Message from Councilman Roc White | December 16, 2021

On Saturday, at noon, the American Legion Post 209 will once again be helping the Scotch Plains Baptist Church to remember and honor our local veterans. We will be laying Remembrance Wreaths on the graves of our country's fallen heroes.

Scotch Plains is pleased to be among the hundreds of communities in New Jersey who participate in “Wreaths Across America” during the holiday season. 

It is a tremendous non-profit, with a great story that, as a veteran, that I’m proud to share.

It begins with Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine. He was a 12-year-old paperboy for the Bangor Daily News when he won a trip to Washington D.C.  A visit to Arlington National Cemetery made an indelible impression, a constant reminder that his good fortune was due, in large part, to veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice.

In 1992, Worcester Wreath found itself with a surplus of wreaths nearing the end of the holiday season.

Worcester realized his calling. With the aid of Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, the wreaths were placed at Arlington in one of the older sections of the cemetery that had been receiving fewer visitors with each passing year.

Word spread of the plan. James Prout, owner of local trucking company, transported the wreaths to Virginia, while American Legion and VFW posts decorated each wreath with traditional red, hand-tied bows.

The annual tribute went on quietly for several years, until 2005, when a photo of the stones at Arlington, adorned with wreaths and covered in snow, went viral. Thousands of requests poured in from all over the country from people wanting to help in Arlington, to emulate the project at their national and state cemeteries, or to simply share stories.

The attention prompted the formation of the non-profit “Wreaths Across America.”

By 2008, more than 300 locations held wreath-laying ceremonies in every state, Puerto Rico and 24 overseas cemeteries. Congress deemed Dec. 13 as “Wreaths Across America Day.” 

By 2014, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers placed more 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond, including ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, as well as Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites if the September 11 tragedies. This was accomplished with help from 2,047 sponsorship groups, corporate contributions, and donations.

The organization's goal of covering Arlington National Cemetery was met in 2014 with the placement of 226,525 wreaths. The wreath-laying event is still held annually, on the second or third Saturday of December.

Today, an estimated 2,400 cemeteries participate in Wreaths Across America, including the one at the Scotch Plains Baptist Church.

Please consider sponsoring one or more wreaths for $15 apiece in Scotch Plains. You can do so here.