WAXHAW, NC – At Waxhaw’s Southside Cemetery at Noon on Saturday, December 19, Wreaths Across America and the Town of Waxhaw Parks and Rec laid 195 wreaths to honor America’s Veterans.  Mayor Ron Pappas prompted the gatherers to remember that it may be an abbreviated ceremony, but our veterans will never be forgotten.  Dr. David Carriker of Waxhaw’s Presbyterian Church provided the invocation and blessings.  Waxhaw Parks and Rec’s Lisa Hoffman and Amy Merrill read the names of the veterans as wreaths were placed around the cemetery.  Wreaths were also placed at Northside Cemetery, where ten veterans are buried, and on the gates at Pine Oak Road Cemetery.  The Parks and Rec Department will be conducting an investigation into the number of veterans who are buried at Pine Oak Road this spring.

Wreaths Across America (WAA) was founded in 1992 by Morrill Worcester, who owns Worcester Wreaths.  Finding himself at the end of the holiday season with extra wreaths, Worcester saw an opportunity to honor our nation’s veterans and placed the wreaths on veteran’s graves with the help of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe.  It was a quiet annual tradition until 2005 when the rest of the country learned of the honoring through a viral image of a snow-covered wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.  In 2007, Wreaths Across America was founded as a non-profit 501-(c)(3) organization.  Now they place 700,000+ wreaths at over 1,000+ cemeteries across the country and at historical military places including Bunker Hill, Pearl Harbor, Valley Forge, and the sites of the September 11th tragedies.

You can find more information about Wreaths Across America, including how to sponsor a wreath, at https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/