006, the program expanded to wreaths being placed nationwide to honor America’s military heroes. When a wreath is placed on a veterans’ graves, their names are spoken.

“We are not here to ‘decorate graves’, we’re here to remember not their deaths, but their lives,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America.