Graves to be ‘flagged’ Saturday ahead of Dec. 13 event
Veteran groups and patriotic organizations in both Kissimmee and St. Cloud are gearing up for Wreaths Across America, an annual event when holiday wreaths are placed on the graves of veterans interred at Rose Hill and Mount Peace cemeteries.
Ceremonies will be held on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 10 a.m., hosted by American Legion Post 10, at Rose Hill and the Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post 3227 will host at noon at Mount Peace.
The wreaths don’t come free, as donations and sponsorships from local groups go to pay for the wreaths, and at last count about 200 more needed to be accounted for.
Shaw said each handmade live wreath costs $17 to sponsor and is made in the United States with Maine balsam. A sponsorship of 10 wreaths or more will be mentioned in the program to be handed out at the ceremony.
“For instance, last year we counted 1,398 veterans buried at Mount Peace,” said local Wreaths Across America volunteer coordinator Chastity Shaw. “This year the city said there were 1,487.”
She said through local grants she’s hoping to get a jump on next year’s wreaths, but said families of those interred at the cemeteries can help with the process.
“The graves will be flagged on (Friday) Dec. 6,” Shaw said. “Some headstones don’t have a veterans designation on them. That’s why I tell families whose veterans didn’t get a wreath why that can happen. They can get a flag (from the cemeteries) and mark them, so we know who’s buried there. And some will mark their yards with ‘Hometown Heroes’ signs who aren’t even aware we do this.
“The community truly makes this special event come together.”
Each December, over two million volunteers gather at cemeteries across the country to “Remember, Honor, Teach” by laying donated wreaths on veterans’ graves for the holidays, striving to ensure “no matter where they served or how, … no one is forgotten.”
For more on Wreaths Across America, go to https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/.
