Two cemeteries in Gainesville could be covered in green wreaths on December 15 as part of Wreaths Across America, should enough sponsors come forward to lay a wreath on every veteran's grave.
The non-profit organization aims to put a holiday wreath on the grave of every veteran in America, with local locations organizing the sponsorships to make sure the graves of local veterans are decorated during the holiday season.
The sponsorships are collected prior to a ceremony on December 15.
"With the ceremony, we honor as many veterans as we possibly can by sponsorships of wreaths we've received from the local community, and it's just a way to ensure we keep their memory alive, that we teach our youngsters that it's a great thing to respect our veterans and all that they've sacrificed," said Gail Mangum, local chapter coordinator for the project.
This year, Mangum said they are trying to cover some 7,000 graves in both Alta Vista and Memorial Park cemeteries.
"Alta Vista is about a 1,200-grave cemetery and we'd really like to get all of the graves at Alta Vista covered. We're about three-fourths of the way there, so we've still got a little push to make that happen," said Mangum. "This will be the second year at Memorial Park; it's a much larger cemetery but we would like to reach about 700 at Memorial Park this year, which would be double what we did last year."
The wreath-laying ceremony will be held at noon on Saturday, December 15 at both cemeteries. Following the ceremonial wreath laying for each branch of the armed forces, volunteers will lay the individual wreaths.
Several local organizations are participating in the fundraising as well, including the Colonel William Candler Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, local boy scouts and Heritage Girls troops, and the Civil Air Cadets.
"There are several different folks that help us - groups that come out each year - and we know they'll be here every year to help us," Mangum said.
To sponsor a wreath, log on to the Wreaths Across America website and use the search function to find either the cemetery or the organization you wish to support. Or, email the local chapter at [email protected]
The deadline for sponsorships is December 3.
The theme for this year is #BeTheirWitness, according to Mangum.
"That's what we're trying to do - we're trying to be the witness for every veteran that's interred in Alta Vista and eventually at Memorial Park, as well."
