Ridgelawn Memorial Cemetery in Oxford is inviting community groups, local businesses, families and individual residents to bring Christmas wreaths and place them by veterans? graves for a special ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 12.
The 99 W. Burdick St. cemetery is participating in ‘Wreaths Across America Day,? a special day created by the U.S. Congress last year to honor deceased veterans.
Ridgelawn President Chris Acheson read an article about this celebration and decided to conduct a wreath laying ceremony at his family’s cemetery, which is owned by his mother Shirley.
‘It brought a chill to me and I said this is something that our cemetery can do to show support for veterans in our area,? he said. ‘I believe there’s only three other cemeteries in the State of Michigan, that are not national cemeteries, that do this.?
He already has some scout troops planning to attend and participate, but he wanted to open the event up to the community in the hopes of placing as many wreaths as possible by the graves of the 126 veterans buried at Ridgelawn.
People are asked to bring one or more wreaths to Ridgelawn at 11 a.m. Once there, they can place them by the veteran’s grave of their choosing.
Many of the veterans? graves will have wreath hangers by them, waiting to be filled.
‘All they have to do is pick one out,? Acheson said.
Participants will be given 3×5 index cards on which to write the name of the veteran they’ve selected to honor with a wreath. They will also be asked to write down the branch of the Armed Forces he or she served in.
Following the individual wreath layings, Oxford Village President Teri Stiles will give an introduction explaining the story behind ‘Wreaths Across America Day,? which is now observed annually on the second Saturday of December.
Although it’s only officially a year old, the idea behind it started in 1992 when Morrill Worcester had his company, Worcester Wreath, donate and lay 5,000 Christmas wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery. This became an annual journey for Worcester.
It was a relatively obscure event until 2005 when a photo of the headstones adorned with wreaths and covered in snow circulated around the internet. By 2008, more than 300 locations held wreath laying ceremonies in every state, plus Puerto Rico and 24 overseas cemeteries. More than 100,000 wreaths were placed by more than 60,000 volunteers.
Following Stiles? introduction, at 12 noon sharp, a veteran or active duty serviceperson from each branch of the Armed Forces will lay a wreath by the Ridgelawn Cemetery flagpole. The wreaths will represent the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines.
A seventh wreath will be laid by the pole in honor of the 93,852 servicemen and women whose last known status was either as a Prisoner of War or Missing in Action.
At the ceremony’s close, ‘Taps? will be played and all those who laid a wreath will be given an opportunity to say their veteran’s name aloud and along with his or her branch of service.
Acheson realizes he probably won’t be able to get enough wreaths this year.
But next year he’s planning to lay 500 wreaths ? one for each veteran buried in Ridgelawn, the Oxford Township cemeteries and Lakeville Cemetery.
Although he’s not a veteran himself, Acheson’s brother Keith served in Vietnam and his nephew Chad served in Iraq.
For more information or to participate in the ‘Wreaths Across America Day? event at Ridgelawn Cemetery call (248) 628-6244 or e-mail lorraus@hotmail.com.
‘To be prepared, I need people to contact me,? Acheson said.