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CHESTERVILLE — National nonprofit Wreaths Across America announced today that Chesterville Hill Cemetery has once again joined in the effort to support the mission to remember, honor, teach, as an official location for 2016.
This is the second year that the cemetery will be participating in this national event. Since 1992, WAA founder Morrill Worcester has always asked volunteers placing remembrance wreaths to take time to read the name on the headstone aloud.
During the escort of wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery last December, WAA Executive Director Karen Worcester said, “A person dies twice: the first time, when they stop breathing, and a second time, when someone says their name for the last time.”
It is with this in mind that this year’s theme for National Wreaths Across America Day, Saturday, Dec. 17,, is “Say Their Names.” The goal for Chesterville is to raise enough funds to place nine remembrance wreaths on the headstones and say the names of all the local heroes laid to rest there, to ensure that the individuals who served to protect the freedoms of our country are not, and never will be, forgotten. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be coordinated by Helen Sprague, veterans chairman of the Abigail Wolcott Ellsworth chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in Windsor, Conn.
The ceremony will be performed by the Chesterville Hill Cemetery Association, Sandy Powers and Kathy Gregory. Besides the ceremonial seven wreaths, World War II veterans Richard Sprague and Norman Collins will be honored. Please let us know if you would like to either join the ceremony to have another veteran honored or have it done by them.
“Without the thousands of local volunteers across the country who give their time and energy to support the mission, Wreaths Across America would not exist,” Worcester said. “All our supporters understand the value of remembering the fallen, honoring those who currently serve, and the need to teach the next generation about the sacrifices made for our freedom.”
Those interested in volunteering for Wreaths Across America, either locally or at Arlington National Cemetery, are invited to visit www.WreathsAcrossAmerica.org to learn more.
