Message from Councilwoman Elizabeth Stamler | December 13, 2024
This Saturday, Scotch Plains is pleased to take part in the annual Wreaths Across America, a nationwide program that places wreaths at veterans’ graves to honor their sacrifices.
The wreaths will be placed during a ceremony at the Scotch Plains Baptist Church at noon.
Each fallen hero will have their name read aloud during a solemn ceremony before attendees walk through the cemetery and lay wreaths. More information about the history of Wreaths Across America can be found below.
During Saturday's ceremony, we will also be doing a Gold Star Street Dedication in honor of PFC Harry T. Ramsey. This honor is given to a fallen service member who died while serving in a time of conflict.
With many of our Gold Star Heroes, it has been a distant family member or neighbor who reaches out to the Township. In this case, it was a complete stranger who was watching a decades-old documentary and was inspired to perform his own research in tribute to a young hero.
The amazing story – courtesy of Westfield resident Brian Mueller – can be found here.
The program began at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992 and has grown into a staple of the holiday season since. More than 4,800 locations throughout all 50 states take part in this honorable service, and Scotch Plains is proud to be among them.
The Scotch Plains Baptist Cemetery inters more than 100 veterans, with some of their service dating back to the Revolutionary War. We are committed to ensuring their sacrifices are never forgotten. That’s why funds are continually raised to place remembrance wreaths on the headstones of the men and women who served.
As the Township Council’s liaison to the Veterans Advisory Board, this annual tradition never fails to move me. Even the tradition’s origin speaks to the American spirit of generosity and respect of our veterans.
In 1992, the owner of the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine found himself with a surplus of wreaths near the end of the holiday season. When deciding what to do with these surplus wreaths, the owner, Morrill Worcester, recalled a trip he’d taken to Arlington National Cemetery when he was just 12-years old.
The trip’s impact was transformational. As he thought about the feelings that hallowed ground roused, he realized what he needed to do.
Enlisting the help of former Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe and local trucking company owner James Prout, Worcester transported the extra wreaths to Arlington. When they got there, the American Legion and VFW decorated each wreath with traditional red, hand-tied bows.
The tradition carried on in relative silence year after year. The public didn’t learn about the annual tribute until 2005, when a photo of the wreath-adorned graves powdered in snow went viral. Suddenly, thousands of people from across the country expressed interest in helping the tradition grow across the nation.
Wreaths Across America was born.
Congress deemed December 13 “Wreaths Across America Day” in 2008, and by 2014, volunteers placed more than 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the U.S. and beyond. The organization even managed to cover the entirety of Arlington National Cemetery in wreaths in 2014. Today, an estimated 4,800 locations take part in this tribute.
Wreaths can be seen adorning such treasured sites at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, and the sites of the September 11 tragedies, showing how engrained the tradition has become in American culture.
The efforts of volunteers across the country bring beauty to the tremendous sacrifice so many American men and women have made and continue to make.
If you would like to sponsor one or more wreaths for $17 a piece in Scotch Plains, please do so here. Ninety-four of the wreaths have already been sponsored, only six more to go!
