Wreaths Across America
Wreaths Across America for 2012 will make a stop again at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine again this year. Kevin Haley of the Portland Police Department as well as the Coach of the Cheverus Swim and Dive team has been a huge part of making this happen. Founders Morrill and Karen Worcester from the Worcester Wreath Company a Maine based company has been honoring Veterans this way for 20 years with a non-profit company called Wreaths Across America.
This year the organization has been challenged to lay a wreath on every grave at Arlington National Cemetery and it looks like it is going to happen. My family is going down with many families from the Cheverus Swim and Dive team to help make sure this happens. All are welcome, and please come and join us on Saturday December 10th at Arlington if you can make it. I promise it will be a lifelong remembrance for you.
The mission of Wreaths Across America is to “Remember, Honor, and Teach on the second Saturday of December at Arlington as well as veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond”. To volunteer your time to place wreaths at Arlington please join us next Saturday December 10th at 8:30 a.m. for a briefing to address volunteers and instructions. After the briefing the volunteers are lined up behind the trucks and handed wreaths for placement. When you place the wreath please remember you may be the first person to visit this grave in years so take time to read the stone and honor the memory of that hero. The final ceremony will take place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at 12 noon.
To help you understand the scope of this undertaking I am listing all the volunteer Trucking Compaines involved this year. ACT Transportation, ATA, Allen Lund Co., Baylor Trucking, Boyle Transport, Cargo Transporters, Cianbro, Con-Way Trucking, Covenant Transport, Dart Transit Company, Estes Express Lines, FFE Transportation Services, Fikes Trucking, G&P Trucking, Hartt Transportation, Jagtrux, Inc, Lapp USA Inc., Motor Carrier Service, Oakhurst Dairy, Perdue Trucking, Portland Air Freight, Pottels Transportation, Prime Transportation, Ross Express, Ryder Transportation, Schneider National, Swift Transportation, Tennant Truck Lines Inc., UPS Transportation, US Xpress, Inc., Witte Brothers Exchange Inc., Walmart Foundation, Watkins Shepard Trucking, and WEL Companies. Imagine, making, and trucking 220000 wreaths to Arlington, the thousands of volunteers just getting them there and then the people who volunteer, who have the honor of laying each wreath.
I want to thank all the dedicated people and groups involved in making this great event happen each year and hope to see all that can make it to Cheverus High School tomorrow afternoon around 4pm when the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle group leads the convoy in, or even better, at Arlington next Saturday.