{"id":186106,"date":"2024-11-15T22:10:05","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T03:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=186106"},"modified":"2024-11-15T22:10:07","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T03:10:07","slug":"christmas-trees-headed-to-overseas-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/11\/15\/christmas-trees-headed-to-overseas-troops\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas trees headed to overseas troops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>REYNOLDSBURG &#8212; The Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio Christmas Tree Association are sending holiday cheer to American troops stationed overseas through Operation Evergreen. 100 Ohio-grown Christmas trees and homemade decorations will be shipped to military men and women serving overseas in Jordan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOperation Evergreen offers us an opportunity to express our appreciation to our military members who serve our country, and especially recognize our servicemen and women who won\u2019t be with their families for the holidays,\u201d said ODA Director Brian Baldridge. \u201cSending a piece of home overseas lets them know they are in our thoughts, not just during the holidays, but every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Operation-Christmas-Tree-2024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-186108\"\/><figcaption>Operation Christmas Tree is underway.<em> Photo submitted<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Ohio Christmas tree growers from all over the state donate the trees to Operation Evergreen, now in its 29<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;year. The annual event is held on ODA\u2019s Reynoldsburg campus, where trees are inspected for pests, wrapped, and packaged with the help of local volunteers and students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shipment will be issued a phytosanitary certificate for international shipment from ODA Plant Health inspectors. Decorations are handmade and donated by local schools, churches, and veterans\u2019 groups, ensuring each military unit receiving a package will have what they need this holiday season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joining the effort this year are the Ohio Department of Veterans Services and the Ohio Adjutant General\u2019s Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis act of kindness is impactful to the morale of the brave men and women who are defending our freedoms abroad,\u201d said Major General (U.S. Army, retired) Deborah Ashenhurst, Director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for their service and that we can send a meaningful part of Christmas tradition, letting them know how much they are missed during the holiday season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSharing holiday cheer helps to lift the spirit of our service members who are deployed abroad during the holidays,\u201d said Major General John C. Harris, Jr., Ohio adjutant general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Operation Evergreen is sponsored by OCTA with the help of UPS. OCTA has delivered Christmas trees to troops stationed overseas since 1995.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VW independent staff\/submitted information REYNOLDSBURG &#8212; The Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio Christmas Tree Association are sending holiday cheer to American troops stationed overseas through Operation Evergreen. 100 Ohio-grown Christmas trees and homemade decorations will be shipped to military men and women serving overseas in Jordan. \u201cOperation Evergreen offers us an opportunity to express [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 04:01:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186106"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186143,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186106\/revisions\/186143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}