KNOX – Earlier this month, several community members volunteered as part of the Wreaths Across America campaign, including Oregon-Davis’s LadyCat Basketball team.
Wreaths Across America is a nationwide movement that sees volunteers across the country decorating the graves of veterans with wreaths in memory and honor of their service.
This year, in their inaugural event in Starke County, volunteers unloaded nearly 700 wreaths to place on veterans’ graves in Crown Hill Cemetery in Knox.
According to a social media post by Starke County’s Wreaths Across America group, several people and agencies came together for the effort, including the Crown Hill Cemetery Board, Culver Military Academy, the St. Joe Valley Blue Star Mothers, American Legion Post 131, Rabbit Coffee Roasting Company, and several individual volunteers and contributors.
After a short ceremony December 8th, wreaths were placed on every veteran grave at Crown Hill Cemetery. An online post shares that each wreath was placed with care, with the veteran’s name spoken aloud as volunteers stood with hands over their hearts, pausing to honor and remember each veteran individually.
Wreaths Across America began in 1992 when a Maine businessman donated surplus wreaths from his company to Arlington National Cemetery; with the formal organization being established in 2007 in order to expand the efforts.
