It will be here before you know it, and that’s Wreaths Across America on Saturday, December 18th. Location Coordinator for Danville National Cemetery Tammy Williams says anyone that wants to make donations, or purchase wreaths at 15 dollars each ahead of time, has until the weekend after Thanksgiving.
AUDIO: I can e-mail them a form, if they have like a grave specific that they want to place, or if they just want to purchase wreaths generically. We have a lot of Civil War era buried out there, and family may not even know they’re out there. So we try to make sure those guys get covered.
On the actual Wreaths Across America day on December 18th, the ceremony at the Danville National Cemetery out by the VA Medical Center will be at 11 AM. After that, all the wreaths will be placed. And as Williams reminds us, they could always use more volunteers, young and old. Just come for the ceremony, and stay afterwards to help.
AUDIO: Even if you’re not purchasing a wreath, we encourage people to come out, bring their children; kid groups like Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, school groups. Part of our motto is “remember, honor, teach.” And so that’s one of the aspects that we like to do on Wreath Day is to teach our youngsters how to honor the Veterans that have come before them.
To register as a volunteer, or purchase or donate a wreath, call 217-516-2354, or e-mail danvillewreaths@yahoo.com. There’s also www.wreathsacrossamerica.org. The scheduled guest speaker for the ceremony at Danville National Cemetary on December 18th is GOP gubinatorial candidate Paul Schimpf.
